Neotokyo — Restaurant in Montreal

Neo Tokyo is a great idea, with terrible execution. The concept, while inspired by the Blade Runner art design and decor, would have gone broke if it existed within that, not too distant future. Here's to hoping it can manage to correct the path to forgetfulness it's currently on.

Neo Tokyo sells itself as a ramen noodle bar, but doesn't understand the concept of ramen. It took 1.5hrs for us to get our food. 45mins to get our drinks, and we had to return the chicken karage due to the over abundance of salt they seem to love in all their dishes. While there are some tasty accents to the food, most of it is over salted, without much thought put into the menu-- which is evident in the long wait times for anything ordered.

Ramen, is a fast food. A wonderfully delicious one plate meal that anywhere, aside from Neo Tokyo would take maximum 30mins to get to you. It's a poor man's meal in Japan. Warm, comforting, fast, and a dish that any kitchen in Montreal, should be able to handle. It is unfortunate that for such a great setting, the kitchen is unable to serve in a timely fashion, the few dishes touted on their menu.

Because of the analog wait times for the food, the best you can do is drink water-- if you want more drinks while you wait, you'll do just that, wait longer for a 2nd round of drinks. So because of the assault on your patience, and hunger, and the fact you have one option, and that is to drink water, you have to make use of the facilities.

Typically I wound't comment on the facilities, but because of how bloated you become from drinking (water) and waiting, you have to go-- and due to everyone else in the joint waiting, you end up lining up for the two stalls available, right outside the kitchen. While you wait, you can be treated to the slop bucket that sits right next to the cart where the dirty dishes are dropped off-- and while you're at it, you can notice the failed electronic system of table top buzzers that were maybe part of the concept. Again, exacerbating the reality that this place was rushed to open without real thought or concern in understanding what a real ramen bar should be.

The staff are trying, but there's only so much you can do with the lack of thought and attention to detail that such a cool concept should've come with-- not to mention, the patience and dedication that real ramen joints around the world take the time to develop in order to match the greatness of the simplest noodle bar in Japan.

As another reviewer mentioned, if you're looking and hoping for real ramen, you're better off going to Ichi-Go Ichie-- at least for the time being. Don't waste your time (firstly), or hard earned cash on this, once again, rushed concept of a cash grab, that...

3½ Stars - a dining experience worth the detour of the Cyberpunk aesthetic... and worth the wait

TL;DR: an amazing, unique atmosphere to eat, but expect to wait a while before getting your meal. Still a new restaurant so might be worth waiting for them to find their proper footing.

First, let me say that this is one of the best decor I have seen for a restaurant. The attention to detail is stellar, from fake holograms to futurist adverts and even the employees' uniforms. It really makes you feel like you've stepped on the streets a futuristic metropolis. You can tell that a lot of thoughts went into everything, and that is to be commended and worth visiting, just for that.

Next, the food and drinks. The menu features items with names that are references to the genre, which is a nice touch, but I wish the whole menu went all-out with the inspiration. Everything was amazingly tasty, from the entrées to the drink, well worth the price tag. You can tell that they are not just shoveling out basic ramen like a lot of places do.

The wait. Our waitress was there to take our order quickly and was really pleasant. Our drinks arrived shortly after, mine not being the one I ordered, but our waitress noticed immediately from afar and brought me the right one. Our entrée arrived not too long after, but it then took 40 minutes before our ramen finally arrived. I would not think too much of it, but table next to us arrived a bit after us and ordered, but after 30 mins a waitress came back to confirm their order. She then returned 10 minutes later to tell them that the kitchen staff had not realized that their boiler was off(?). We left about 10 minutes after that, and they still didn't have their meal.

Final notes: I feel like Neotokyo has the potential to become a dining staple in MTL with how unique their location is and the quality of their menu, but I feel like they may still be dealing with a lot of issues that a new-ish restaurant experiences. I would like to try it again, but I feel it might not be worth going back for a bit, until they find their proper footing to run smoothly, completing the dining experience they are...

On a saturday night we were informed that it would be a 30-40 minute wait which turned out to be almost one hour. When we asked when our turn was coming, the girl working at the reception responded that we were next. Upon waiting for another 10-15 minutes and seeing people being seated before us, we inquired politely again to understand if indeed we were next. The receptionist responded (and I quote word by word):"I cannot know exactly how much of a wait it would be, as I have told you many times before. The table paid their bill but they are still sitting, I don't have the ability to read into the future." My boyfriend and I were mad about how rude she has been treating a customer who's been waiting to sit for almost an hour. Clearly she also needs some math lessons as she was adamant that we had been waiting for 30 minutes to begin with. My boyfriend responded by explaining how much we have been waiting and that we just need to understand how much longer it would take to go to a different restaurant instead. Her response was "stop bothering me so many times". Though my boyfriend tried to respond, she raised her voice in front of all the other customers and started yelling at my boyfriend "shut up". We were completely shocked as to how disrespectful someone can be towards a customer inquiring about wait time. My boyfriend demanded to speak to the manager which she completely ignored so he physically had to make his way to the kitchen. Fortunately, the restaurant has an amazing manager who was very understanding of the situation. He was also very apologetic and offered us drinks after he immediately seated us. He really changed our experience, along with the very lovely waiter who served us. Advice to management: ensure your staff is properly trained if they are not inherently respectful or hire staff who are brought up by learning to be respectful towards other people. Special thanks and shoutout to...