We visited Montreal’s most cyberpunk spot
Notre rédaction a sorti ses plus beaux atours cyberpunk — lunettes augmentées, sangles utilitaires et posture de mercenaire urbain — pour aller vivre l’expérience Neotokyo sur l’avenue Viger. Ici, on ne fait pas que visiter un commerce : on change de dimension.
Our editorial team donned its finest cyberpunk gear—augmented glasses, utility straps, and urban mercenary posture—to experience Neotokyo on Avenue Viger. Here, you’re not just visiting a store: you’re stepping into another dimension.
From the moment you enter, the décor asserts itself. Harsh neon lights, signs in Asian characters, raw metal, exposed concrete. Your eyes are drawn to a succession of glowing screens hovering above the counter, like in a futuristic night market. It genuinely feels like a bar straight out of Cyberpunk 2077, somewhere between shady contracts and a never-ending side mission.
Neotokyo fully embraces experiential retail. The place doesn’t just attract—it immerses. Visitors become characters. You pose, observe, and stage yourself. The line between consumption, pop culture, and visual performance gradually disappears.
“Neotokyo fully embraces experiential retail. The place doesn’t just attract—it immerses.”
But behind the striking aesthetic lies a subtler wink. By reproducing cyberpunk codes—dense megacities, ubiquitous technology, nostalgia for the future—Neotokyo acts as a mirror. A reflection of an imaginary world that may not be so far from our reality.
In Montreal, a cultural trend laboratory, Neotokyo establishes itself as a living set, a hybrid space where commerce becomes storytelling. You leave with one certainty: the future isn’t always clean… but it is undeniably photogenic.
And what about the food?
That said, the immersion has its limits, most noticeably on the plate. While not disappointing, the cuisine clearly doesn’t aim to rival the boldness of the décor. The karaage chicken and octopus takoyaki do their job—nothing extraordinary on the palate. Here, the business relies primarily on décor, aesthetics, and the feeling of escapism to justify prices, which are based more on the overall experience than a standout culinary proposition. A conscious choice, reminding visitors that Neotokyo is first experienced with the eyes—and imagination—before it’s fully savored.
The details make all the difference. Red stools lined up like a retro-futuristic diner, acidic green lighting under the bar, deliberately cold industrial textures. Even a customized phone booth—a technological relic turned cult object—contributes to the storytelling. Everything here narrates a future saturated with signals, where humans and machines coexist without truly understanding each other.
