Japanese (izakaya-style small plates, sashimi, temaki) with sake and natural wine / Chinatown
Fleurs et Cadeaux
THE FLOWER SHOP IS A FRONT
Japanese small plates, pristine sashimi and a serious sake list inside an old Chinatown florist, with a vinyl bar in the basement.
- From home
- 27 min walk
- Spend
- $$$$
- Our dates
- Open Tue-Thu. Mon holiday hours unconfirmed
The verdict
Go. Book early, ask for the counter around the open kitchen, and build a meal from the miso duck, nanban fried chicken, albacore tataki and a round of sashimi rolled into temaki, letting the staff pick your sake. It should suit our nights (confirm Thanksgiving Monday hours first), and Sans Soleil downstairs takes care of the nightcap. The catch: plates are small, the bill climbs fast and the room gets loud.
- From Alessia's list
- Very fresh sashimi and inventive Japanese small plates, by consistent diner account
- One of Tastet's picks for where to drink sake in Montréal
- Counter seats ring the open kitchen
- Sans Soleil, the team's vinyl listening bar, is in the basement
Order this
Tap the circle to want it. Tap again once it's eaten.
Fleurs et Cadeaux, the short list
Must order
Magret de canard au miso blanc
$25Québec duck breast cured three days in white miso, grilled until lightly charred, served with mushrooms from Montréal.
The dish diners bring up most. A couple of reviews found it tough or salty, but by popular vote it is the signature.
Must order
Poulet nanban
$18Buttermilk-fried Québec grain-fed chicken with a sweet-and-sour glaze and a black garlic tartare dip.
Repeatedly singled out by diners as the fried chicken not to skip.
Must order
Tataki d'albacore
$23Seared albacore tuna with yuzu ponzu and a chimichurri-wasabi sauce.
Several diners rank it among the best plates, the wasabi sauce especially.
F&C chirashi sushi
$45Assorted sashimi over sushi rice seasoned with akazu (red sake-lees vinegar), with house pickles, gari and wasabi.
Fish freshness is the most consistent praise in reviews, and this is the fullest way to get it in one bowl.
Temaki sushi
$10A hand-roll kit (sushi rice, nori, gari, pickles) for wrapping whatever sashimi you order.
Tastet called the temaki the thing not to miss when it opened (2020 review), and diners still single out the DIY rolls.
Agedashi tofu
$16Fried soft tofu in shiitake dashi with mushrooms and grated daikon.
A recurring favourite in English and French reviews, and a lighter counterpoint to the richer plates.
Parfait de shiitaké & shokupan
$12Shiitake pâté made with calvados, served with house milk bread and pickles.
Diners keep naming the shiitake parfait; an easy, inexpensive opener.
Tantan udon
$21Thick wheat noodles with spicy ground Québec pork, sesame sauce and rayu chili oil.
A crowd favourite with real heat; skip it if you do not like spice.
What people actually say
Recurring themes, not cherry-picked quotes.
Love
- Very fresh sashimi and carefully composed plates that riff on Japanese cooking without being strictly traditional; the sauces get special credit
- Counter seats around the central open kitchen, where diners love watching the cooks at work
- A warm, moody, buzzy room with vinyl playing, hidden behind a storefront that still looks like the old gift shop
- Friendly, knowledgeable servers who steer people through the sake and cocktail lists and adapt to requests
- A sake list that stands out, including privately imported bottles
Know before you go
- Small portions; the bill adds up and a minority felt it was not worth the price
- Loud and cramped when full
- Occasional slow, rushed or disorganized service, such as dishes landing all at once or confused tasting-menu pacing
- Fills up: reviewers advise booking, though some walked in for bar seats midweek
- Isolated complaints that the duck was tough or over-salted
- Libro takes a $10 per guest card hold, charged only for a no-show or a cancellation under 30 minutes before
- Dinner only, 5 to 10:30pm daily; last bookable seating 9:45pm on our dates
Dishes that keep coming up
Miso duck, Poulet nanban (fried chicken), Chirashi and sashimi, Scallop special, Agedashi tofu, Albacore tataki, Shiitake parfait, Tantan udon, Potato salad, Hojicha Basque cheesecake
- Room
- Dim, warm and lively, with eclectic décor, records on the turntable and an open kitchen ringed by counter seats; Tastet counted about 80 seats in 2020. Loud at peak.
- Service
- Mostly praised as warm, attentive and knowledgeable, especially at the counter, with good sake and cocktail guidance; a few reports of slow, rushed or disorganized nights.
- Value
- Divided: fans say the quality justifies the prices, critics say the small plates leave them hungry for the money. Budget two or three plates per person plus a drink.
Vibe check
buzzy/intimate/moody/cozy/loud
Best fordate night, a counter dinner watching the kitchen, sake discovery, dinner then drinks downstairs
How much we'll spend
Official menu (Aug 2026): small plates $5-25, sashimi $17-36 per order (platter $78), chirashi $45, noodles $17-21, donburi $23, desserts $11-14; cocktails $14-16, sake $10-17 per 3oz glass, wine $12-19 per glass. Sharing 5-6 plates between two plus one drink each comes to roughly $50-100 per person before tax and tip. Diners say portions are small, so budget toward the top.
On our dates
Daily 5-10:30pm (dinner only)
- Mon 12Maybe
- Tue 13Open
- Wed 14Open
- Thu 15Open
Thanksgiving MondayEarlier pass reported Libro tables for Oct 12, but that could not be reproduced on re-check and booking availability is not an explicit holiday statement. No Thanksgiving notice found. Call +1 514-866-4411 to confirm.
Full week
| Mon | 5pm to 10:30pm |
|---|---|
| Tue | 5pm to 10:30pm |
| Wed | 5pm to 10:30pm |
| Thu | 5pm to 10:30pm |
| Fri | 5pm to 10:30pm |
| Sat | 5pm to 10:30pm |
| Sun | 5pm to 10:30pm |
Make a night of it
Dinner, drinks, late night. Real walking times between.
Pair it with
- Sans Soleil, in the basement of the same pink building (entrance via the adjacent parking lot, per Tastet): the team's vinyl listening bar for cocktails, sake and DJs after dinner; its site says open 7 days
- Cadence Café next door at 990 Rue Saint-Urbain, the same team's Japanese café (7:30am-6pm weekdays, 9am-6pm weekends), for ceremonial matcha, a hojicha latte or an anpan on a daytime pass through Chinatown
Where
1002 Rue Saint-Urbain, Montréal, QC H2Z 1K6
Book through Libro (linked from the official site) for 1 to 10 guests; online booking opens 2 months ahead and there is a waitlist option. Libro asks for a card authorization of $10 per guest, charged only for a no-show or a cancellation less than 30 minutes before. Libro offers no seating-area choice, so request the counter in the booking note or call +1 514-866-4411 (info@fleursetcadeaux.com). Diners advise reserving; some report walking in for bar seats midweek. Snapshot Oct 8 for 2 people (last seating 21:45): Mon Oct 12 open 17:00-18:15, 19:30, 20:15 and 20:45-21:45; Tue Oct 13 nearly all open (18:00 and 19:00 gone); Wed Oct 14 nearly all open (18:30, 19:00 and 19:30 gone); Thu Oct 15 open 17:00-18:15, 18:45 and 20:30-21:45, nothing between 19:00 and 20:15.
While you're there
The receipt
Where every fact on this page comes from.
Fact-checkedResearched and independently re-checked Oct 8, 2026, 3 details corrected. Confidence: high.
Details to confirm
- Re-check could not reproduce Libro availability or read hours from the JS-rendered official site; address/hours/Oct 12 unconfirmed. Web search budget was exhausted, so no 2025-2026 closure/news search was done by the verifier.
- Thanksgiving Monday: Libro showed open tables for Oct 12, but no explicit holiday notice was found (Instagram not checked); reconfirm at +1 514-866-4411 or through the booking.
- Off-menu tasting menu: diners describe a chef's-choice option at about $70 per person (July-Aug 2026); it is not on the official menu. Confirm availability and price.
- Counter seating cannot be chosen in Libro; confirm whether a booking note or a call secures it, and whether bar seats are held for walk-ins.
- Awards and wider editorial coverage (Michelin Guide Québec, Montreal Gazette, Cult MTL, La Presse, Canada's 100 Best) were not checked because web search was unavailable; two guessed Michelin URLs returned 404, which does not prove absence.
- Daily specials (diners mention a scallop dish with a butter sauce) are not on the published menu.
- OfficialFleurs et Cadeaux (official website): Home page: hours, address, contact, booking and menu links, sister venues
- OfficialFleurs et Cadeaux (official menu): Full menu PDF (food, cocktails, beer, wine, sake), uploaded Aug 16, 2026, served by the site's Menu button
- OfficialLibro (booking platform linked from the official site): Fleurs et Cadeaux reservation page
- OfficialLibro (booking platform linked from the official site): Public seatings for Oct 12-15, 2026, party of 2 (checked Oct 8)
- OfficialLibro (booking platform linked from the official site): Restaurant record: address, phone, deposit policy, party size, about text
- TourismTourisme Montréal (mtl.org): Fleurs et Cadeaux listing (updated Oct 7, 2026)
- EditorialTastet: Fleurs & Cadeaux : snack bar décontracté dans le Quartier Chinois (review written Oct 2020, info updated Aug 14, 2025)
- EditorialTastet: Where to drink sake in Montreal (updated Feb 12, 2026)
- EditorialTastet: Café Cadence: a Japanese café by Fleurs & Cadeaux (Aug 11, 2026)
- CommunityRestoenligne: Diner reviews mirrored from Google, English page 1 (Aug 10 to Sept 30, 2026)
- CommunityRestoenligne: Diner reviews mirrored from Google, English page 2 (July 17 to Aug 10, 2026)
- CommunityRestoenligne: Avis des clients (French page 1, Aug 10 to Sept 28, 2026)
- OfficialCadence Café (official website): Address and opening hours of the team's café next door
- OfficialSans Soleil Bar (official website): Basement bar: DJs on vinyl, supper and dancing, 7 days
- From usAlessia's list (traveller-supplied screenshot): Friend's restaurant recommendations