Château Maneki — Restaurant in Montreal

I was so excited to finally try le château maneki after seeing it all over TikTok, but unfortunately, my experience was extremely disappointing. (I went on march 29 2025)

My friend and I arrived 5 minutes early for our 8:30 PM reservation. The waitress explained the menu to us, and I mentioned a TikTok I saw where someone said we could get a free drink if we mentioned her name. As soon as I brought it up, the waitress looked visibly annoyed. Even though we said it was okay if it wasn’t possible and that we’d just order from the menu, her attitude caught us off guard. We ended up getting the free drinks, which we appreciated.

But about 20 minutes later, we were brought additional drinks we didn’t order. When we told the bartender, he went to clarify with the waitress, who then gave us a very dirty look. My friend and I were shocked—especially since we had both been clear and respectful the whole time.

Even worse, 40 minutes went by and we still hadn’t received any food—not even our appetizers. Meanwhile, tables who arrived after us were already eating. It was now 9:10, and we were told the kitchen closes at 9:30. When I finally got the waitress’s attention to ask when we’d be getting our food, her response was, “Are you in a rush?”—with a lot of attitude. I was honestly speechless. My friend politely explained that we just wanted to make the most of our time slot, and the waitress said we had time. Five minutes later, we finally got our food.

The food itself was great, but the service completely overshadowed the experience. Around 9:25, the waitress was going around to each table asking if they wanted anything else, and she skipped ours. I had to get her attention again just to order something to go. She claimed she was about to come to our table, but it didn’t feel genuine—especially since she had just spoken to the tables on either side of us.

Throughout the entire meal, no one checked in on us once. Her tone with us felt cold and annoyed, especially compared to how she interacted with other tables. It was really disappointing, especially after coming in with...

I was sad when the ice cream shop that was previously at this pink and blue castle closed down. It was an institution for years and many in the neighbourhood were afraid that the next owner would tear down the castle. Happy to see that Château Maneki not only kept the original look of the place, they added a few modern touches as well to give this place a very cool vibe. The menu is very interesting and different from many other run-of-the-mill sushi shops, with oshizushi (pressed sushi), donburi and tartare. For our first visit, we took the sake truffle oshizushi and the maneki classique tartare. The Sake Truffle was very flavourful, quite spicy, and filling even for my husband! The tartare was just also perfectly spicy and came with tooons of crispy taro chips which I love. We found the prices to be quite reasonable. Looking forward to coming back and eating on their little terrasse. The place was a little busy even for a wednesday lunch, so do expect a bit of wait for your food during rush hour as they are...

Le Château Maneki is such a hidden gem, literally! The entrance is tucked away on the side of the building behind a discreet door, and you’ll need to climb a steep flight of stairs to get there. It feels a little unexpected at first, but once you’re inside, the atmosphere is super cute and cozy , perfect for a casual dinner or a fun brunch outting.

The food was very tasty! There’s a great variety on the menu, with more than just your usual sushi rolls. Everything we tried was fresh and flavorful. The portions are generous and definitely ideal for sharing

I also really liked the drink options, they had a good variety of cocktails, and other pairings that complemented the food well. It’s clear some thought went into the menu overall.

Service was friendly and smooth, and the whole concept of the place feels unique cute and well-executed. Definitely worth...