Matoi Sushi

Time for a GLO, Girls Lunch Out, with my two childhood friends. A get together before the meteoroids of school rain down on us. Our original plan was to get some Korean-style chicken and ddukbokki at Vesta Grill, but arrived to find it wasn't open on Sunday afternoons. So after sitting in a hot car for a few minutes trying to come up with new ideas, we decided to try Matoi Sushi.

It was almost 1:30pm when we step foot into this Japanese restaurant. I was surprised to find all the tables completely filled, didn't know Matoi was that popular around here! That is a good indication for either a) good food, b) good deals, or c) all of the above. A square table would've been more convenient for us girls to told a conversation, but sitting at the bar was a fun experience. We had some pretty good laughs from chefs overhearing our questions and comments. They gave us spoons when my friend refused to drink her miso soup without one, and corrected us when we were guessing what the 'special of the day' was in our bento boxes.

Specials at Matoi Sushi

We were provided with several menus, tea, and cutlery. The regular menu can be viewed online; there are also two special menus. The one titled 'Today's Special' are more appetizer or izakaya sized and the 'Lunch Specials' come with rice and sides. On a side note, the green tea Matoi Sushi serves has a stronger flavour and I quite enjoyed that. We were asked to place our orders not long after we were given menus because the kitchen was taking it's last lunch orders. The restaurant closes for a few hours in preparation of dinner.

Although I didn't keep track of the exact amount of time for our food to arrive, it felt like a slightly lengthier period of time. We were chatting a lot, but were also very hungry. Nevertheless, when the food arrived, we were blown away at the portions.

Udon Combo A ($7.99)

My best friend was going to 'be a rebel' and ordered Udon Combo A, which was a simple bowl of udon and seaweed with half a California roll. She happily slurped up her udon noodles and was so full afterwards. If I wasn't so full, I would've finished off her kelp. 

Bento Box A ($8.50) Top: with beef teriyaki, Bottom: with chicken teriyaki

The rest of us ordered the Bento Box A, with a choice of either chicken or beef teriyaki, plenty of tempura, a 'special of the day', salad, California roll, and some orange. Oh my. I had the box with the chicken teriyaki. The waitress also came by to ask if we wanted a bowl of rice to go with our box. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs at that point so we both said yes. I actually finished the whole bowl of rice (whoaa....) but she didn't. I guess that's why they ask first before giving it to you; it's a lot of food. We should've just shared one box. The chicken teriyaki was okay, I gladly cleared it off with my plain rice. The tempura was very crispy and I liked the assortment of vegetables; yay for kabocha tempura! The salad was dressed with an interesting creamy sauce; it's nice to have something refreshing to clear the palate. The 'special of the day', seen in the top right corner, was a salmon meatball drizzled with Japanese mayonnaise. It wasn't bad, but wasn't outstanding. We were too full to full enjoy it by then. I ate one or two pieces of my California roll and had to pack the rest home for my brother to eat. It was a standard California roll, could use more avocado ;)

Pocky sticks come with the bill!

We were some of the last customers to leave the restaurant. Our waitress came back before we were finished our meals to inform us the cashier was closing and we could still sit and eat after paying our bill. A small package of chocolate Pocky sticks comes with the bill, but only one package per table. Not a problem since we hadn't any room left in our stomachs anyways. It's a nice touch~

The service is friendly and still exists, meaning they will come refill tea without being asked to. Our waitress also split the bill for the three of us. I'm not sure if Matoi Sushi is Japanese run or Korean run, because the (main?) sushi chef at the bar spoke Japanese to some employees and Korean to others. It's quite neat actually! I had a great first experience at Matoi Sushi and will be sure to come back again in the future. It's nice to have more choices for sushi other than Sushi Town and  Sushi California.



Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡