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Pica Pica
Category: Restaurants Tapas Bars Tapas Bars [Edit]
1310, Boul de Maisonneuve Est, coin Rue de la VisitationMontréal, QC H2L 2A5
(514) 658-2874
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
19 reviews for Pica Pica
Review Highlights
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"Agreed - best mojitos ever." In 3 reviews -
"...outside in their spacious patio (there are even hammocks..." In 4 reviews -
"...has each dish listed in Spanish, with French and English..." In 3 reviews
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18 reviews in English
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Review from J T.
Ottawa, ON
4/8/2012 4 photos
Went last night for a birthday dinner
The food, drink, ambiance and especially the service was fantastic
A great spot for a date, casual dinner or a get together with friends!
A must try! -
Review from Robert S.
4/6/2012
The food here is great....In the past 2 years of visiting Montreal, I have been to Pica Pica twice. Both times, the tapas were excellent. This last time, we ate:
Pollo Shanghai - great tasting, some pieces a little dry, others very moist
Pernil Caribe - Excellent Shredded pork dish on a crispy flat wonton
Pollo Bravas - Spicy with heavy mustard sauce
Codorniz Caramelize-Great tasting quail
Arroz al Diablo - Chicken. Spicy and tasty...The saffron rice tasted fresh...Chicken was cooked from frozen..
Overall a great dining choice for Montreal....Lots of great seafood choices but my BF does not eat seafood, so we stayed with the land critters !! LOL! -
Review from Amber M.
4/2/2012
So glad to have found this awesome restaurant in Montreal during a weekend trip here with a friend. Even more glad to have listened to our server's advice about ordering a mojito. Please do yourself a favor and order yourself the cucumber mojito - fresh cucumber juice, mint leaves, and juice without any gross added sweeteners - it was so refreshing!
Pica Pica a nice and polished place, but not at all pretentious or stuffy. Between two people we ordered
Shrimp bravas (perfectly cooked shrimp goodness with an amazing saffron and garlic sauce)
Fish ceviche (though fresh, i felt like this dish was missing something. not my favorite of the night)
Onion Soup (a rich and satisfying soup with caramelized onions and lots of gooey gruyere and swiss cheese)
Pica Pica salad (a nice salad with golden and red beets, spinach, goat cheese crostini and vinaigrette) -
Review from Hirav G.
5/24/2012
Went here for tapas while in Montreal. I have had tapas in NYC, LA, SF, DC and Chicago and nothing compares to this place. I would travel to Montreal again just to visit pica pica and it's eccentric owner.
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Review from Oleg R.
2/1/2012
One of my favorite places in Montreal. Totally off the beaten path, Pica Pica requires a walk or even a drive, depending on your location.
Once you walk in, you will be greeted by friendly staff. Usually they are booked out, so reservation is a very-nice-to-have. If you come in summer, totally grab one of the tables on their fabulous terrace. It is awesome, sunny, chill, and in itself is a reason to hit Pica Pica up.
Let's get back to the review:
ATMOSPHERE: Super friendly, non-pretentious, non-judgemental, chill, welcoming. Staff is always friendly and smiling. The owner is there 80% of the time, so you are VERY likely to be served, chatted up, or just observed by the guy who owns the place. Great service guaranteed.
FOOD: Food is insane. I've been to 4-5 other tapas bars in Montreal and trust me, hands down, Pica Pica beats them all. Just try their California dates, spicy shrimp, pulled pork, baby pork ribs and I'm sure you will log on on yelp and write a compliment to this review.
DRINKS: Wine selection is not big, however it has some rare bottles on it. Cocktails are what the place is known for. Their mojitos are simply awesome. Oh and ask the owner to make you an espresso his own special way ;)
That pretty much sums it up. A must-visit place for any Montreal or visiting foodie. You won't regret. -
Review from Susan R.
12/8/2011 1 Check-in Here
Seriously... the Mojitos are very very good. its best to get a traditional one, since when you make a flavored Mojito, you add sugar. I had a classic, as well as the Mûre... and both were tasty. The Mûre was far sweeter of course.
Take it from a bartender who makes about 30 mojitos a night... these are pretty darned good.
Food was also tasty- dates wrapped in Bacon are a must and the Gambas Bravas were wonderful! -
Review from Numa P.
Montréal, QC
9/25/2011
Glad to kill the vibe and to state that this place - managed by a guy whose swagger will remind you more of Carlos Mencia than Tony Montna - is really overrated. First, business: the mojitos. Unless you are extremely confident with your Type 2 diabetes' resistance, Pica's trademark drink will feel like a whole pack of Domino sugar. From the wide and interesting choice of cocktails available, I decided to pick the litchi mojito and it was way too sugary and syrupy. The drinks felt too sweet, unbalanced and almost plain despite how attractive they looked. Perhaps the waiter are savvier with classic mojitos but I tasted a lot of naivety at the bar.
Now with regards to the food, I heavily recommend some fellow yelpers to try an actual Peruvian restaurant. The ceviche was way too dry, chewy and not marinated enough. And although the menu was pretty exhaustive, I found it too diverse and was surprised by the few number of actual tapas available. Paradoxically, you will be charged very similar prices for tapas and actual dishes, and will observe that dishes are quite small. The restaurant thus looses its food-sharing appeal.
However, the rest of the food was pretty good with a pleasant emphasis on the presentation. The Shanghai (?) chicken revealed an interesting balance between a spicy fried and sweeter taste. Also, the roasted pork shoulder was surprisingly tender and tasty. Hence my preference for the actual entrees than appetizer or so-called tapas dishes.
Moreover, the final bill came to be a bit pricey: 2 tapas + 2 dishes + 2 mojitos = almost 70$. Spendy and especially when you are two.Listed in: Sin City
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Review from Megh C.
Montréal, QC
3/13/2012
We went there with one of those group-buy coupons, and we had a great experience. The service was very friendly, the dishes were very tasty, and the ambiance was really classy - with gorgeous exposed brick and modern decor, but without any of the pretentious or gaudy vibe you sometimes get from places trying ot be modern. My favourite part of the meal was the mojito, which was phenomenal. The only reasons I left off the fifth star are that (1) unfortunately, they didn't have my first two choices listed on the menu, and (2) although the food was delicious, it wasn't a life-altering religious food experience, and those do exist. It's really solid, though, and the mojitos alone are worth making a reservation!
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Review from Fabio N.
Toronto, ON
11/8/2010 1 Check-in Here
This is certainly one of the best restaurant/bars I've ever been to, period. They serve the World's Best Mojitos and ceviches to die for in very generous portions.
We sat outside in their spacious patio (there are even hammocks there!) enjoying a very nice night in the end of the summer. The neighbourhood is very nice too, so everything fits together nicely. It's definitely a good place to come with friends.
The service is excellent - specially considering that this is Montreal. It really doesn't get much better than this.
Of course this all comes with price: it's not one of the cheapest places in Montreal, but it's definitely worth it.Listed in: Montreal
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Review from Renata R.
9/4/2010
BEST. MOJITO. EVER.
Let me say it again
BEST. MOJITO. EVER.
I went there for my very first dinner in Montréal, and they didn't disappoint me. There's a wonderful patio for warm nights, like yesterday, with comfortable tables and chairs, lots of space, and you can go with both a large group or a private dinner.
We started with some ceviches. I've had ceviches in South America, and theirs were comparable to the best ceviches I've tried before. Be sure to try. Then, we decided to try quails. I've always been curious about quails, but never had the opportunity of tasting them. Their quails are covered in caramelized onion, and served with a salad, you should really mix the greens with the sauce. And eat the quails properly, with your hands, otherwise you're not gonna savour it.
The Mojitos deserve their own paragraph: besides the traditional, they serve fruity versions of the famous drink. My very favourite was the raspberry, but the mango is also very good. If you're in doubt, try all the flavours, it won't hurt! I'm sad this place is not in Toronto! -
Review from Edwyn E.
8/18/2011
Agreed - best mojitos ever. the rum doesn't have that chemically taste and its just the right sweetness without being too syrupy. the sugar cane soaks up the flavors of the mojito and is a special treat. the portions of the the tapas here are just enough to share and feel satisfied. waitstaff is very helpful without being too pushy. al fresco dining at its best.
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Review from George L.
8/14/2010 1 Check-in Here
I checked out this place on the basis of the one review that had been posted on the restaurant though usually I look for a bit more Yelp history but...I love me a Tapas bar and this place did not disappoint. First thing I noticed was that it has a large outdoor area and was planning to sit outside but the bartender noted it looked like it would probably rain so me and friend sat at the bar instead.
The staff was friendly and quite enthusiastic about the quality of the food and the bartender was nice enough to ask if we needed recommendations and clearly explained what he thought was a must try on the Tapa list. Since the restaurant is Cuban owned the pork items were highly recommended. The shredded pork shoulder, served on crispy corn squares was excellent. I also enjoyed the mixed mushroom plate and the marinated quail (as the bartender noted, the quail was on the large size so had plenty of meat). We also had the mussels with chorizo in a tomato and onion sort of salsa broth. They provide fresh made rolls which you can use to sup up the sauce, which had just a little kick to it, which was great.
As for drinks, we were told the mojitos were excellent but I had been crazing a strong beer and they have a number of good beers on tap, including an IPA and a red ale. The IPA keg had been left out of the fridge area and was too warm to serve that evening but the other beer was quite good. They also have a large wine selection and...much to my happiness, I was able to get 7 year old Cuban rum, one of my absolute favorite drinks and one that is not legal to bring in to the United States so I only get it when I am outside the country. I note all this because I noticed that many restaurants in Montreal are "porte un vin" (e.g. bring your own) and it was nice to find a place that actually had a bar.
Next time I go back I definitely want to try the mojitos but bottom line is the wait staff is uncommonly friendly and everything I had was good - so a good solid choice for a place that is just on the edge of the Latin district. Next year I intend to go back to Montreal and this is one place that deserves a second visit - enjoy! -
Review from Aaron M.
6/5/2010
What an incredible meal!!
When we ordered two Cucumber Mojitos, our server gushed that it's his favorite and suggested we get a pitcher for a better value. It was delicious, not too sweet, and very refreshing.
We requested recommendations and were told that everything on the extensive menu is excellent. From what we sampled, he was absolutely correct.
The service was spot on, they didn't even give me a hard time for my forgotten French language skills. The menu has each dish listed in Spanish, with French and English descriptions.
We started with the Mango & Crispy Pork Salad, which was truly excellent. With cilantro and peanuts, it was similar to a green papaya salad at my favorite Vietnamese place. Sweet and spicy and salty all at once, I love it!
We also tried the Ceviche Pescado with fresh fish. The flavors were excellent, if not a little on the tart side. Wifey critiqued the fish for not being sliced very well, but then we laughed at ourselves for being food snobs. (Too much yelp maybe?)
We finished with the grilled asparagus au gratin and the roasted quail. Both were delicious! The asparagus came swimming in a balsamic reduction that we dipped each bite in. Sooooo tasty.
If I lived in this neighborhood, I'd come here all the time.
Next visit: Gambas Bravas, apparently people come here just for their shrimp. -
Review from Chris A.
11/29/2011
I am from North Carolina and travel frequently. I don't often write reviews, but Pica Pica certainly deserves a thumbs up. Great friendly service, very tasty and unique entrees, reasonable prices, and by far the best mojitos. Also, if you like red wine, try the Spanish wine, Castillos Monseran. So good, I am going to try and find it when I get home. Overall.... Well worth the visit. I look forward to returning when the weather is warmer to experience the huge outdoor patio.
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Review from Rebecca S.
7/1/2011
We ended up going to this place because my family and I love tapas and people kept raving about the mojitos. The mojitos were delicious (had two and was close to getting a third) and the waitstaff was friendly and hilarious. There were also a couple of multi-lingual waiters who, together, covered English, French, Italian and Spanish. Definitely a fun atmosphere despite the fact that there was only one other couple there that night (there was a hockey game on). The food was delicious and our server gave us a few good recommendations on dishes we wouldn't have gotten otherwise.
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Review from Aaron L.
Lachine, QC
2/13/2011 1 Check-in Here
Great food. Wicked slow service.
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Review from Paul B.
9/11/2010
Totally loved this place, perfect offset to the other amazing French cuisine my friend & I had Labor Day weekend in Montreal. Place was lively, staff was incredibly friendly (and totally hot), menu was outstanding (lots of choices, great standards & nice twists on standards). Don't miss the chicken with goat cheese, the dates, the lomo (diced cubes of filet mignon), garlic shrimp and above else THE ASPARAGUS with melted Parmesan, caramelized shallots & balsamic (the balsamic came as a surprise to me when I found out). Run do not walk.
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Review from Jessica M.
9/11/2010
Great food and drinks, super cute outdoor garden/patio, superior service. This place was just as good as we hoped. A bit off the main path in montreal but worth the extra few blocks walk or taxi ride. Definitely get the the shrimp with saffron type sauce, the dates, and the mango salad. Was a highlight of our weekend in montreal for sure. We went for dinner, but if its a sunny afternoon there is a hammock in the garden which would be superb.
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