I wish I could leave a review without any rating, because I'm not sure if what I experienced is just the norm in Montreal. I'm just going to explain what I experienced, and you can decide if that's how it's supposed to be. The maki is quite different from what I've had across Ontario and the Mediterranean. It has almost no rice; I know cheap places put too much rice, while the maki here had only a single layer, one grain wide. Usually the fish in the maki is made in chunks, whereas the tuna maki seemed more like thin shreds mixed into a cylinder. The mouthfeel was totally off from what I expected; usually the fish slices cleanly with each bite, whereas here there was a bit of chewiness for lack of a better word. Despite having no cucumber in the maki, every bite tasted like it to me. I'm not sure how that could be if there was no cucumber sauce. I'm not sure if there was something off, or if this is just how it's supposed to be. Perhaps all the "raw" sushi I've had in the past wasn't as "raw" as I thought it was. The owner/manager could clearly tell we weren't enjoying ourselves, and after admitting we didn't like the meal, she refused to take our money. I didn't really know how to feel about that at the time. Kind of guilty. But in retrospect, I wonder if it's meant to encourage only good reviews. I can't fault the logic of it, but with the bipolar review system, it does discourage nuanced discussion. Ever since the meal, we've had uneasy stomachs. But I still don't know if we just can't handle "real" or "Montreal" sushi, or if something really was off with out order.
