The Point Transformed

The Pitch

One of Montreal's several neighborhoods to catch the gentrification bug over the last decade is Pointe-Saint-Charles.  Also known as "The Point", the borough running along the Lachine Canal has had a history of anti-gentrification.  The former working-class area had successfully managed to reject a few major projects; but ultimately succumbed to the condo boom of the 2010s.

One casualty of these developments is Magnan, the venerable tavern known for its roast beef, around since the 1930s!  The Saint-Patrick Street institution overlooking the canal would close in 2014, making way for a new condo building to replace it.  It would take until summer of last year for the project to take its final form, which would include a new restaurant row on the ground floor housing four new addresses.

One of those, the corner spot, would be occupied by Shushuto Bar à Ramen + Tapas.  My original plans for this Saturday night involved a different address, but those fell through.  I therefore pivoted and thought I would try this Japanese eatery, a reservation at which proved easy to nab the night before.

tagged:  NO NEED TO RESERVE

The Mood

I get irked by restaurants with the word "bar" in their name when they're neither drinking holes nor does their bar cover much of the dining area.  Shushuto strikes out on both labels.  Big in Japan is a drinking bar, Tsukuyomi is a ramen bar; Shushuto is neither.  It is simply a restaurant with a bar; what restaurant does not have a bar (don't get me started on restaurants with "kitchen" in their name)?

Back to the subject at hand, Shushuto sports a clean, sleek interior which looks quite attractive and inviting from outside.  Wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling windows blur the lines between interior and exterior, affording diners a great view of the canal's shores and the throngs of people enjoying them.

The contemporary interior mixes various colors and textures, chief among which is the corner bar with its red/pink tiling taking center stage.  For tonight's service, the dining room was at half capacity; not ideal for a Saturday night, but the lack of outdoor seating may work against Shushuto on warm nights.

The Food

As the "Bar à Ramen + Tapas" descriptor indicates, Shushuto's offering revolves around these two categories.  A page of "tapas" such as edamade, karaage, bao buns and maki rolls is followed by a variety of ramen soups (with or without broth) and udon noodles (yaki or carbonara).

There is also a vegan section of the menu for items such as zalmon tartare, "vegan tuna" nigiri and tomato maki – abominations I would not be caught dead ordering.  Libation options abound from sake, beer and wine to signature cocktails, sake cocktails and mocktails.  We started off with a glass of white wine and a New York sour, which was pretty and well made.

Our opening dishes scored points with tender, lightly-battered karaage and fluffy bao buns stuffed with crispy soft-shell crab and crunchy veggies.  These were followed by a platter carrying two dismal sushi orders.  Spicy salmon and shrimp tempura makis tasted decent, but were rolled so poorly they fell apart upon touching.

Lastly, our beef broth ramen came in an awkward, boring bowl but was very generous with cubes of tender beef.  Alas it was cheap on the noodles and veggies and – blasphemy! – lacked the essential egg.

The Service

While I found the food tonight to be uneven and lopsided but possibly redeemable, service is where things really fell apart.  We started out OK when a helper sat us at our table, handed us menus then called in our waiter to take our drink orders.  It would then take quite some time before he came back for our food order or to bring us those drinks – we saw them waiting at the bar for a while.

Things faired better after that until we received our sushi order, which came without soy sauce.  The same happened later with our ramen soup which we were sharing; we did not get individual bowls.  Both of these mishaps are minor and forgivable if it did not require us asking and reminding on several occasions.

Finally, when we saw that our second round of drinks was never going to show up even after finishing our meal, we asked to cancel it (after ensuring they were not poured already).  Regrettably, we were still charged for them when we received our bill.  Of course, our waiter reissued a corrected bill once asked, but the whole night presented a series of lapses endemic of inattentive, inexperienced waitstaff.

The Verdict

I realize this was one lengthy review; but there was a lot going on.  When a writeup is negative, it needs to explain in detail why; that's only fair.  Some dishes were good, but the whole proposition felt uninspired and uninspiring.  At least the setting is nice, and the price point is right.  Dinner for two including a drink each tallied up to $147 tax and tip in; we figured a night cap elsewhere was within budget.

Back to gentrification, you know a neighborhood has reached the peak of the curve when "commercial" restaurants backed by deep pockets have arrived.  Does Shushuto fall into this category?  Given it's part of a large family – Shushu bar à poke + sushi, Shushu Thai bar à nouilles + riz, Shushu bar à poke + sushi and Shushu bar à sushi + poke + ramen (that was a corny mouthful) – dare I say yes?

tagged:  SUBPAR

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Price per person:  $36.25