Sumo Ramen — Restaurant in Montreal

This review is a response and a follow up from the Michael T. Review after the owner responded to his comment. Well, I remember exactly what happened that night. I was the young girl beside my friend. We clearly said mango cheesecake. We didn’t want to make a fuss over a dessert that the waiter wrongly picked. When we came at the front desk to pay our bill. Your cashier handed us the card reader with tip amounts already on display. We normally tip when we go out, but on that day, my friend declined to tip, because it is simply our right to choose not to tip for personal reasons. Your cashier preceded to intimidate my friend for a tip (you did not NICELY ASK), by saying: « you know tipping is a custom and we rely on tips, the government taxes us. next time when you will order from our restaurant… ». My friend responded with, and rightfully so: « don’t worry, there won’t be a next time ». At one point, you refused to give us our receipts when my friend asked you 3 times and another waiter in the background explained to us that "the tip isn't included”. In that split second interaction we had with your waiter and your cashier, you have shown to us that: 1-your staff lack proper manners 2-your staff has the inability to properly compose themselves in a situation where money is involved 3-based on other comments from Google review, you are incapable of handling criticism from customers In Canada, tipping is only a custom. It is not obligatory to tip. I do not agree with this custom for various reasons. But intimidating a customer for a tip is a low that I would never reach. If you care so much about your waiter’s salary then raise the price on the menu, that is none of my business. But basic etiquette states that you should not expect tips from clients that came to enjoy their meals. Its rude in many parts of the globe including in Canada. As for the waiter: at the end of the day, it’s your job as a waiter to serve the customer. whether you like it or not. As you stated: ‘’our waiters made sure your water is refilled when needed, served you the soups you ordered and asked politely if you were finished before clearing your bowls away.’’ yes exactly, that’s how you should behave in the service industry, it’s a part of your job just like cashiers and other non-tipped workers. If you are not getting enough money, blame your employer for not paying you enough. If your restaurant makes a big deal over a negative review and you expect the customers to compensate through tipping. Then I’d suggest you to get out of this...

My girlfriend and I stopped by here during our vacation because she was craving ramen. We nearly missed the place even though there is a big sign hanging on the building. If you are going to come here, it's really easy to miss as the restaurant is upstairs. (If you want to skip this long review and want just an overall rating, go to the end)

When we walked upstairs, we were promptly greeted by a waitress and seated. I ordered the Seafood Ramen and a Mango Juice. My girlfriend ordered the Shrimp Ramen and Peach Juice (Both of us got the pepper soup). I was pretty skeptical about the drinks due to the fact that the boba drinks I got from Montreal Chinatown sucks (Yes, the bubble tea in Montreal pretty much sucks because it's all powder instead of fresh fruits). But, let me tell you, the drinks were very refreshing and it tasted great! The mango drink, even though it doesn't really taste like real mangoes was awesome and the peach drink actually tasted like peaches.

As for the ramen, I didn't have any doubts about how it was going to taste, and I am glad I didn't because it is some of the best ramen I have had! We are from Boston and there is a couple of shops that serves ramen, but Sumo Ramen has to take the cake. The noodles has a great elasticity, the soup wasn't too thick, tasted great and all the ingredients complemented each other. One thing I can complain about is that the seafood was too bland. The scallops were cooked perfectly, but they could have sauteed it and added a bit more flavors, same for the shrimp. My girlfriend didn't have any complaints either and she finished her whole bowl...even though I think she usually does.

So, if you're craving for some ramen or just want to try it, Sumo Ramen is definitely the go-to place for that. I guarantee that you won't be dissapointed. You should definitely try some of the fruit juices that they have, although I'm not sure about their bubble tea drinks, it seems like they use powder as well. My girlfriend says it was okay and it's not SO good that you want it everyday, BUT, I say she's wrong and I wouldn't mind having it everyday! Hope she doesn't...

I'm going to share my horrible experience going there as a young Muslim woman. It was my first time going there with my sister. We were at Place des Arts but went to Chinatown Montreal to try some ramen. So we picked a restaurant called Sumo Ramen because not many ramen restaurants serve vegetarian foods. So we got in, and the server let us to the table and gave us the menu and a glass of water but it looked dirty like it hadn't been washed correctly so we didn't drink from it, after that a servant came in to take our orders she was a Chinese young woman and we specifically told her to get us two vegetarian ramen that was in the menu and we even repeated ourselves so she won't get it wrong. After she got our order we saw that it looked weird how the soup of both bowls of ramen looked weird mine was yellowish and my sister's was dark orange when we tasted,it tasted like meat we were not sure so we asked the same young woman who served us what was the soup but she kept saying it was just color of the soup and that it's vegetarian but we felt uneasy about that so we ate but after that, my sister tried to ask the young women again but it felt like she was trying to ignore us like she was afraid. After that, she left inside and we didn't see her come out again but then we saw an old lady she was also a worker there, we asked her then she went to the kitchen to see but when a male server came and apologized to us about the young women's mistake then he got us new balls that were vegetarian ramen this time but at that time we felt sick to our stomach because by the time we realized we drank pork soup I felt like crying I can't believe it why would the young women lie to us and say it was vegetarian what if I was allergic to some certain foods they should have paid more attention plus two people were eating in there and we were the only ones to order so it's hard to understand how this fundamental mistake could have happened, this experience has been very disrespectful to us Muslims it shows how careless they are when serving us Muslims and I will not be eating in those disrespectful...