Big in Japan Bar - Montréal

Went in here with some friends from MTL. Walk down a tunnel with curtains and get to a long room with interwoven tall narrow bar tables. In the middle are servers in tuxedos serving drinks and taking orders. Cocktails are a specialty as are some snacks. Nice experience.

A couple of friends invited me to join them for drinks at this bar. I was refused entry by the doorman, who told me the place was full. I went to an adjacent cafe and messaged my friends, who told me they had just been...let in and that the place was far from full. One of my friends came to get me and I was allowed in with him. I asked the doorman why he had refused me earlier and he simply said that he does what he is told to do. Once inside, I put the same question to the bartender, who said it was probably because they had to rearrange tables, move things around, etc. My friends had seen no signs of such activity. By the way, I should point out that I was well and appropriately dressed in a new black suit and charcoal shirt with black dres shoes in mint condition. I was also very well groomed. So there was no question of inappropriate dress. Perhaps it was an age thing (I'm in my sixties) and perhaps I was deemed to be of a type that would not fit in, since most of the people there were younger couples. However, that may be, I didn't appreciate being curated in this way, nor did I appreciate receiving evasive answers to my questions. An establisment may create any ambiance it likes, and put on whatever airs that suits its fancy, but such shoddy treatment of an older gentleman says as much if not more about its true character. I'm not naive enough to assume that this is the only establishment on rue St-Laurent that cherrypicks its customers, and I'm well aware that there is a kind of febrile brittleness to much of what goes on in the more classy establishments on the street. I just don't appreciate being told tall tales. And I would appreciate a bit more basic respect and decency.

This will inevitably be one of the few terrible reviews of this establishment and there will still be an endless stream of customers because the space is gorgeous and fulfills all your speakeasy fantasies. But my experience here was a bit unfortunate.We walked in on a Sunday night and two people were already standing in what appeared to be a line, so we stood behind them. Lucky for them, two customers left and a waiter acknowledged that they could take those seats. No staff member came to greet us or to indicate the procedure for being seated. More people lined up behind us while we waited. When another group of two seated customers paid and left, people behind us in line just took those seats. Certainly that discourtesy is not the bar's fault, but when I flagged a staff member to explain that we had been waiting, I was simply told it's "first come first serve." I don't have a problem with that, but if I knew I should be hovering over guests about to leave, I would have. We did not opt to stay.It's worth seeing the space, and maybe the drinks are great, but, at least the night that I went, the staff was inattentive. If that's intentional, then I missed the memo, but for what is ostensibly a classy bar, it seems incongruous.

Le bar big in japan est dans l'esprit speakeasy, caché, coupé du monde.Trouver l'entrée fait partie du jeu! Et une fois a l'intérieur on y découvre une ambiance tres intime, idéal pour les couples. (ne venez en grand groupe, vous serez les seuls et l'ambiance ne s'y prete pas).Les cocktails s'alignent dans les 10-18 $, le service tres bon.

The bar and the atmosphere of this space was really awesome, maybe a bit difficult to get around inside. The drinks were fairly unimaginative, wished there had been more focus on mixology. Enjoyed our drink.