Pichai: Excellent Thai and Natural Wine in Montreal

Argentinian shrimp with long beans, chilies, and holy basil at Pichai thai restaurant in Montreal. We also ordered the papaya salad, but I’m pretty sure this was the Argentinian shrimp because the shrimp here are fresh, not dried. The flavours are similar with a sweet-and-sour dressing and toasted peanuts, but I think that holy basil made all the difference. And as much as I hate the carbon footprint and unsustainability of Argentinian shrimp, most winter veggies, herbs and fish aren’t local either. And who knows about the swordfish (above) and fish balls (below).

I’d been hearing about Pichai, a Thai restaurant on the renovated St-Hubert street, for ages. People who spend more time and money eating out than me days were saying you couldn’t get Thai this good anywhere else in the city. My standards for Thai are high after a few months in the country, some cooking classes, and having eaten it in a lot of other cities. But I’m not Thai, I haven’t lived there as long as the chef of Pichai, and I’m not a chef. I’m also not a Thai food snob like I admittedly am about sushi, so what I’m looking for in good Thai is big flavour, sustainable and hopefully some local ingredients, and attention-filled cooking. From the steamed sticky rice, to the shredded green onions, to the glistening fried peanuts and chili peppers, Pichai is definitely a step up from what I’ve had in Montreal. And they’re playing with more than curry dishes, which I love, even though my least favourite dish was the duck heart laab.

But the best part of my meal at Pichai might have been the wine, or maybe just the wine paired with the exceptional food. Descriptions below.

Swordfish in red curry. How can you go wrong with red curry? A little sweet from the coconut milk and umami from the red chilies, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, and spices in the chili paste. Then put a grilled piece of swordfish on top and let the sauce soak in. It’s meaty and even a little overcooked, it’s going to be a crowd-pleaser.

Quebec fermented Berkshire pork sausage with cabbage, chilies, cucumber, friend peanuts and sticky rice. I don’t eat pork, but the por-eaters loved the sausage, which is made out-of-restaurant by Aliments Viens. I loved everything else: the dill, sawtooth herb, the fried peanuts, the sliced cucumbers, and the fresh long green and red chilies (I got a lot of burning in this meal, but it was so, so good; sucker for punishment, I waited for the crying to subside and the burning to go away and then took another big bite). How to eat it: Take a morsel of stick rice from the bamboo steamer basket, stuff it into a piece of cabbage with some pork ad whatever else you want. Crunch.

Fried fish balls with sweet chili sauce. These were a hit with everyone. Gluten-free, very sweet, crunchy from the shallots. No one would’ve complained if we’d ordered a second plate of these, though we didn’t even make it through all the other food.

What’s that wine? The best wine I’ve had all year! Macerated Dinavolo imported by Primavin. Didn’t know it was $52 a bottle from the importer, so I don’t want to know how much the glass was that I ordered. But it. was. amazing. It’s fruity and soft without a lot of acidity, and then the tannins kick in at the end. So it’s like smelling fruit in a white wine that turns into a kind of soft Bandol rosé in the mouth followed by red wine at the end. It’s not sweet, but it feels like it, so it basically goes with everything in a Thai restaurant. Brilliant wine. Brilliant pairing.

Laab salad with ground duck and grilled duck hearts, fried chilies, pea sprouts, and cabbage. This was the only disappointment of the night. I couldn’t really taste the flavour of the duck, which should have been prominent from the fatty ground meat and rich heart. But my favourite thing in this plate were the juicy endive and cabbage pieces, which were respectively bitter and sweet. The wing beans or pea sprouts (can’t remember) didn’t do much. There was a herbaceous note, but the greasiness overwhelmed everything. Maybe it just needed sometime juice and salt.

Things to know:

A lot of dishes come with sticky rice or steamed rice, so you might not need to order extra, though you can if you want. Just make sure your server wraps up your extra rice with your leftovers, if there are any.

Make a reservation! This place is popular.
Don’t drive. You don’t want to miss the wine list (or the mocktails).
This is not fine dining, but it’s not inexpensive, and it’s not casual. It’s hip, which just by writing that word proves I am not hip.

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5985 St. Hubert Montreal, Québec

514-419-1606

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