Bar OTTO comes across in reviews as a lively yet intimate spot with standout cocktails and a sushi and sashimi program that many describe as fresh, inventive and beautifully presented. The ambience and service are repeatedly praised, with guests noting attentive, friendly staff, a welcoming bar area, and a warm vibe that suits dates, celebrations or casual nights with friends. The menu is praised for variety and quality, including daikon and burrata, crab bao, cod cheek skewers, wagyu and toro, a ramen with duck leg and truffle oil, and a yuzu cheesecake for dessert, with many savoring the tasting menu and strong wine or sake pairings. While some express that portions can be small for the price and a few service hiccups occur, the overall consensus highlights consistent excellence in food and atmosphere, a willingness to return for omakase or seasonal changes, and Bar OTTO as one of the city’s notable Japanese inspired options.
UPDATE to the below review: The restaurant took the time to personally contact my family to try & rectify this issue. They offered to try & right this wrong. As my husband & I had left Montreal, the restaurant invited my son to bring his girlfriend back for a redo. The manager personally waited on them & served them a lovely meal on the house. Thank you to the management of this restaurant for taking the time to read my review & address this issue with my family & internally with their waiter.
I don't write this review lightly. The food was top notch. However, if it were possible to give service a negative star, I would. I dined this evening as a family of five. We ordered two appetizers, several sushi entrees & a couple of warm entrees all to be served family style. The appetizers were served together. A little while later the sushi entrees & 1 hot entree were served all family style. I asked the waiter about the last entree (a black cod) & he said it would be brought over when there was room the table. The table was cleared of all of the main dishes & the final entree had not been brought out. I politely reminded the waiter & he said they were bringing it out. After a significant time passed, the family was frustrated by the fact that all entrees had been served other than the cod & requested the waiter to cancel the dish & get us the check. The waiter said he didn't know if he could cancel the fish. We simply wanted the check & wanted to leave. He brought us the check & said the cod would be right out. I reiterated that we no longer wanted the dish. He took the cod off of the check & proceeded to berate me & try to give me advice on how to be a restaurant patron, advising me in the future that I should tell the server if I was under a time constraint. I proceeded to tell him it wasn't about the time constraint, it was about proper service of food to a family, not serving all entres at once & leaving one out to be served when they felt like it. I have never been treated so rudely by a waiter in my life. Regardless of the freshness & quality of the food, I would never return to this restaurant. For this price, the service should be good. Not only was the service not good, I would have had better service at a fast food chain. Shame on this restaurant for allowing its server to treat its patrons this way. I left this meal with my blood pressure sky rocketing & frustrated by this horrendous experience. I truly hope the manager/owner of this restaurant reads this review & considers who they are employing.
Dec 26, 2025
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Had the toro uni ikari sushi with a side of the honey miso glazed cod cheeks. The sushi was crafted by the left handed master chef & was one of the best dinners I've ever had. Smooth & balanced with just the right amount of rice & fish to go with the pops of big & little roes. The cod cheeks were perfectly prepared & delicious! Location is very close to Atwater station where I was catching the airport bus. I would definitely return for another crack at their menu.
Super service & ambiance très agréable, rien à redire de ce côté-là. En revanche, les plats manquaient un peu de peps côté sushis, & les portions étaient petites par rapport à des prix assez élevés.
To be honest I'm very confused... This restaurant has been on my to go list for a while & tonight my husband & I decided to do a spontaneous date night, so we went & ordered the tasting menu. First dish was the scallops with cravier. Was decent but nothing was impressive ( very salty, flavor, texture, taste etc.) then second dish was ... A tomato, so I'm guessing the important part of this dish is the mousse? The tomato doesn't even taste tomato. The flavor was flat, & the tomato slice was too large & thick, hard to bite. The sushi was decent, 5 pieces. Then the last dish was soba noodles stir fried with chili oil & a few slices of cucumber. Again another confusing dish. Eventually we paid $100+tax for the 4 dishes. & had to wrap up the night with 2 hotdogs cause we were starving after the meal. Maybe that's the normal standard with restaurants nowadays? I'm not sure. It felt almost like a scam... It kinda explains why the restaurant is almost empty on a summer Friday night. The environment & service was very nice though. Won't come back. Hope we were just unlucky!
One of my favorite Japanese restaurants with both fresh sushi/sashimi as well as mazemen noddles. It also accommodates for vegeteiran options as well. They also have a great drinks & sake. Last but definitely not least, their staff is incredibly kind & even accommodates children & infants. For budget friendly options, they have an omasake (chef's choice) from Monday to Wednesay 3 course meal for 45$ which is incredible value (we had lobster & octopus included)
Truly top notch service. The yuzu lemonade was delicious, & so was the karaage. The rest was just okay. We had the torched salmon sushi which was fine, the crab baos which were overly salty & mostly tasted like soy sauce, & the open sushi rolls that were honestly quite bland. The yuzu dessert was really not good. The cheesecake was overly compact & sweet.
Apr 27, 2024
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It's a chic restaurant close to the STM & extremely charming. The duck bun bao is absolutely incredible. The miso octopus is great as well. The sushi dishes are interesting & the menu is full of unique options.
