Kazo Ramen Lasalle — Restaurant in Montreal

Cute cozy little restaurant. The atmosphere was mellow and relaxed and the dim lighting gave a lovely ambience that feels like a retreat after a long day. Music was set at just the right volume which permits people to talk normally rather than shout.

The Food was quite tasty too! I ordered a side of takoyaki and karaage as well as their shoyu kazo special as a main dish. The takoyaki was really well cooked which gave it a nice crispy edge ; solid 10/10. On the other hand the karaage was also quite tasty but the pieces were cut in very big chunks which made me use my hands to split some pieces in half. Lastly the Ramen I chose truly pleased me. The broth was rich in flavor and the dumplings that came inside were really tasty! Overall though, I found the food here to but just a little bit too salty for my pallet.

As far as service goes, luck was probably not of my side. With only 1 waitress having to manage all the uber orders, phone calls and clients... it made me feel a little bit uneasy to ask for anything. That being said, her service was very welcoming and attentive.

I will have to come back and try out more...

If I could give 4.5/5 stars I would, but I cannot.

For full transparency, I have been here 3-4 times. And I am writing this review as there is a special where I get free Takoyaki (my favorite) if I write an honest review. They made it clear that I did not need to write a good review, and so these are my honest thoughts.

I got two main dishes in order to give a more well-rounded review. I got Creamy Tonkotsu ramen, Karaage Don, and Takoyaki. The ramen was tasty as always. Good flavor, the pork was tender enough to melt in my mouth. Loved it.

Karaage Don. The fried chicken was good. Simple, had sauce to enhance taste, but I had a problem with the rice. The taste was fine, but it wasn't anything special, and wasn't sticky enough for me to eat with my chopsticks. That being said, I'll point out that I have mediocre chopstick skills.

Finally the side of Takoyaki. I am a fiend for Takoyaki, and I enjoy the Takoyaki here. Nice and creamy octopus balls....

I ordered their shoyu ramen and tantanmen. The visuals look great. The portion is also decent, with a bunch of toppings which are not common in most ramen places in MTL. Toppings are also cheap and the karrage looked appetizing. Restuarant has a good Japanese vibe which I think would be better if it was a sushi place. However, the ramen doesn't taste like a Japanese ramen. The place is run by Chinese people so I assume they rearranged it with chinese spices so that the ramen tastes closer to a Chinese noodle. I'm not saying that Chinese noodles are bad. I enjoy authentic Chinese food as well but as someone who visited many Japanese ramen places within Canada, the taste wasn't what I was expecting. In my opinion, Chinese Japanese fusion isn't the best as China uses very strong spices whereas Japanese usually go for the sweet...