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| - From the moment I arrived in Montreal and walked along Saint-Catherine St, I couldn't stop but notice a line of people waiting hours to get into a tiny Japanese restaurant. Needless to say, I had to get in on the action as well. This, was more difficult than I had anticipated, and I strongly recommend my readers to get there either 10-15 min ahead of the opening hours, or get there a little later (maybe after the 3rd or 4th dinner rush).
After waiting outside for more than an hour, peering through the windows and waiting for people to leave, we were finally seated. And unfortunately, the long anticipation had raised the expectation and hunger levels exceedingly high. My girlfriend and I shared a 48-hr pork bowl, with the famous shrimp burger and okonomiyaki. Despite the publicity, I found the pork bowl to be just a little bit too cool and the rice a bit dry for my taste. The pork was certainly tasty...but if you didn't tell me of the hype, I wouldn't have guessed its significance. The shrimp burgers were definitely unique with the shrimp patty almost melting in my mouth, but the portion sizes were too small. As for the okonomiyaki, I've waited nearly 5 years since NYC when I lasted tasted its deliciousness, and unfortunately, when the dish was delivered, I devoured it post-haste, not actually noticing the fact it was kinda cold and the fish flakes had stopped moving and dried up.
Overall, too much hype for decent and authentic Japanese food. I will not argue its taste, but the wait was just unreasonable for the level of food. Still worth it...just won't do it again.
Food: 4 stars
Price: 3 stars (expect to pay about $20 per person to be actually full)
Ambiance: 3 stars
Wait: 1 star
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