Kan Bai

We’ve been here a few times. Best szechuanese food in town!

Wow I’m very surprised with this hole in the wall type of szheshuan resto! I’m actually very excited to be writing a review for this resto because they were amazing! I’m not a crowd follower and usually pick places that are super underground and low key. Some are usually not that awesome but some are just so Amazing I need to share.
Location: located west of St Catherine where you have a tad of other asian fusion cuisines. For myself, I was on my way from some grass jelly tea and it was a true blessing how «Chatime» was packed with a lot of people so I decided to open the other door on the left. It lead me down through a flight of stairs. It was still pretty busy around closing time. I truly had no idea what to expect. I was actually expecting to have terrible quality of service and food. To my surprise, both food and service were exceptional.
Service: lady waited patiently to take down my order while the other lady was kind of hurrying to take it down since they were about to close their kitchen. I totally understand why they would want to rush me late around closing time. Either way, I was getting very FAST service. I can’t complain.
In addition, the lady made sure I knew what I was ordering and I decided I didn’t feel like having any of my dishes spicy. I know Szechuan cuisine is based on chili peppers and other spicy spices. I kindly asked not to have anything spicy. I was very glad they got that down right! Not only
Did they take down my order quickly they had it ready within the next 10minutes, can any other asian place even beat that and serve it fresh??? I HIGHLY DOUBT IT!!! ;)
Food: it just melted in my mouth. I swear I feel like coming back just for more of their beef tripe. It was deliciously tender and succulent. Their rice was fresh and airy. I didn’t feel like there was a lot of oily sauce dragging it down and It was nicely cooked, very soft. Their food was so FRESHH! they truly blew me away!
Overall, this resto is one of my new found gem in the beautiful downtown city of Montréal! I love discovering authentic and quality serving restaurants. I am so glad I decided to show up next door to Chatime ahaha your loss Chatime for your slow un-​reliable service. I willl definitely definitely be coming back again!!! Yummy.
PS: to «Calvin T. About the comment on the illegal tax charge and illegal bill. I don’t think you’re telling the truth. When I came in and gave my order, they charged me through the cash register and insisted that I pay at the counter. I was paying them in cash where I was sitting but they clearly insisted that I get up and check the bill at the counter. So your claim is false and should be annulled. There was nothing illegal being done. Stop inventing lies and rumours to make a great Resto look bad!!!

My go to place for whenever I’m craving some Sichuan spices! I’m usually quite picky when it comes to Chinese food but this place is definitely up to par in terms of taste and authenticity.
On this occasion, my friends and I got the spicy fish soup, spare ribs pot, and eggplant pot. The spicy fish is a Sichuan classic and I highly recommend it — soft, tender, with just the right amount of spice. The other two dishes were also quite good though the eggplant pot was smaller than I expected (would recommend the sizzling plate eggplant instead). Service was quick and friendly and restaurant itself is bright and clean with modern chinese décor. In summary, this place is a personal favourite and I’ll definitely be back often in the future!

The sizzling lamb dish is great! Along with some of the items we had, the food was really delicious. The service here could be better, and the delay between being seated and being served, even water, was somewhat irritating (servers would pass by, but ignore us completely).

I dream of Kanbai when I’m not there. It’s really as good as it gets when it comes to authentic Szechuan in Montréal. Every dish that I’ve sampled (and there have been many) was expertly seasoned, fresh, and memorable. Be adventurous and have fun; you won’t regret it.
My recommendations:
Dry Fried Green Beans
Fried Lotus Root
Fish poached in red chili oil
Cabbage and hot peppers
Home style tofu
fungus with coriander
Salt and pepper shrimp
Scampi
Sizzling beef dish

What a delight find in the mid of downtown Montréal. This place served some very authentic sichuan dishes that is done the right way. Everything we ordered were absolutely delicious, plus this place is pretty inexpensive and the service was very prompt. Its got all the check boxes to qualify 5 stars for me!
The dishes we ordered were Lamb served on a sizzling iron plate, Mopu Tofo, Twice cooked pork, shrimp noodles, spicy pork and pepper served in hot casserole. We loved everything that we got, which is really rare for a food critic like me. If you are into authentic sichuan style dishes, definitely give this place a shot.

I tried fried chicken & fried fish in hot sauce. It was delicious but kind of too salty for certain ppl. Anyway I would like to try other menus in Kan bai.

After living in China for 6 years, I never thought I would find authentic Chinese food once back in MTL. Kanbai is my home away from home:) try the Fish dish they are famous for, egg and tomatoes, sweet and sour pork ribs and any eggplant dish. Delicious.

I found out about this restaurant after reading nice reviews and decided to try. I’ve been here 3 times and I was never disappointed. The food is simply delicious! The service is really fast and I would just keep coming back for the amazing eggplantes with pork. It’s also nice to notice how we are always surrounded by Chinese customers and how much they appreciate this restaurant, which is outside Chinatown. Fair price, good food. This place is a must try.

Food is not good… can not compare with kanbai in chinatown… service is ok… but they always don’t give the bill legal to customer… and they charge you the tax with the illegal bill… be carefull… revenu Quebec coming soon!!!

If you love SPICE and HEAT as much as I do, then you can’t go wrong here.
I came here last night for dinner and the place was jam-​packed with a line-​up of awaiting customers. Practically all of them were Asian.
Now, don’t get me wrong, but I find it’s the people who come from a specific part of the world or culture who know the best food from that same part of the world or culture.
In other words, follow the locals. If I want to know the best Greek taverna to eat at in Patmos, I’m going to ask a local person from Patmos who has lived there their whole life, not look things up in «Lonely Planet». Likewise, if you want good Taiwanese, ask someone from Taiwan or watch where local Taiwanese expats go to chow down.
If red chillies scare you, don’t come here. If on the other hand, breaking out into a sweat while a multitude of amazing flavours dance on your tongue doesn’t faze you in the least, then you’ll enjoy yourself here.
We ordered the chicken with chillies, green beans with pork and garlic and the sizzling lamb. All of it was outstanding and the green beans in particular were very, very addictive and a dish I wish I knew how to make at home.
Service is very, very brisk and terse but polite and if you have issues sitting close to other people, you may not enjoy the experience here. However, if watching controlled chaos intrigues you, then you’re in for a treat.

I have trouble believing the negative reviews on here. I think to start they are reviewing the sister location in China Town.
This place is the bees knees. Honestly they have never let me down. The service is super fast, very friendly and very attentive. I’m always unhorsed with how consistently my water is refilled and how fast the food is to the table.
The food is not over salted and packed with so much flavor. We EMT the other day as a group and ordered probably 15 dishes and each one was delicious and unique. I recommend the chili chicken if you like a fried chicken, the eggplant, the green beans, the shrimp. All of it so so good.
Couldn’t recommend this place more.

A word of caution about ordering here:
The first dish to the table was eggplant with peppers — not exactly what we thought we had ordered but nonetheless brilliant. The next dish, shrimp with beans actually turned out to be shrimp with peas and diced carrots of the supermarket freezer genre.
Ordering well here gets you great food — ordering badly gets you truck stop Chinese.
The eggplant suggests Kan Bai should get a second look.

We pretty much always order the same thing when we come here, and it’s always good. Super consistent (and quite spicy!). The menu is pretty long and some of the descriptions are not very descriptive, which is maybe why we rarely deviate from what we know and love: #631, which is a silky smooth tofu hotpot with eggplant; #404, a spicy fish soup with soybean sprouts (and maybe their most popular dish — everyone seems to get it); and #306, which is a pork rib hotpot with peppers that is partially cooked at the table. And, of course, we have some beer in a futile attempt to cool down. It’s not food that is super hot on the tongue — it just heats you up all over. The last time we went, my husband turned to me and said, «The front of my knees are sweating.» Ha! In any case, we get a hankering for Kan Bai about once a month. The grub is delicious and quite addictive.

This is without a doubt my favourite Chinese/​Taiwanese in town. Straight forward cuisine, executed consistently and to perfection. One warning, their spicy is SPICY. Specials on the wall, and Chinese Idol playing on the TVs the vibe is amazing. I highly recommend the spicy cumin lamb, and the eggplant dishes.
Every diner is brought a tiny amuse bouche of peanuts and soybean, even this start is amazingly tasty. But this is just a start, the large menu is full of variety. Often on weekend mornings you’ll see the staff cutting hot chilies, take this as a warning, and a sign. Eat spicy. Order with a bowl of rice for authenticity, and to help cut the heat. The portions are quite generous, one plate easily feeds a single person, but it’s best, and meant to be, served family style. Bring a friend or two, and order several plates and share.
The waitstaff is friendly, and knowledgeable, they’ll happily recommend something to suit your taste and mood, the prices are affordable, and the quality is always top notch. In short, a must visit for asian cuisine.

Since February I’ve been mourning the loss of my favorite restaurant in Chinatown (New Dynasty, anyone?). Hence, I’m looking for a new place.
My friend really, really wanted to try this place because of their super spicy chili noodle soup. I saw they had salt & pepper shrimps so I agreed to go.
The place is small and it can get quite loud. The décor is modern and very nice. Our waitress was probably a McGill or Concordia student because she didn’t speak any French. The menu was big, but a few things were marked with liquid paper.
Our food came quite fast. My friend’s soup was HUGE. I dipped my chopsticks in it to taste it and it is very very spicy. Too much for me, but she liked it. She wasn’t able to eat it all and she was able to take it to go. The put the liquid in one bowl and the rest of the soup in the other. Smart move.
My salt & pepper shrimps were fried with the shell, which I had never seen before. The people next to us saw how confused I was and they told me I could eat the shell (A Vietnamese friend of mine later confirmed that this is how they eat shrimp). I ate a couple and it was fine, but then I got a little sick of it.
When the bill came, it was $ 17 for both of us. They didn’t make 2 bills, so we had to split 50 – 50 when we paid and then my friend paid me back a few dollars.
If I do go back, I’ll ask for the shrimps without the shell. I’m always up for trying new cultural foods, but shrimps with the shell, I just can’t.

Hongfantian (nom en mandarin)
Cuisine séchuannaise par excellence!
Service fort efficace, le garçon m’indiqua que mes choix, compe tenu que j’étais seul, né conviennaient pas car trop généreuxsi je né pouvait en rapporter l’excédent.
J’ai donc opté pour:
Soupe aigre– douce
Salade froide de méduse (méduse, concombres, coriande et huile de sésame
Boeufsauté et piment fort
Riz blanc
Accompagné d’une bière Tsingtao
L’endroit était bondé de clients asiatiques. Les quelques cIients/​clientes nord– américains étaient accompagnés par des connaissances asiatiques.
L’endroit est très propre, bien éclairé et l’ambiance fort agréable.
Les plats furent à la hauteur de mes attentes, fort savoureux et servis chauds à l’exception de la salade froide de méduse, fort naturellement.
Endroit à retrouver en groupe!

Sometimes some affordable and delicious Chinese food is what I need even when I am travelling.
Wandering around China Town looking for food and Kan Bai nice deco looks promising and the food is quite decent too!
We had the Bamboo Shoot and the Whole Fish in Soy bean sauce both are reasonably priced and portion is perfect to share between 2 people.
Both dishes have enough spicy and flavour without being overwhelming.
Kan Bai is a great option if you have craving just like me for some Northern Chinese food in Montréal.

I came back with someone so we could order more dishes…
We ordered chicken in hot pot, sauteed tofu house style, and dry fried pork. All dishes had bits of red peppers in them however, it wasn’t too spicy.
the sauteed dish was very good, good sauce, onions, sea fungus and sliced peppers. With some rice it was simple and just like home.
The dry fried pork didn’t have any bones in it but it had many pieces of cartilage, which made chewing a bit of a chore… the flavor was just salty enough to be felt after a few pieces, but being fried it does get a bit rich after a few pieces, I’d reorder only for 4 ppl, if you’re 2 it will be hard to finish. We had to dip it in the tofu sauce to make it go down easier.
The chicken in clay pot, was put over a flame so it was scorching hot, we saw it start boiling so we turned of the fire. It was bits of leg meat, cut up into bite size. My partner does not eat meat with bones in it, so he didn’t like it lol. I found the dish to be quite good. it wasn’t too salty nor sweet, but it was drenched in the sauce which you could put on the rice, made more of a home style meal.
Most dishes are served family style, unadorned with no attempt at plating, not that kind of place. But chinese food is mostly family style… three four dishes, everyone with their own bowl of rice and digging in… you pick and choose which dishes to combine with the rice. OK I can now confirm, this is sichuan cuisine. Don’t know if I love it yet but there’s couple more dishes I want to try before I decide… :)

Kanbai means cheers in Taiwanese and you’ll find lots of Spicy food and drink here!
This Taiwanese shop serves up some great dishes of lamb, pork and or beef with some pretty savoury ingredients.
We tried their spicy chili noodle soup and the beef and eggplant on an iron hot plate. The noodle soup was REALLY spicy and tasty. If you can handle the hot stuff, try it.
The beef/​eggplant dish was filling and went well with a bowl of rice (extra).
Very authentic, good portions and service!
I would recommend coming here for dinner instead with a good group of friends, as traditionally it normal to eat this food with lots of beer! Kanbai!

WOW ! J’adore ce sympathique resto qui offre un mélange un peu déroutant de cuisine Chinoise et Taïwanaise. Oubliez ce que vous connaissez des restos chinois traditionnels du Québec. KanBai n’est pas l’endroit à vous servir du général Tao, du poulet à l’ananas ou de la soupe Wong Tong. Oubliez ça ! Kan Bai, c’est de l’exotisme pur. Un secret caché sur la rue St-​Catherine.
Dès le début, j’ai été impressionné par la diversité des plats offerts au menu. Il y a tellement de choix que c’est presque un casse-​tête de se faire une idée. Ici, on couvre tout de la cuisine de l’Asie du Sud-​Est. Donc place à des plats qui risquent de déstabiliser (sinon, de carrément vous faire vous faire peur) comme l’estomac de vache, le ragout au tripes de cochon, les joues de poissons au poivre et la salade de méduse.
Pour ma part, j’ai choisi un poisson mariné dans un bouillon épicée. Très épicée (voir la photo). La personne qui m’accompagnait avait choisi un surprenant et savoureux plat de canard dans un petit chaudron fumant. J’y ai gouté. Le canard était vraiment tendre. Un délice. Si vous hésitez, demandez conseil à votre serveuse. C’est ce que j’ai fait.
Les prix sont très respectables en raison de la qualité offerte. Le français des serveuses est limité, mais elles font l’effort quand-​même de vous servir dans la langue de votre choix, en incluant bien-​sûr le cantonnai.

Un peu plus près de la Chine!
Voilà l’impression que j’ai eu hier soir en partageant un repas de fin de soirée ici (après avoir vu l’excellent «Prometheus» en IMAX 3D) avec mon épouse. Celle-​ci avait lu une critique favorable dans «La Presse» alors on a tenté notre chance, malgré une critique très négative sur Unilocal.
Grand bien nous en fît! Les portions ici sont très généreuses et il convient de partager les plats. Nous avons partagé simplement une grande soupe aigre et piquante, un plat de poulet au poivre et cumin et un plat de riz blanc moyen. Pour deux, la soupe et le riz étaient trop grand, une petite soupe et un petit riz (à deux!) nous auraient suffit largement!
Le plat qui m’a réellement rappeler la Chine est le «poulet au poivre et cumin». Des morceaux succulents de poulet (couper avec les os comme en Chine) servi sur un lit d’arachides et d’épices. Relevé mais sans excès.
Si vous préférez les restos chinois conventionnels, ce n’est pas pour vous. Si vous voulez vous sentir un peu plus près de la Chine, alors cette adresse de Ste-​Catherine Ouest représente le bon choix!

The best Chinese restaurant in the area (but not the best Asian restaurant lol), the place is classier then most and the food is quite good for the price. Can’t get enough of the Kung pao chicken!!!