Osmo X Marusan comes across as a stylish, vibrant cafe in downtown Montreal with a lively vibe, strong coffee and a notable lineup of matcha and hojicha lattes, plus creative Japanese inspired sandwiches such as tamago sando and karaage sando and curry bowls; the space and terrace are great for studying or hanging out, and a casual DJ moment adds to the atmosphere, but the place is often crowded and loud with long waits for food at peak times, and some dishes or portions can feel small or uneven while service can be variable, yet the overall experience centers on the ambiance and drinks and many guests say they would return to try new items.
C'est un endroit sympa, le staff aussi. Mais en pleines saisons étudiantes, c'est plutôt insupportable comme endroit. Tout le monde est sur son ordinateur portable, ils prétendent tous travailler alors qu'en fait ils sont sur Amazon... Ils font semblant de ne pas voir que les gens attendent pour s'asseoir, n'attendent pas leur tour. Donc en effet endroit très sympa, bonne bouffe, juste une atmosphère glauque d'étudiants hyper égocentriques, & tellement névrosés qu'ils n'osent même pas regarder les gens dans les yeux, tellement ça serait admettre leur défaite face aux écrans qui leur prennent toute leur attention.
Apr 11, 2024
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Drinks - I've only had their matcha latte & it's good! No complaints! However!!! I thought I'd treat myself so I got a katsu curry for lunch. It looked great! Plated nicely but WOW was it bad. I couldn't finish the meal. The curry was tasty, but the katsu itself was the worst I've ever had. They didn't trim the silver skin off of the pork!! & if you've ever cooked pork you know to trim that stuff off before cooking. Silver skin doesn't break down when cooked & becomes tough & chewy because it's made up of elastin (versus collagen, which breaks down when cooked). It completely ruined the texture of the katsu. I forced myself to eat some of it (because I paid my hard earned money for it😭) before the texture of the meat made me feel sick. I let the staff know but unfortunately they weren't able to help & I would have to pay if I wanted something else. So I tried to make it work & took another bite of the katsu. It looked like lean meat so I thought I was in the clear, but the silver skin was hiding lmao! It was so chewy I had to spit that out too. It was as if I was chewing meat flavoured bubblegum. I've never experienced this when I've had katsu anywhere else. Truly such a disappointment. To make it worse, the rice was also mushy. How do you screw up rice if you're serving Japanese food? That was the icing on the cake. What a waste of food. All that is to say that I would not recommend the katsu curry.
The overall experience was good. However the drinks that we ordered, the limonade & the matcha latte were not strong enough for me. The matcha tasted almost like green milk. The curé was supper good, the egg sandwich didn't taste anything special, my expectations were kinda high due to instagram. The sandwich does look really good & aesthetic but it isn't worth the hype. But the overall experience was really nice.
Went there for late lunch (week-end). It was difficult to find free seats for 2 persons (lots of people studying/working with their laptops there). The food came out quite fast & the service was good. I feel like the tamago sando is a bit too hyped, recommended for those who never tried it. The taste was normal to what I expected. The katsu sando & the curry was yummy. The best part was the coffees! Would come back just for the Hojicha latte (with white choco).
Amazing cafe. The scotch egg sandwich was amazing. The iced matcha latte was also sublime. Also, there were no seats for my friend & I (it's very busy on the weekend) but the barista helped us find a spot & was super sweet.
Feb 5, 2024
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J'ai été extrêmement déçu de constater que lors de ma visite du café Osmo ce jeudi, 25 janvier 2024, il était absolument impossible de recevoir de la part des employés un service en français. Je ne m'attend pas ici à de la haute voltige linguistique, mais simplement quelques mots qui indiquent une forme de respect envers la société majoritairement francophone qui supporte ce café. Il semble malheureusement que ce soit impossible. Alors que le manifeste de la fondation Osmo, qui abrite elle même ce café, comporte un "engagement d'ouverture & d'inclusion", il me semble inquiétant de voir que cet engagement ne s'applique pas aux francophones qui le fréquentent. J'espère de tout coeur que la direction lira ce commentaire & apportera les ajustements qui s'imposent, avant qu'il ne soit trop tard & que nous assistions à la dégradation progressive de ce haut lieu de l'entrepreneurship montréalais.
Absolutely love this place, their tamago sando is phenomenal. The karage was also so tender & had a great crunchy coating. It's also one of the few cafes that has amazing drinks & amazing food! I'm a big coffee nerd & I usually find that places that serve food won't have quite as good coffee as a dedicated specialty coffee shop. But Osmo does both wonderfully & it's a treasure! It's a beautiful place, highly recommend their specialty lattes. The vibes are great for writing or any kind of productivity on your to do list, too.
The food is really good, & I love their matcha latte. However the music is too loud, I do not see the point in making the music so loud that it rings in my head, I can barely hear my partner speaking next to me. Please turn down the volume a little bit if possible, it's a waste of the space, amazing food & good drinks.
Dec 16, 2023
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A must if you're in montreal. We have a very good cafe selection & this one is at the top of the list. The atmosphere & decor are so welcoming & unique. The food is delicious & aesthetically pleasing. I recommend the iced hojicha latte, it's just sweet enough for someone who doesn't like coffee. The egg sandwich is very filling & not expensive for the quantity & quality you are getting. The eff & salmon one is my favourite so far, it's so comforting & tasty.
Came for the egg sandwich, stayed for the CURRY! Egg sando was definitely good, but I was blown away by the depth of flavor in the curry. It was a cold day & it warmed my soul. Will definitely be coming back with friends to show them my cool new find. Chai Latte was epic. Wish I took pictures, everything looked great, but I was super hungry haha
I enjoyed my veg curry. The only thing I’d say is I think the tofu had this airy dry texture & bland taste that made it require a lot of sauce to get the flavour & satisfying mouth bite right & while there was just enough sauce for that, i think it would have benefitted from more added to the bowl. The sauce was great : it had the flavour of a special curry & the texture of a lobster sauce. The pickled veg was a nice addition & the portion of rice was generous. I really appreciated the care that went into the green tea latte. It was my first time trying one & now my standards are high: wouldn’t settle for anything less fluffy, creamy & rich in that green tea powder. My friends & I sat on the terrace in the mid-fall so the wasps seemed to finally have gone on to other destinations & we were able to enjoy a peaceful lunch on a nice day thanks to the big picnic benches & calm minimalist modern atmosphere secluded from the streets. I paid at the front & paid tip before knowing I would have to go outside & wait & then come back to get my own tray to bring to my table outside which was all a bit difficult to navigate because when I left my table someone else took it because I couldn’t leave my stuff there unattended & if I had to have been carrying things with me other than my backpack & Fanny pack lol I may have dropped stuff or my tray but luckily no accidents happened. When my three friends ordered after me they were given a number & the waiter brought them their food & drinks. Seems like the logic is a bit backwards so hopefully this feedback is taken into consideration. I’d definitely come back to try other menu items especially on a day or evening with a dj
Enjoyed their tamago sando a lot, good iced latte too.
The only thing I didn't enjoy in particular were the jalapenos in the karaage sando, but that's a matter of preference.
The decor feels more like a cantine (netal tables & chairs), so wasn't that great but lovely place to have lunch nonetheless.
Sep 30, 2023
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Been here twice now. Can't beat the atmosphere!
First time I came I had a vegan dish I can't remember the name of. But it was really good & well portioned! Second time I had a matcha latte as I wasn't as hungry as my boyfriend was. Haha. He loves the chicken - Karaage dish.
The biggest win is that this place is dog friendly! Even inside the building. We are thankful that we don't have to leave our dog in the car or eat in the car.
