[MTL] Japanese Tapas – Ichigo ichie

Ichigo ichie is a new izakaya in the Plateau, which offers a variety of Japanese tapas. I heard that the team behind Ichigo ichie is the same as the well-known Imadake, which is an izakaya near Atwater, but with a more extended menu.

Ichigo ichie

Opened just not long ago, Ichigo ichie is quite hidden on rue Rachel, and close to the bustling rue St-Denis. If I didn’t look it up ahead of time, I think I would’ve definitely miss it. Therefore, make sure you look of the red lantern hanging over the front door, and some pink sakura paintings.

Ichigo ichie

The restaurant is divided into two parts. On the right, it’s the ramen house, Yokato Yokabai, while the right is Ichigo ichie. Make sure you make the right turn. While the front of the restaurant is quite narrow with a rustic bar, the hostess led us through a corridor, into a spacious dining area overlooking an open kitchen.

Since it’s tapas style, my friend and I ordered few dishes to share.

Ichigo ichie hamachi

As recommended by the waitress, we started off with the hamachi sashimi with special sesame sauce. Hamachi is also known as the yellowtail tuna. These thinly-sliced sashimi were topped with some scallions and seaweed strips. The sauce was sweeter than I expected, but very fragrant and rich in the sesame taste.

Ichigo ichie tuna

Next up, the marinated tuna with yuzu sauce. It was garnished with some peppercorns, which I found it quite interesting when paired with the tuna. The tuna was definitely fresh, and I love thick cut sashimi. However, the way the serve it made all the sauce ended up in the shaved ice, and none on the tuna.

Ichigo ichie bacon mochi

Another dish recommended by the waitress, and had won our heart. It is the bacon-wrapped mochi.  It’s such a comfort food. The mochi was chewy, and the bacon was crisp.

Ichigo ichie cod

This is the grilled black cod, which looked like eel! I loved it. It was so tender, juicy, and flaky. The sauce was just right.

Ichigo ichie tamago

This is another one recommended by the waitress, which is the dashi-maki tamago. It’s a Japanese-style omelette, as well as a family staple food!

Ichigo ichie skewer

Since we noticed that quite a few tables have ordered their skewers, we ordered it too, and the chicken gizzards have caught our attention. It was quite disappointing. The gizzards was flavorless (good that they weren’t heavy on salt?), and too hard/elastic.

Ichigo ichie udon

Lastly, the Japanese udon with mushroom was good! The udon was springy and chewy, and stir-fried with quite generous amount of mushrooms and greens.

To end the night, we ordered a yuzu ice cream (not pictured), and I would strongly recommend it! It was full of yuzu flavor that I could taste some yuzu bites. It was light and refreshing!

Overall, the service was impeccable, as usual for a Japanese restaurant. The quality of the food was good. However, it tends to be more on the sweet side. The bacon-wrapped mochi was probably the only dish that wasn’t sweet. It’s definitely more spacious than other izakaya, which you can’t even ear-dropping. A nice spot in the Plateau to hang out with friends after a long day!

Ichigo Ichie
360 rue Rachel E, Montreal
Tel: +1 (514) 282-0009 (Reservations recommended)
Ichigo Ichie Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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