Matoi Sushi - Lunchtime Goodness

The rain is pouring, our stomachs are growling, it's time to find some lunch with the father and brother! We mutually agreed to pay a visit to Matoi Sushi, one of the better Japanese restaurants in the Tri-Cities.

Matoi Sushi opens for lunch at 11:30am, and we arrived just a few minutes after that. There were already two groups enjoying their lunch boxes when we walked through the door. The chef at the bar greeted us with a happy "irashaimase!" 

Miso Soup that came with our lunch sets

Once our order was put in, we were served the accompanying miso soup. Filled with MSG or not, it warms you up on a cold rainy day.

Grilled Marinated Black Cod lunch set ($11.50)

Ever since I first ate sablefish (aka black cod or butterfish) at Fleuri, the restaurant inside the Sutton Place Hotel, it has been my favourite type of fish. Super oily, moist, smooth, delicious...and expensive. I've been interested in trying the grilled black cod dishes at Japanese restaurants so I took the opportunity at Matoi Sushi to do so. I ordered the Grilled Marinated Black Cod Lunch off of today's BBQ Fish Lunch Special menu. 

Do not be too let down when the food arrives; the piece of fish may look tiny for $11 but remember, this stuff is like gold. I have to admit, my expectations where not too high, but I left the restaurant knowing I had discovered a new favourite. I appreciate that the piece of fish was mostly meat; I only picked out two or three bones. Although the fish was grilled, the texture slightly resembled smoked fish, laying in between grilled and candied. The naturally oily fish was kept moist as it should be. Nothing worse than overcooking a fish like sablefish or halibut. The marinated black cod was flavourful enough on its own to pair with plain white rice. I thoroughly enjoyed my precious piece of fish. When it's a small portion, I find that one can savour the experience better. Everything in moderation folks. 

The salad is composed of some mixed greens, a slice of tomato and a (I believe) house-made salad dressing. The texture is a bit grainy but it isn't greasy or too salty. A refreshing bite between eating the rich fish. My fish lunch set also came with a little bowl of cooked tuna and daikon radish in a savoury-sweet sauce, sprinkled with some sesame seeds. This little side dish was quite appetizing and I used it to eat my remaining white rice. Oh and see the little mound of wakame salad? I love eating this algae~

Bento Box C ($10.99)

This is the Bento Box C, consisting of 3 slices each of salmon and tuna sashimi, 2 slices of tamago egg (that looked a little grey-green...), choice of teriyaki (beef shown here), tempura, salad, and salmon gyoza (the special of the day). The waitress will ask you if you would like the bowl of rice that comes with the set. I assume that since the lunch box has so much food, many customers don't end up finishing the rice so asking might save them from wasting rice. 

It was my first time trying Matoi's sashimi and I must say, I am extremely impressed. The tuna literally melted in my mouth with zero effort! I don't usually like eating tuna sashimi, but this made me change my mind. It potentially could have been toro, the belly, which is very tender and soft. Their fresh and high quality sashimi makes me want to try their chirashi don!

I tried one piece of tempura, and it was a super thick piece of zucchini. The tempura dipping sauce is served steaming hot and after dipping my tempura into it, the coating went completely soggy. :(

I didn't try much of the teriyaki but it looked standard and a little bit on the wet side. My brother and dad each had one of the fried gyoza and were pleasantly surprised to find that it was filled with salmon! My dad thinks they may have been made in house.

Katsu Don ($8.99)

Recently, my dad and brother have really been into ordering Katsu Don at Japanese restaurants; I think they're on the hunt for one that matches up to the perfect one at Pioneer Saloon. Despite having a more complex preparation process, the katsu don came out pretty quick. The large bowl has a thick bed of rice with sauteed onions and a sweet-savoury sauce. I took a small bite of the katsu and it was fairly thick, tender, but no longer crispy since the egg and sauce soaked into the panko breading. It's kind of difficult to maintain a crispy katsu in a sauce-y rice so I won't deduct too many points. So enjoy the katsu don as soon as it is served!

Service was prompt up two when the restaurant is two-thirds full; there were two waitresses when we arrived and the head waitress came at around noon. The two younger waitresses that served us were very sweet and kind. They refilled our tea immediately after we asked and cleared our table once they saw we were done. As mentioned in my first post on Matoi Sushi, a small package of chocolate Pocky sticks accompanies the bill. A small but appreciated gesture, sure to make younger children (or those young at heart) happy. I will surely return to Matoi Sushi for more quality, yet affordable, Japanese food.

Note that they are closed on Mondays.



Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

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 ♡