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Amenities, services & more
Bar Big In Japan was featured in the article(s) below.
Reviews for Bar Big In Japan
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Reviews often mention
Display Alldrink(54) bar(34) cocktail(29) speakeasy(16) vibe(15) date(13) recommend(8) unique(8) hidden(8) conversation(7) beautiful(6) cozy(6)Really cool spot, easy to miss the main door if you're not paying attention. The ambiance was great, the bar setup & aesthetic was super cool, I've never seen table seating like this it was very unique. Great service & awesome selection of cocktails.
Beautiful bar, but being asked to pay in advance was unexpected & disrupted the vibe for me & others around me. We likely would have ordered more drinks if this wasn't the case. Paying upfront or having cards held felt intrusive & is quite uncommon. It's a shame, as the space is nice & the staff seemed a bit on edge, possibly due to management.
My favorite bar in all of Montreal! All the drinks are impeccable & my absolute favourite is the Fleur de Surreau! On Friday & Saturday after 9pm, the wait can be a bit long (around 15 to 45 mins) because it's a small private & intimate speakeasy but it is absolutely worth the wait! I recommend coming before 8pm to avoid waiting in line but everything about this place is so cozy with the jazz music & ambient lighting! The drinks are around 10-20$ which is not too expensive if you consider other high end bars! Their cocktails are very strong, taste delicious & are made with great quality alcohols/ingredients. It's the best place to go to have a nice relaxing chit chat & to savour some great drinks! The servers are great too, super professional & very attentive, so they will come see you if you finish your drinks but they are not very talkative & let you be (which is I guess their style) because they know you come to this bar to talk with the people you are with!!
Tucked away in a relatively quiet corner, the bar provides a relaxed atmosphere that makes an ideal speakeasy. That said, the drinks were a little lacklustre.
We had two espresso martinis with a side of spicy olives… nothing better than that. The music was insane, the setting the lighting everything was beautiful. Jono our server made our experience oh so lovely. Such joy in this bar & a beautiful experience
The margarita wasn't great, we were not allowed to swap to a martini & when we said what would make the marg better they gave us a side of lime juice to fix ourselves. For a cocktail bar I didn't think that matched the level of service we were expecting from the management. Ambiance is good & the wait staff were good but not a great experience.
Above all, in my opinion, the place is best for it's atmosphere. Truly great for dates. Easy to have intimate conversation with one other guest, but the volume made it difficult for coverings of 3+ guests.
Entered through unsuspecting black door to the right of patita, proceeded down the very dark hallway with an obsolete payphone toward the dimly lit area behind the curtains.
Worth noting the interesting design of the majority of seating was effectively at counters served similarly to a traditional U-Shaped bar instead of service from over the shoulder.
Our primaryserver Lawson was a treat although there appeared to be a team of 4 working together.
Unfortunately, to no fault if the te1m on hand, the HVAC was out making the entire establishment very hot in early September. Service staff was visibly challenged by this with bowties tied & sleeves rolled up. One sole individual kept his black tux coat on through service.
Given the unforseen circumstances, it appeared that most parties stayed for only one round & left quickly. Itt us unclear if this is the normal standard of the enviroment & service style. If the establishment wanted to keep guests hour more than one round,I would expect that glasses of water would not be so difficult to acquire upon request.
Drinks themselves were clever in inspiration & design. Execution was questionable as garnished fruit & herb were found fully submerged defeating any sense of purpose or intentionality behind what aromas & visuals the garnishes might bring to the cocktails. Nevertheless, the menu was written well albeit difficult to see in the dim light.
I would highly recommend for a stop on a date night.
Honestly, it's a bar. Just a bar.
I've been drinking in Japan, & I've been to Japan-themed establishments in other countries, & I was looking forward to this bar. But unfortunately I was sorely disappointed.
From the moment I entered, the host was quite unfriendly. He gave me an air of not wanting me there.
From the photos, the place looks like a bar, meaning very few tables & good for socializing, which was what I was looking for. It had'mood lighting', meaning dimly, but sufficiently, lit. Unfortunately the host sat me at a table in the back of the bar with literally no lighting, so I couldn't even read the menu. I turned on my phone flashlight to try to order something & was told I couldn't use that, & was instead handed a dim light to try to read the menu with. I asked for a seat at the bar, & was told I would get one when one became available, but my request was swiftly forgotten; I did not get a seat at the bar the entire visit.
The bar has a large number of Japanese whiskey bottles hanging from the ceiling. Unfortunately, their selection is basic at best. They have Toki, Nikki From the Barrel, & unmarked (no year) versions of Yamazaki & Hibiki, along with a few other usual things that can be found at any Japanese themed bar or Izakaya, nothing special. The menu says to ask for the sake selection; when I did, I was told they had a Ginjo house sake, Mio, & Sayuri, the most basic of selections available at any liquor store & not worth going out for. The markup was also fairly high on these.
The cocktail menu did not read Japanese at all, it was all Negronis & Palomas & Old Fashioneds & so on. I was expecting at least a Nama Lemon Sour, maybe something Matcha-infused, something with Yuzu, I don't know. But the cocktail menu read like it could have been any British pub or street bar, nothing uniquely Japanese at all.
Aside from the 7 or 8 selections of Japanese whiskey & the'please ask' selection of extremely basic sake offerings, the entire menu was not Japanese at all. They have a whiskey selection, mostly American or Scotch, & a wine selection, mostly French; not what I was expecting from a Japanese-themed establishment.
Honestly, this place was a miss on every level. The only reason I'm giving them a 2 & not a 1 is because the decor was nice, & our waitress, despite being new & not knowledgeable, was friendly & gave decent service (between being repeatedly hounded by the host for various tasks). But if I was going for a night out with high class drinks & a good atmosphere, this would not be a place I would recommend.
Hands down, one of the most refined speakeasies in Montreal. This beautiful modern bar with a unique layout that could possibly sit up to 50 people is tucked behind a long hallway. Our server Sophie was very friendly & when I couldn't figure out what type of drink I should get, she made it her mission to brainstorm with the bartender to curate the perfect drink for me.
A nice speakeasy bar. Not a place to enjoy good though, yet if you feel like having a drink in an cool environment, it's a good place to hit.
Such a great experience! 10/10 would recommend. Such a cute date spot too.
Some things to note: the door is somewhat hidden/unmarked as it is more of a speakeasy. The chairs kinda swivel weirdly & is slightly uncomfortable if youre not at a table & at the long counter. But there is a hook for your purse. Also note that if you go on a nice night &/or late, the line will be long...
The drink menu was not as extensive but I liked the ones I got. Kinda pricey but the music in the background & the whole place was so aesthetic so ur kinda paying for the vibes on top of the drink too which wasnt that bad. & also not as pricey as nyc drinks.
Would recommend to try & also go to the bars along the street too!
Service was a bit slow as they only had one barman when we got there. It wasnt too busy but we waited a while for the drinks. Leo was awesome, he made me a custom drink based on what I like. He did a great job, attentive customer care from him.
Un très beau speakeasy pas trop achalandé en debut de soirée. Les drinks sont bons & le plateau apéro nous a bien plu ! Notre serveuse a été de très bon conseil. L'ambiance tamisée & bougies.... j'adore ! Vraiment un bel endroit.
Le seul regret c'est qu'on a eu 2 groupes très bruillants & donc pas très agréable de participer à leur conversation même à 3 tables d'écart. Mais ce n'est pas vraiment la faute du bar.
Grab a seat at the bar, enjoy the drinks & have a fun ride. Nice easy going staff & a bartender who can make really delicious martinis/ drinks. Very much enjoyed my experience here.
Very private, well hidden cocktail bar. It's all lightened with candles which gives it a perfect romantical ambiance for date evenings. It is a pleasant experience pushing people to actually talk & get to know better each other. I like their labyrinth table configuration. Good service, prices a bit high for popular cocktails, but your engagement will be remarkable.
One of my favorite bars in the world. Great atmosphere, ideal for date nights. The drinks are fantastic & the owner/staff are friendly. Don't expect a party, but it's the perfect bar for conversations. Not cheap but well worth it.
Great speakeasy. Love the bar design & staff was quick to notice when you might want to order another round. Drinks were well balanced.
Great atmosphere. Good cocktails. & you can't go wrong with some Japanese whisky, of which there are several to choose. Entrance is the black door just next to Patati Patata & then down the hallway to the room with lots of candles & a serpentine bar. Clever use of a mirrored wall increases the effect of the candles. Clever use of magnets allow them to hang Japanese whiskey bottles that patrons reserve over the bar. Magnets also allow placement of the gas powered candles at different places on the bar. Great design. Friendly service.
One of the best bars in Montréal. Drinks are great & the atmosphere is even bette