Zao's Restaurant

9394 boulevard de l'Acadie
Montréal, Québec
514.387.POOL (7665)
website

On the Sunday before I left Montréal, we went out for Chinese food. My mom had seen an ad for $8.95 lobsters that she could not resist. We do love our lobsters! We had never been to Zao's Restaurant but it turned out pretty good. Funny story: my mom called to confirm the $8.95 price for lobsters. She asked in English because the lady only spoke Chinese and was told that the price did not apply because it was the holidays. Nevermind the ad was posted during the holidays. However, when we arrived at the restaurant and my mom asked the price in Vietnamese, it was $8.95. Was it just a mistake or because we're Asian? I don't know...


Zao's Restaurant is located next to Sharky's, a pool hall.


It was not too busy on a Sunday.

Zao's menu ranges from Thai to Vietnamese to finally Chinese. We are kind of boring people and always get the same thing. We obviously went for the lobsters since that what the reason we were there. My mom asked that we each pick a dish. Being the beginning of their no-carb diet, my sister's boyfriend picked something oh-so-unhealthy: General Tao Chicken. My sister went for the vegetable and ordered Stir fried Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli). I picked Seafood Bird's Nest that I love so much and H, my mom's husband, ordered the Beef Fried Noodles & Black Bean Sauce.

The General Tao Chicken was actually pretty good. I just don't like it when it comes in an unnaturally red sauce, I prefer it more brown coloured. The Beef Fried Noodles were also good although the portion was smaller than usual Chinese noodle dishes. The bird's nest part (made of fried taro) of the Seafood Bird's Nest was entirely disappointing. It had become hard, probably from sitting in the kitchen until someone ordered it. The seafood part was great though. There was a generous amount of shrimp, scallops (my favourite!) and tender squid. The seasoning was perfect. Next time, I would just get a seafood stir fry.


General Tao chicken, $9.95.

Beef Fried Noodles & Black Bean Sauce, $12.95.


Seafood Bird's Nest, $16.95.

When it comes to lobsters, I like eating it Chinese style best. I just like the seasoning and flavours. I find boiled lobster with butter pretty bland in comparision. So for the lobsters, we got it two ways. The first was stir fried with a ginger and scallion sauce. The second was crispy fried with salt and pepper. Both were very, very good.

Blurry picture of the lobster in ginger sauce.

Lobster crispy fried with salt and pepper.

It seems I forgot to take a picture of the stir fried gai lan. It was good, nothing unusual. We were then served complimentary orange.

Complimentary oranges.

Our verdict: My mom said she would come back again. Portions were small which doesn't mean there was not enough food. We were all very full when we left. Ready to face our 2009 diets...