La Canting

Edited on Sep 1, 2022: I visited the restaurant again recently. The appetizer, main dish, dessert, and the drink were still very good. However, I think it would be nicer if they can increase the size of the main dish (the size of the appetizer was good). Maybe having two sizes of main dish (small/current size and a big one). Otherwise, I love the food, and I will come back again :) Food was really amazing. I was impressed by the dishes they offered! It was a special event last weekend (Sep 25, 2021), so we had the amazing 7-course meal. The owner/chef really knows how to cook delicious food.

I give it a 3.5. It was good but there was something missing that made it exceptional, that made you want more. It's a tapas style restaurants, so of course the plate serving will be smaller. The appetizers/entrees were tastier than the mains in my opinion. The pancakes, fried mushrooms and lamb skewers were my favorite. In the mains, we had 2 dishes with the duck and found it very chewy, but still flavourful. I recommend having a reservation especially around 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. It is a small restaurant. Yeah, so good but not that good. I recommend going there with friends to enjoy a fun nights with cocktails and some dishes to chew on when it's not busy talking.

In a trendy building on Rue St. Patrick that houses 5,000 office workers, occupying the ground floor is La Canting restaurant that offers excellent contemporary Taiwanese comfort food and exquisite wine and cocktail selections. We came here recently for an old friend's birthday celebration. Instead of a typical birthday cake and some ordinary food, we had an extraordinary culinary experience. The food would just keep coming with so many courses that I lost count of the dishes. While we were waiting for our dinner to start, the Chef/Owner Helena served our group with East Coast oysters. These oyster were so fresh and tasted so good. We started our fest with fried chicken and wild mushroom. Both appetizer dishes were well prepared with delicious flavors. The chicken meats were crispy outside and tender inside. The Sichuan pepper corn added extra kick to the food that really complemented the chicken and the mushrooms. The epic of the evening was the main dishes which consisted of Chow Mian with lobsters and scallion oil noodle with duck meat. Both of the dishes were delectable and they truly embodied the best of the East and the West. The lobsters were so tasty that I even ate the shells. Canada is famous for its duck meat, so adding duck breast meat to the popular Taiwanese comfort food, scallion oil noodle was a perfect match. I love this dish. To top the evening off, we were offered champaign to go with our scallion pancake, another of my favorite Taiwanese foods. Chef Helena has perfected this scallion pancake, they were so good. Although the foods were the main show, but La Canting is also known for its drinks. It has an expansive selections of red and white wines and offers varieties of delicious cocktails. Parking is a bit tricky. Do not park in the temporary parking spaces on Rue St. Patrick, instead, park in the big parking lot behind them.

Stellar restaurant, experience, staff and food. I had been to La Canting for takeout a couple of times (incredible Fried Chicken, noodles and breakfast sandwich!) but was super excited to finally be able to go with a group of friends yesterday. We weren’t disappointed. We let them take charge of the menu, omakase style, and every dish from start to finish was absolutely delicious. Authentic yet modern, everyone loved the food. Service was also great and wine list is carefully crafted and fairly marked up. 10/10. Super glad to have such a beautiful and delicious Chinese restaurant in my neighborhood.

The best Chinese dining experience in Montreal with good food and nice ambiance. We really enjoyed everything especially the Shanghai scallion noodles. & for the people complaining about the price, I don’t see people going to a posh restaurant and complain about how you can get a burger at Five Guys for cheaper. La Canting is not an average chinatown restaurant, a lot of thoughts and care are put into the environment and food. It’s a stigma that Chinese food should be cheap. Of course you can get fed for $10 elsewhere, but this is not why we go to La Canting.

I was ecstatic when I saw their feature on Eater and they did not disappoint. The owner was really friendly and told me about their story and told me to judge based off of the food in Taiwan so here we go: The Taiwanese braised beef soup was more home cooked vibes versus Taiwanese street food. It’s not oily or spicy but with the aged beef broth, it’s comforting, satisfying and filling. The Scallion oil noodles with duck magret was really delicious. The flavour and texture was wonderful and I got it on Sunday and are already craving it again. I also had leftovers the next day and it tasted just as good as before. I also had a nibble of my friend’s Sichuan hot chicken. The thigh is juicy and melty with a fun little numbing Sichuan Pepper corn. It’s definitely not compatible to street food Taiwanese food but more comparable to an elevated home cooked meal

Amazing meal, attentive service, and the best Taiwanese beef noodles I’ve ever had. I love how the Canting team is interpreting some classic dishes and having fun with it - plus how they feature lots of great local producers.

As a Taiwanese, I'm super happy to have discovered this gem! They might look like a simple menu, but boy do the chef do a good job with elevating the street food to fine dining with that layers of flavors and attention to details. BTW, did I mention how lovely the ambience is during the evenings?