Ryu

Found this place on accident thinking it was a place we had gone last year while visiting from the states. We were so happy we found this gem! The food was so unique and flavorful. We both loved the soy paper used instead of standard Nori on multiple selections! Also, I wasn’t drinking alcohol and asked the waiter if he could make me “something delicious and fruity and non-alcoholic”. He understood the assignment and I ordered a second it was so good! Bookmarked this place for the next time I’m in town. Only negatives were that the music was terrible for a higher end sushi place (90s hiphop / pop music) and waiter was a little slow despite there being tons of staff in a tiny spaced and very few guests. Would absolutely come back though!

Final Meal Stop on the 1100 mile Jon Batiste, Uneasy Tour, Toronto/Montreal Stops Road Trip!! I drove into Montreal the afternoon before from Toronto see Jon Batiste at MTelus (YIKES! I was pretty sure that place might collapse on our heads during the concert…). Spent the night and (of course!) I decided to have lunch in Montreal before heading back south to Vermont. So I looked for a sushi/Japanese spot. Because thats my fave. And Montreal did seem to have a Japanese “presence.”… “Seemed” being the operative word here…. Look. I’m that person who spends actual TIME doing all my due diligence/online research regarding everywhere I’m going to be dining out and I did all that for Montreal and I chose Ryu. I looked at photos and menus online. Place seemed legit. But, then again, this would be my first foray into Montreal sushi… And I should say that Ryu is my ONLY foray into Montreal Sushi. But I am here to say that Ryu is NOT legit. I don’t know if Ryu is representative of the Montreal sushi scene ?? I hope not. Because that would not be a good situation. Ryu is located right in the beautiful downtown area near the Cathedral etc. Gorgeous. Street full of restaurants full of business people on their lunch. It was given Upper East Side… So my expectations were kinda high. They should not have been. Ryu is GORGEOUS. Beautifully designed interior! Except for the bathroom?? That was fine entering - since the door pushed in. But the space is tiny and then you need to figure out how to pull that door in AND somehow fit yourself beside the sink…??? This is NOT a “larger bodied” safe space and that is NOT OKAY…DO BETTER QUEBEC. #eyeroll The thing is they’ve expended all their energy/capital on the gorgeous design of this spot and they’re cutting corners on the food. Which is super not cool. BECAUSE it was such a beautiful looking place I ordered Avocado Tacos. Because I “assumed” they were using legit, fresh ingredients. They are not. I took one bite and realized they’d used “pre-smashed” avocado and some sort of horrible, premade taco shell. Awful. That was the only bite I took. I set them aside. They deleted them from my bill. Bar food. For drunk people. Yuck. I pressed on. As on does. Got the seaweed salad. Because it had so many “additional ingredients” I didn’t think it would be predominantly store bought seaweed salad. It was predominantly store bought seaweed salad… They denote the type of salmon on their menu for each item. So I asked what kind of salmon was in the handroll. “Atlantic” Which means that they’re using the most basic, terrible, factory farmed Salmon from Chile for most of their dishes and I just cannot stress how GROSS that is. The worst quality fish. In this spot passing itself off as super fancy. They told me I could get the good salmon on a handroll. I also got a Shiitake handroll. Which may have been the best thing I had at Ryu. DELICIOUS. I cannot recommend Rye. All show. No substance. Typical chain type restaurant just trying to turn a profit and cut corners wherever possible. Those tacos tho. SHOCKINGLY HORRENDOUS. Sports stadium type snacks…NO.

I made a reservation for an omakase on Friday and decided to order a drink as well. It was pretty pricy, 227$ after tax and tip. But I think it was generally a worthwhile experience, and I enjoyed everything I ate. It came in 6 parts: 1. Miso Soup & Edamame 2. Sashimi platter 3. Marinated Seabass with greens 4. Plate of Mushroom and Scallop Maki 5. Nigiri Platter 6. Miso Ice Cream with Chocolate Mousse Cake For the most part, I enjoyed everything that was served to me. All the fish tasted fresh, and the presentation was pleasing. The waiter explained to me in detail what every plate contained clearly. I think the only part I was slightly disappointed in was the mushroom and scallop Maki. Not because it was bad, but it was odd that every other platter had so much variety or uniqueness, while I was just served 6 exact same rolls for this specific platter.

Wow another fantastic restaurant experience. We ate here on Sept 11 and arrived with high expectations. We were definitely not disappointed. We had a multi course meal accompanied with a Sake tasting experience. The entire meal from beginning to end was delicious. Every serving was well presented, perfect temperature and came with an explanation to what we were about to eat. The sake tasting was also well done also with a great explanation of each type of sake. Well done to the team that made our meal a very memorable experience. The restaurant itself has nice decor and is very clean and organized. I definitely recommend this restaurant.

Overall quality of sushi was great. Ordered the hamachi aburi. Really liked that the rice was not fried. Also ordered the Mr Maguro and White Dragon. Both were tasty. Also ordered the spicy edamame which was not spicy at all. The only downside was there was no menu for wines by the glass so the waitress told me what wines by the glass they had. She should have told me that the wine I picked was $25 a glass. A bit overpriced on that.

Service was quite bad, the servers were really unfriendly. The food is decent but does not live up to the price tag. I don’t recommend this place but if you must go, order the makis rolls and stay away from their mediocre sashimi.

I had an incredible dining experience at Sushi Bar Ryu in Montreal. The tacos as an appetizer are an absolute must-try. They were incredibly flavorful and set the stage for a fantastic meal. The sushi, as expected, was exceptional – fresh and of the highest quality. However, the most surprising highlight of the evening was the dessert. It was truly one of the best desserts I've ever had. Sushi Bar Ryu goes above and beyond in every aspect, and I can't wait to return for more of their delectable offerings. This is a dining experience you won't want to miss when you're in Montreal und love Japanese cuisine!

Had a great time. Sushi was well made, drink I ordered, shishito Margarita, was delicious. Server was friendly as was the manager who was able to seat us even though we had an infant with us and no reservations.