SESAME - QUARTIER DES SPECTACLES — Restaurant in Montreal

My boyfriend saw this restaurant on Tik Tok and we both agreed that it looked beautiful. I booked a reservation here for my his birthday a week in advance. The restaurant has a beautiful atmosphere, but unfortunately we were seated right by the kitchen. The restaurant played jazz music, but the kitchen staff were blasting rap music from the kitchen, which ruined the calm, jazzy atmosphere of the restaurant. We went on a Monday night, and there were plenty of other tables we could've sat at. Considering the fact that I booked the reservation so far ahead of the date of the dinner, I expected to be sat at a table with a bit more ambiance. We were both too shy to ask our table to be switched, so we dealt with it.

The service was good despite a mix-up with our drinks. My boyfriend ordered chardonnay and I ordered rosé. They served our drinks, and gave him the rosé and gave me the chardonnay. The waitress mixed up the drinks, and they also poured the drinks in the wrong glasses (my rosé was poured into the champagne glass, and vice versa).

As for the meal, I ordered a tuna poke bowl and was satisfied with it, and he ordered the Bao with general tao chicken. He was not very satisfied, because his sandwich was just filled with chicken (nothing else inside the sandwich, but there was a salad on the side). He was not very satisfied with his meal, which was especially disappointing since it was his birthday. He also didn't appreciate how leaky and messy his meal was, and he found that the bread didn't absorb the liquid well.

Overall, I was pretty let down by this experience, especially since it was his birthday and I made the reservation so far in advance. The reviews on Tik Tok were exceptional, and my expectations were very high. I can't say this restaurant lived up to its reviews, unfortunately. I wasn't very impressed with...

First of all, it's not Asian food, not even close. That aside, the food is just extremely underwhelming. Food was unseasoned, confusing and frankly boring. The quality is comparable to quick service places like Sushi Shop.

Ps. I noticed a reply to a previous review saying: "Our recipes have been carefully created to contain no MSG (artificial flavour enhancer) whatsoever, which is virtually unheard of in a restaurant offering this cuisine! "

"this type of cuisine" - obviously referring to Chinese food, when what you serve is mostly Japanese, Thai and Indian inspired. It perpetuates the common theme of ignorance in your food, grouping all cultures together into something that doesn't remotely make sense. (Throwing edamame in wonton soup cause they're both Asian right?) - The wontons were also incredibly undercooked-

MSG has been used for years to spread  yellow fever, making Chinese food seem like something dirty and toxic. Meanwhile, it's used in pretty much all cuisine here and also occurs naturally in vegetables and cheeses. Whether you choose to use it or not, please don't help perpetuate the stereotype that it's some devil ingredient from the East and simply try to make your food better.

Edit: Lol such a typical ignorant response. You're implying places who do use MSG are lesser than, and unhealthy (see above why this is untrue). Your rhetoric is extremely prejudiced and elitist, yet your food is basic. Please educate yourselves.

Yet another white owned business ruining Asian food in a poor attempt to make it palatable to a Western audience. Glad you could make our dishes "more exciting" by literally removing all the flavour LOL. Stick to chicken...

The dumplings we had for an appetizer were outstanding - we had the pork and kimchi, fried, and the little chicken wonton dumplings, also fried. They were delicious. The sauce that came with the chicken ones was delightful - like an Asian bbq. We also ordered a spicy Bloody Mary-type drink and a mojito - both very delicious. That’s where the meal stopped being so yummy. My husband got the Thai coco (similar to Tom Kha) soup. That was underwhelming. It has 2 peppers indicating spiciness in the menu, but it was definitely not spicy at all. The cherry tomatoes and celery in the soup were confusing and didn’t fit with the flavor profile. The giant leaves of cilantro really needed to be chopped a bit smaller. It also needed more coconut juice and less lemongrass. My husband got a spicy salmon poke bowl for his main meal. It was fine aside from the addition of celery and tomatoes. I got the red curry. It was fairly bland. It had one red pepper, signaling slightly spicy and it definitely wasn’t. My recommendation - go for a fancy appetizer and drinks if you want to spend money. Otherwise, find somewhere else for good Asian and/or...