Matsutake Hibachi Steak & Sushi

How I heard of this place: My friend Seraj introduced me to Matsutake when we were invited to celebrate his birthday at a hibachi restaurant.
Type of cuisine: Japanese, as well as hibachi-​style meals. Appetizers such as gyoza and chicken-​lettuce wraps, miso soup and edamame, as well as an a la carte menu featuring Japanese– and Korean-​inspired cuisine (teriyaki, steak, bengogi), a full sushi bar and their lengthy hibachi selections.
Ambiance: Nearly floor-​to-​ceiling windows surround the space that is Matsutake. The walls, unevenly cut stones in tans and browns, give the space a rustic, yet modern appeal. Fabric room dividers, like half-​curtains with sumo wrestlers and kabuki artists separate the space between the kitchen and the sushi bar, the restaurant and the restrooms. Small, wooden shelves host wooden model boats, ceramic vases, and Japanese style, laminate bowls and flat sushi plates. Inset lights line the high ceilings, creating dim, mood lighting, while round, brown-​colored paper lanterns with the bonsai tree and flower decorations fall over the sushi bar. Light, bamboo-​colored wooden chairs line the sushi bar, and are also found throughout the establishment, at tables separated by wooden banisters holding glass with etched flowers, creating a cubicle-​like space between parties. Lone paper umbrellas can be found over a couple of tables closest to the windows overlooking Wilson Boulevard. Three or four hibachi grills, with seating at the bar for eight, laughing and joyous, surprised and excited patrons, look onto the grill, where your chef entertains and prepares the meal you are about to enjoy.
What I ordered: To start, we had two appetizers, one Gyoza ($ 6.50), Japanese style pan fried beef dumplings, and an order of the Chicken Lettuce Wrap ($ 13.95), sauteed chicken with onion and mushrooms served with a pile of thin, curly julienned carrot strips and large leaves of iceberg lettuce. A large glass of cranberry juice was also ordered by our most hungry dining companion! I ordered off the Kids Menu, being a little less hungry than what I knew would come with the full order of hibachi. I went with the Steak & Chicken ($ 14.95), which came served hibachi-​style, with fried rice, two grilled shrimp and a selection of seasonal vegetables (broccoli, mushrooms, onions and bean sprouts). Two of my dining companions ordered the adult portion of Steak & Chicken ($ 25.95), one with steamed rice and the second with fried rice (for an additional $ 1.75). Each meal also came with miso soup and a salad of iceburg lettuce, red cabbage and julienned carrots. Our out-​of-​town guest opted for the Filet Mignons hibachi ($ 27.95). We had a shared order of the Filet Mignons & Chicken ($ 27.95) and our birthday boy selected the Lobster & Filet Mignons ($ 34.95).
What I loved: While most everything had the same flavor — lemon juice, soy sauce, salt and pepper — the shrimp were grilled absolutely perfectly. Soft, juicy and coral-​colored. The beef tender and and flavorful and the fried rice simple, yet abundant. The shrimp was so good, in fact, that I caught the morsel flung by our chef, in my mouth, on the first try, from at least five feet away!
Why I loved it: It is always a treat to meet your chef, joke with him and watch him in action, as he creates onion volcanoes, spins and tosses raw eggs without breaking them, and wows and awes with pyrotechnics throughout the preparation and creation of your meal.
Cost: Average to high ($ 24-​$ 35 per adult-​sized hibachi dinner entrée)

FYI, this place is closed. Sign on the door says there is no plan to reopen.

Their lunch buffet became a textbook example of a knee-​jerk reaction when the economics don’t match — increase the price and lower the quality.
Prices went up to 14.95 Miso soup watered down, no more seaweed salad («prices went up, you can order as a side»), sushi tastes bland, and they don’t put out new items to the buffet after 1:30 — it was almost empty! Even if you are there by 1 pm, this means you will get stressed!
And of course, always the smug faces of the 2^nd-​generation Asians who can’t great anyone and skip by guests with their bored looks. And what’s the thing with the broken main entrance door? Guests still have to use the side door, after two years!
This was my last time today. They are living off the NSF and other office bunkers around there, but I would be ashamed if I had to go there with colleagues.

My first impression wasn’t so great. When I sat down, a cockroach was crawling on the table. I’m not sure why we didn’t leave right there. My friend had recommended this place, and said it was very good. This is my first time here and that just doesn’t seem too promising.
I ordered the New York strip and the soup and salad wasn’t that great. The lettuce wasn’t that fresh, the dressing seemed kinda diluted. I asked for medium but my meat was definitely over cooked. But I must say that the portions here are larger than a typical hibachi place.
Overall, it’s just average. There’s definitely other spots in Arlington I would choose over this place. Probably won’t be coming back.

Lunch buffet review:
Specialty rolls are huge — almost too big to eat. Tuna quality is lacking. Spicy tuna is almost mushy. Chinese buffet items were good actually — green beans spicy and crunchy, snow peas cooked well, chicken and other items were pretty good compared to Chinese buffet places.
For the price ($ 17) for all you can eat lunch, I’d rather find a good sushi restaurant and order a single specialty roll. Quality over quantity wins out again.

I love sushi. I love coming here if I want my eat on of fish. Remember. This is all you can eat the confusing with authenticity great quality sushi restaurant.
I think if you order on the menu you can get some good quality sushi. But this is not one of my best. Love the salmon sushi. nut really hop up on mackerel, Love the tuna, California rolls on my list, Philadelphia rolls rocks, sometime they have some specialty rolls but not the same time to time, miso soup is very good, Some of the cook food I like.
But they thinking when you get the cook items. You get some rice. STOP, STOP, If so you be wasting something that yummy you can have. I take half of the rice off the sushi and eat with the cook meat. So I don’t have to get rice. :) To the end I wood rap some of the rice in my napkin and trash it. So everybody is happy and don’t let them catch you. :) ha ha ha. yep.
I come back to get my sushi on.
How Will S. got his sushi on. :)

With my favorite hibachi place closed (Hana Tokyo), bought a groupon to give this place a whirl. Since it’s in Ballston, parking did not come easy… had to drive around a few times on a Sunday night.
My husband and I both got the chicken hibachi. He ordered a soda, which came in one of those vintage glass bottles. Found out then there were no refills (and the bottle was eventually comped because it expired 3 months ago). The soup tasted like the canned chicken consommé I can buy in the store. Salad was ok. My veggies were not cooked enough, with part of the broccoli still being raw. My husband and I didn’t receive our steamed rice (wait staff forgot) until our chicken was ready. The only reason I’m giving this place 2 stars is because the chicken was pretty good. The «yum-​yum» sauce was okay, but it tasted just like Sumo’s in Alexandria (which I definitely prefer to this place).
Huge turn off for me was the bathroom. One toilet was completely clogged and the other had toilet paper all over it. It just wasn’t clean in there.
If not for the groupon, this place would have been a rip off. If you’re looking for good hibachi in the area, unless Hana Tokyo magically reopens, definitely head to Sumo. Better service, easier to park, MUCH cleaner, and bigger portions!

My goodness, where to start??? We went here with a Groupon and were disappointed from beginning to end.
— It’s several dollars more expensive than all other hibachi restaurants in the area.
— Soda is $ 2+ for a tiny bottle they bring out. No soda refills — get real.
— Soup and salad were decent but nothing special. We’ve had better.
— We looked at the chef at the next table, and he seemed to be burning everything, especially the eggs for the fried rice.
— Vegetables were undercooked, especially the broccoli.
— Shrimp were underseasoned and flavorless.
— The only saving grace was the chicken was good.
— Check took forever to come.
We won’t be returning.

CAUTION: Roach infested!!!
Went there on Tuesday to go eat dinner and to our surprise we weren’t there but 10min and already seen 3 roaches on our table!!! This was terrible because I already purchased my Groupon for this place & didn’t even get to use it, plus I love hibatchi style grills!!!

Food
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$ 21.95 Filet Mignon Hibachi
$ 24.95 Shrimp & Steak Hibachi
$xx Volcano Drink for Two
$xx Tuna Tataki
The tuna tataki, which I was gunning for last time, was… abhorrent. I’ll end there. Just don’t get it.
The volcano drink for two was nice and sweet, although the liquor holding the flame tastes pretty bad, haha. Like a shot of gasoline (absolut or some type of 51 vodka, I believe the description states)
The hibachi flavor was spot-​on, cheers! Delicious and I wish I had room for more.
Décor
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Refer to previous review.
Service
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Not much talking, but the guy performed his part well, although I have seen flashier and fancier, but hey, still fun to see. Got my medium rare mostly right too, so kudos, sir, kudos. And how have I never done the shrimp toss thing before!?! I distinctly remember a table just to my family’s for my sister’s birthday one year. Fun stuff.
Extra!
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— Parking on the street, free after 7pm I believe

I base my review on how food quality matches the price.
Habachi was decent, but it wasnt 100% authentic, and i had groupon.
Without the groupon, it would cost about twwentyfive dollars per person, and it would not be worth the price. Groupon price, however does match the quality. Without it i would not go again

I’m reupdating my review because this time, the bf and I ordered the sushi and teriyaki dish instead of hibachi, as we had when we last visited in March. We visited on a Saturday night with a group of friends and decided to share some sushi rolls. Seeing that that would not be enough for us and also envying our friend’s large teriyaki dish, we decided to also split a chicken teriyaki dish. The food was once again delicious (albeit a bit pricey for what we got). I have no major complaints.

I had an awful experience here. The food itself is about 3 stars but the service was terrible. This was our first time here and they asked us if we wanted hibachi or a regular table and I wasn’t sure what we were going to end up ordering so i asked we can order other entrees off of the menu too if I wanted something other than hibachi. They said yes but when I ordered they said we both needed to order hibachi entrees or we couldn’t sit there. Then they never brought us any refills or asked if we needed anything. And then there was no toilet seat on the toilet in the women’s room and no out of order sign. Not sure if that’s even legal in America. Not going back ever.

ROACHES!!! ROACHES!!! Just left this place after seeing SEVERAL ROACHES ON HIBACHI TABLE!!! We saw minimum of 4 on hibachi table and when my husband looked under the table, he saw way more squirming near the table!!! OMG. Seriously, GROSSEST thing we’ve ever seen! There were others eating sushi there. I warned them before I left and I hope they don’t finish their meal there! If dining area is that gross, you can just imagine how nasty inside kitchen is. Wow. Just unbelievable how these people have absolutely no regard for public’s health!!! And when one of the waitresses noticed what was going on, she just asked «do u want to move to a different table?» ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Atmosphere: Open, brightly lit in the Hibachi area. Casual.
Food:
We came here for the Hibachi! I am a big fan of Hibachi and they have some really great stuff here.
Chicken-​just typical, nothing special
Steak, Filet Mignon, Lobster, and Salmon and Shrimp were all much more special and better tasting. I highly recommend the Steak-​that was my favorite. The chef still asks you how you want it to be cooked so you can still get it however you want. Salmon’s portion is much bigger than I expected-​definitely worth it.
You can get Fried Rice (the only right choice) or steamed rice with your meal. It also comes with a chicken broth soup, a salad, and hibachi veggies. I think the portions are REALLY big and I was FULLY stuffed by the end of the meal without appetizer or dessert!
The Chef was fantastic of course. The show was great-that’s important for Hibachi afterall. The Chef really interacted with us-​he even offered my friend to try his egg flip technique (my friend failed of course). haha. Chef also clipped food into our mouths! Fun! Embarrassing when everyone failed but fun still (it turned some beer into egg-​beer or chicken explosions). The chef did all the tricks-​the onion volcano, the fireman, and everything. The only thing he didn’t do was the chef hat garbage disposal thing.
But really, Hibachi food was really really good and the «yum yum» sauce was awesome. Dip EVERYTHING in the yum yum sauce!
Parking: Park in the Ballston Commons Mall garage for $ 1 under 3 hours. It’s right across the street so super easy. Definitely a good hibachi place to check out!

Not sure what everyone is talking about…6 pm on a Tuesday night, and there was PLENTY of seating/​space to go around!
Split the Chicken Yakitori ($ 7); chicken and vegetables on a skewer; tasted pretty good to me!
Had the Sushi & Sashimi Platter (~$ 25); I’m not a food (and even more so, sushi/​fish) snob. I just know whether I like something or not, and I liked it.
Friend had the Vegetable Tempura (~$ 13) and he liked it.

Matsutake’s lunch buffet is fine, and it’ll do in a pinch, but no need to rush here. The sushi is OK — definitely not bad, but it’s a buffet, so you’re not exactly eating at a high-​end place. The side dishes look like mall Chinese food and taste worse, except for the lo mein, which was tasty. Service was fine and ambience is non-​existent. Go here for a cheap, quick, filling lunch or if you need room for a group.

This place is a perfect example of a decent restaurant being brought down by piss poor service. We were in the area on a weekend, in the mood for sushi and buffets are a great way to try out a place without spending too much.
The food was solid. They frequently refreshed the buffet and had a wide selection of sushi. The service is what killed the entire experience. The servers were completely engrossed in their own conversations, grouping together near the kitchen door, and oblivious to the patrons. People walking in and people already at tables were looking around for assistance, but getting absolutely no help.
Drinks took 15 minutes to come out and getting our check was another odyssey. It’s a shame because this place would be awesome if it didn’t have such crappy service. The only reason it got a second star is because of the strength of the food. I’d be hard pressed to return to this place.

I came here over the weekend for a group dinner. We sat in the back as the majority of the group wanted to do hibachi. Since I was going out after, I decided to do sushi to avoid the food coma later.
I got the shrimp tempura and crab roll and some salmon nigiri. Both were tasty, the fish was fresh and buttery, but the salmon was cut long skinny which was a bit strange. I found the rice was a little undercooked though. Props to them though for having the choice of the low sodium or regular sodium soy sauce as not all sushi joints have that option.
I got a flirtini (raspberry martini) which was really good.
I can’t speak on the actual hibachi food but found the chef to be one of the least skilled chef’s I have seen. I don’t think he said a word until he did the shrimp flinging at the end and didn’t have the usual tricks.
The waitress was attentive if not very smiley, but food arrived on time and waters were refilled, and they split the checks for the entire party.

I really like the lunch time buffet. I’ve been here about five times and it has been differen each time. However, if you come RIGHT at 12pm (when they open for buffet). Usually it tastes 10x better because its all fresh. The service is excellent and the waitress are very good at clearing the tables. They put the bill right on your table when you first sit. Which is kind of weird but makes a lot of sense. Because you dont sit there and wait for your bill. Sushi is good when you come when they first open. Otherwise its a hit and miss kind of thing.
Quick tip: sushi buffet is NOT open on sundays.