Otto Bistro - Montreal, Quebec

Very cozy and small restaurant with a chill vibe. Service was on the slower side as there was only one waiter. The food was however pretty good. My favourite dishes were the duck mazeman and the crab mazeman. The duck was very crispy and fall off the bone tender. The ... noodles mixed with the egg made it very rich and delicious. The crab mazeman had a hint of spicy and the ikura complimented the dish well. It tasted very seafoody and it was a generous portion of crab. Was dissaponted with the chicken wings as it tasted pretty bland (special of the week). The Brussels sprouts were good but nothing out of the ordinary. Would come again for the mazeman and to try out their chirashi. Read more

Oh my goodness, let me just tell you about my experience at this restaurant! So, I went there with a friend for the first time on Tuesday, and it was absolutely incredible. We were greeted by Sam, who made us feel so welcome. He recommended this delicious blond Japanese imported ... beer for me, and my friend had Sake, and let me tell you, they paired perfectly with everything we ordered. Speaking of the food, it was out of this world. We had the Tako Salad, Uni and bone marrow mezamen, the snow crab mezamen, and the Shoyu Ramen. Each dish was so exciting and incredibly delicious. The ingredients were all perfectly balanced and you could really taste each individual flavor. And let's talk about the ambiance - the musique, vibe, and overall ambiance were just spot on. It felt like I was visiting a dear friend. The service was impeccable, and I felt so at ease. As someone who's a bit of an introvert and can be shy, it's not always easy for me to feel comfortable everywhere, but this place just had such a cozy and welcoming atmosphere. Now, here's the best part - I loved it so much that I went back solo on Thursday. I actually booked a table just an hour after I left on Tuesday, that's how much I was daydreaming about going back. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. This time, I sat at the bar and had the pleasure of chatting with the person sitting next to me. He had actually traveled all the way from the Laurentide just to dine here, and I totally get why. It's just that amazing. So yeah, needless to say, I'm one happy customer and I can't wait to go back again and again. Read more

I was very excited to come here as they seemed to have a creative menu with rare ingredients such as hotaru ika. Unfortunately the night I dined there, they were not offering anything on the special menu... I ended up getting the maguro futomaki and cheese croquette with ikura at the ... suggestion of the server. The futomaki was pretty filling and had generous portions of aka and toro. It was good but I felt it was carried more by the freshness of the fish rather than the technique of the chef. I would have also liked for it to not come pre-seasoned with soy sauce and wasabi as I like to adjust those to my own personal preference. The croquette wasn't bad, but was leaning towards a salty profile because of the ikura. It felt more like eating mozzarella cheese sticks to be honest. At the price point, I was expecting to be wowed more. The restaurant was decked out in cool Showa-era decor but something that didn't make me feel too comfortable was how dark it was. I would have preferred dim lighting, but it seemed like the lights weren't even turned on! It gave the interior a really dark look, and not even in the nice moody way. From the outside, it didn't even look like the restaurant was open. Service could also be better. I know it was just one person manning the counter, but it felt like I only got his attention when I asked for it. Sitting at the bar counter alone, I was also expecting more engagement. I've been visiting as many mid/upper-tier Japanese restaurants in Montreal as I can and this one has disappointed me the most so far. Read more

This is the definition of food for the soul. Off menu recommendation (but not always available): bone marrow and sea urchin noodles. Oh my goodness... My mouth is watering just remembering it. If you come for supper I highly recommend the mapo tofu.

I’ve followed the chef Hiroshi Kitano on instagram for a while now, i actually have no memory of how i came across his page. Anyways, after a few months of mildly stalking his aesthetically pleasing japanese food related insta stories, i finally decided to book a res for this place. ... This was the most authentically japanese restaurant experience i’ve had in North America, from the setup, the vibe, the menu options, the seating arrangements, the music. A to Z reminded me of the small artisan restaurants i’ve loitered in japan. Seeing the synergy the 1 waiter had with the chef was masterful, it felt like a high crowd restaurant, and it actually took me a few minutes to realize there was no other staff. Just Hiroshi Kitano and the host. A teeny tiny kitchen, 3 or 4 burners, and a counter space smaller than the bar. This restaurant is meticulously crafted top to bottom. the restaurant is called kitano shokudo, translates to kitanos dining room, and it makes sense.Seriously, when we got seated we ended up getting sat at the bar, which in most restaurants im not super fond of, but having the opportunity to eat these dishes and see the chef in a masterful flow was cinema (sorry if you felt like i was staring at you). We mostly got dishes from the daily specials, we tried the Shiro Miso Cod Croquettes, the Tako & Onion salad, and the shoyu ramen. The croquettes were INCREDIBLE. Beautiful GBD exterior, with the softest creamiest potato inside with little chunks of a very flavourful cod, and the garlicky-buttery miso sauce was actually bonkers The salad was so good, huge chunks of octopus with a zesty refreshing dressing, big chunks of onion that were just sweet enough and just strong enough, with some herbs mixed in. Very refreshing The ramen…. i’m extremely picky about ramen, not that i don’t like it or anything, i just think finding good ramen in canada is pretty hard. But wow… we split a bowl of the shoyu duck ramen and it was wonderful. Perfectly cooked noodles, great choice of toppings and perfectly cooked duck. However. the broth… the broth??? This is what annoys me the most about ramen here, the broth is never… right? but man… holy sh**, this guy knows his stuff. I’m not a big shoyu guy, i normally like tonkotsu more, the most recent place i’ve had shoyu was in Arashiyama before seeing the monkeys. This broth was better. That’s all i gotta say. They know their stuff here. Also, i came here with my partner, and we split pretty much everything, and the host was smart enough to pick up on that and split the ramen into 2 smaller bowls for us, so that was extremely appreciated. That’s the kind of attention that really makes you realize they care. I’ve noticed some of the reviews mention being treated coldly by the staff, which i personally didn’t experience, but seeing how “in-the-zone” these two are, you gotta understand we’re not here to chit chat capiche? this is serious business ❗️ Anyways we only tried 3 dishes as we weren’t insanely hungry, but now, i kinda regret it. Seriously, this place is a work of art. Go to the bar, order a few yummy things, and just watch this guy cook. It feels like watching Whiplash but instead of drums it’s a big pot of oil and tempura croquettes. This place rules 🙏 Read more