Matsu Sushi

CLOSED! Alas, Matsu is no more. I am so sad that the best sukiyaki in the puget sound is gone. Thank you for the many years of wonderfully tasteful cuisine. You will be missed.

My Japanese friend and I went here for lunch last week and she really liked it and wants to go back. I had the Bento Box and it was definitely worth the price. My friend ordered a variety of sushi pieces from the menu. And the service was great.

I came in here on a Friday night with the boyfriend, because he was craving Matsu’s signature teriyaki chicken. I agreed to go when I realized it had been a while since I enjoyed delicious tekka don shaped into a beautiful rose from the house sushi chef.
We didn’t get what we came here for. In any way.
Immediately upon entering we noticed that things looked different. I wouldn’t go as far to say «remodeled» because it didn’t look complete. They kept the most outdated stuff from the old décor, and the new stuff didn’t quite fit. Coolers and tanks were set up near the front, nearly half the seating was gone. We sat there idly for a few minutes while a group of younger people stared back at us. None of them were eating sushi. In fact, I noticed the giant bowls of soup in front of them didn’t resemble anything I knew to be on the menu. We continued to stare ahead at the sushi chef that looked much different and younger than the one I was used to, waiting for help.
Finally, a young guy came running out. Where was the old sushi chef or the sweet woman who always promptly greeted us? We sat down and were handed a one page, laminated menu. What happened to the heavy, multi-​paged menu? What happened to the warm towels that would arrive the second you were seated, before? That’s when we got it: They changed ownership. And as the experience went on, we realized it wasn’t for the better.
We were given tea without question but no water or other options for drinks until we asked. We ordered tempura to start. Boyfriend ordered the teriyaki chicken, and since tekka don no longer exists on the menu, I ordered a shrimp tempura roll and two pieces of salmon. I was told that there wasn’t enough shrimp tempura to do the tempura and my roll (on a Friday night?) so we had to choose one or the other. I decided to go with a plain jane cucumber roll instead. And, my salmon was ignored. It didn’t show up at the table, but it didn’t end up on the bill either. Go figure.
The tempura was just okay, but the sauce wasn’t right at all. The teriyaki chicken was not the signature teriyaki chicken my boyfriend was used to. This new chicken resembles what you would find at a teriyaki joint but didn’t even taste as well. The bad aftertaste it gave after I tried it forced me to eat the ginger that came with my sushi to get rid of it. It was also partially cold, and the rice it came with was cold. The cucumber roll was just a cucumber roll, and well, I have no idea about the sushi since I didn’t get any.
I watched the server look at us a few times to see we were done, but only after the 4^th time decide to give us the check. I guess the only upside here is that it was much cheaper of a bill than it would have been at the old Matsu Sushi. However, If we were charged the same amounts, it would be even more of an outrage than it feels like right now.
The old Matsu was outdated but it was cozy, inviting, and it felt authentic. Nothing about this place feels that way anymore. I feel guilty that I didn’t visit Matsu enough before to figure what happened to the previous owners. I can’t even express the sadness I feel that it will never be the same, and that my favorite tekka don spot is gone.
When reading other reviews, I noticed that the chef from the old O2 is the one behind the bar now. I guess It’s just as well that I didn’t have any sushi — I did not like the sushi at O2 even a little bit.
This place should change names so that customers aren’t duped into coming to it under the pretense (and Unilocal reviews) of what Matsu USED to be.
RIP Matsu Sushi. You were loved.

3÷21÷2015
well, hello there chef jin! where have you been? so glad to see you again!
chef jin is the new owner of Matsu Sushi. chef jin was the head sushi chef at O2 Sushi before it’s unexpected closure and sale to the current owners in 2014.
you all know how i felt about chef jin so i am thrilled to see him at Matsu Sushi.
currently, Matsu Sushi is open only for dinner. seems there are a few details that still need to be worked out transitioning to the new ownership.
it looks like it is chef jin with a young assistant behind the sushi bar, one person in the kitchen and a young waitress.
the sushi bar has been opened up. we actually could sit at the sushi bar, and not have to stare at a wall of sushi trays and sushi boats that barricaded the sushi bar. we could look into the sushi bar space, see the fish in the cooler and speak to chef jin and watch him work.
the old carpet has been replaced with a new wood floor. the middle row of the three two-​top tables are gone. i’m not sure what they are planning with that space.
there is a tank of live halibut and sea cucumber by the front door.
the menu is limited but focused and should have enough variety to satisfy most everyone. yes, there are plenty of sushi rolls.
the sushi and sashimi plates don’t list what will be on the plates. it is strictly up to chef jin to choose what he will serve. i like that.
prices are reasonable starting at $ 19 for the sushi or sashimi plates to $ 27 for the sushi/​sashimi combo.
as always, go sit at the sushi bar and order your sushi or sashimi plate and have chef jin fix you what is good and fresh for today.
tea served upon seating
small bowl of edamame and seaweed salad served
miso soup and salad.
croquette (korokke). two deep fried mashed potato dumplings (pancake style) with tonkatsu sauce. as expected.
gyoza: crispy deep fried. generous serving. as expected.
chicken karaage: weakest item. almost too crispy. not bad, but i’ve had better. very generous serving.
sashimi and tempura combo: beautiful cuts of fish and large tempura serving. great value.
sushi plate: nice presentation and generous slices of fish. 8 nigiris and 2 rolls. you get one nigiri of each fish so you can taste a wider variety than if you were served the common 2 nigiri serving per fish. the rolls were tekkamaki and kyu maki. these are very tradtiional hoshomakis. another great value.
we were spotted fresh sea cucumber and little bitty deep fried baby octopus.
the sea cucumber will most likely be an acquired taste, but adventurous folks may enjoy. it smells and tastes like the ocean breeze.
the baby octopus were one-​bite tender. it’s not on the menu but i would order this the next time if chef jin has any on hand. i think he serves these to the sushi customers or heh, to people he thinks would enjoy them.
fresh fruit served was served at the end of the meal.
service was satisfactory except at the very end when we had to ask for our checks. it apperas our waitress was doubling as kitchen help. she was cheerful and pleasant.
all in all a very satisfying dinner. if you give chef jin your email or phone number he will alert you when he brings ins some special fish. welcome back chef jin!

This used to be great sushi. New ownership now which doesn’t appear to be Japanese anymore. There were subtle things that gave away the lack of attention to detail that used to be here. The part that stuck though was that I ordered the matsu plate and came home sick. Needless to say, not coming back.

This is a run-​of-​the-​mill sushi restaurant… especially for the Seattle area. The food and service were good but the décor and ambiance were apt for the strip mall that this place lives in. Inexpensive, plain-​jane sushi… get yours to go.

I have been a Lynnwood resident for about 10 years and Matsu Sushi has always been one of the best kept secrets around here. It certainly was the best place to go if you were looking for a calm soothing atmosphere after a rough day and authentic Japanese food for that «umami» flavo
Last night’s visit did not go well. I noticed the change of décor and the server told me that they were under new ownership for the last 6 months. Gone was the relaxing Japanese music, replaced by ubiquitious K-​pop. I noticed something was off when instead of the usual Japanese appetizers, they presented me with kimchi, pickled onions, and squid jerky with hot sauce (traditional Korean appetizers, banchan).
Weird, I thought.
I had ordered the deep fried squid, ika-​karaage. When it arrived, it did not come in soft pillowy sections coated with crispy deliciousness. They served out full sections of squid tentacles that looked roughly beheaded and worse, it was ROCK HARD. I mean it was cooked, not frozen, but I spent 5 minutes chewing on that tough piece of leather.
The tempura was a disappointment. The batter was not light and crispy. Everyone knows youre supposed to chill your tempura batter in ice water to get it the right spidery consistency when it fries. My tempura arrived coated with THICK batter that it looked like my prawns and vegetable were coated in a MUSHY cocoon. To make it WORSE, the vegetables were LIMP and MUSHY when they were supposed to be crisp. The only points the tempura gets is that they gave me 5 pieces of large shrimp (usually Matsu Sushi only gives out 2) which unfortunately was poorly cooked.
NEVER COMING BACK HERE AGAIN. EVER. What a disappointment to have a 5 star restaurant go down to a Teriyaki joint and not a very good one at that.

This is our favorite «go-​to» Japanese restaurant. Yes, they have sushi but they have many more authentic Japanese dishes on the menu. This restaurant has a sushi bar, but beyond the «typical» American expectations, they have much more to explore on the menu. We have never been disappointed… always happy with the attentive service. The portions are beyond generous. Happiness… is a special Japanese restaurant.

Under new ownership. They have cleaned up the place, which is nice. No longer run by an older Japanese couple, now run by a nice Korean family.
Flavors are not there, homespun feeling gone, and their tempura is just terrible.
At the time or our visit, several items on the menu were no longer being served that had to be pointed out after we tried to order.
Basically this has turned into another Teriyaki and «sushi» joint.
I’m bummed…

The owners of the original Matsu Sushi retired (early 2014) and sold the restaurant, but it re-​opened under new ownership with the same name. The new owner did some minor re-​modeling of the interior. The menu remains mostly the same. The menu prices are slightly higher, but not so high as to be a dealbreaker.
I really enjoyed the food of the original Matsu Sushi since it served food that was very similar to what my Japanese mother cooked. When she visited me, I always took her there and she too enjoyed the food.
Although the new owner or owners kept many of the same menu items, the quality isn’t the same. My biggest gripe was the rice wasn’t cooked properly (too dry or too old) which is cardinal sin for a Japanese restaurant. The breading of the deep-​fried pork cutlet in the katsudon and tonkatsu was too flimsy. The beef sukiyaki was served without any shitake mushrooms and the beef was tough. No miso soup was served with meals. I’ve only been there twice so my experience is limited, but that’s my initial impression.
Since there’s new ownership, there is probably growing pains. There aren’t too many similar Japanese restaurants in the area. If they can improve the quality (taste) of the dishes served, the new ownership can carry the banner (reputation) of the original Matsu Sushi. Hopefully, they’ll succeed.

So I’m not often moved to write reviews but when I am it’s because I believe it’s worth sharing…
This sushi joint is well worth a visit. Tucked in a very unassuming and rather sketchy looking strip mall this is one of the most authentic sushi bars I’ve found on my US travels so far. When you walk into a sushi bar and see a live fish tank with product in it you clearly know it’s fresh!!! The chef, a classically trained sushi chef, literally came to that tank a couple times I was sat there and grabbed some seafood and prepared it. Sitting at the bar I watched live shrimp put on a plate in 30 seconds, and a whole live halibut dispatched and served up to three tables is 5 mins. Also got talking to some obvious regulars, a family where the dad had brought in the shrimp he’d caught earlier that day off his boat and the chef was serving that up.
It’s no frills so all you shishi Los Angles folks don’t expect fancy but it’s pure, honest down to earth Japanese style sushi and well worth a try. I known I’ll be back!!!

Finally got a chance to try this place after hearing great things from several people. We had a great experience. The fish is SUPER fresh and the menu is simple and authentic. I went with a more omakase experience, which I never do, because I got the feeling I would be in good hands. It definitely paid off. Great cuts of fish that melted in my mouth! The hubs ordered a «fru-​fru» roll (shrimp-​tempera-​california-​type thing) which he wasn’t super impressed by, so I would suggest sticking with the basics, which they do well. The spicy tuna roll was fabulous. We also tried the miso black cod and we devoured it to the point of licking the bones. SO GOOD.
The location is rather tucked away in a small strip mall, but most map apps will be able to find it no problem. Google maps took us right to it.

You may be able to find comparable sushi elsewhere in western Washington. Matsu Sushi does it fresh and seasonal, straight forward, no nonsense. Very good!
But you won’t find better beef sukiyaki in western Washington. I’ve been looking. Nobody does this dish better than Matsu.
Go here for beef sukiyaki!
The missing star? They’ve stopped being as careful and detailed in their service. No more hot towels, less cheerful greetings, louder music… just details. Still the best Japanese food north of Seattle.
Get some while you still can!

Matsu Sushi is, perhaps, the reigning «senior» member of Japanese cuisine within Lynnwood city limits. In late 1999, Chef Matsushima took over the spot that once housed Tsuruya restaurant in the quiet Highline Plaza and quickly upgraded the quality of truly authentic Japanese cuisine. For a short period of time, Matsu’s competition was Sushi Taka, Taka Sushi, and Edina Sushi, with Sushi Moto of Hwy. 99 all providing formidable challenges. Today, Matsu Sushi stands out for its consistency and top-​to-​bottom scrumptious offerings.
I have dined here at least fifty times and this place is one of the last real Japanese restaurants that offer a 100% real-​time, 100% Japanese atmosphere in dining. From the décor to the music to the utensils/​dishware to the «smell» of the place, this is exact dining like you were in a small neighborhood in Japan.
There are no losers on the menu so feel free to pick whatever you fancy. For lunch, I always go for the «daily special.» For $ 10, you get a full-​throttle meal of the classics. As for dinner, start off with a large Sapporo to whet your palate, then go for it.
The sashimi and/​or sushi platters are stellar. While anyone can cut a fish and slap it on a ball of rice, Chef Matsushima maintains strict quality control and uses only the highest-​grade sushi-​level rice and you can taste the subliminal difference. The standout cut of fish here is the salmon. On most occasions, you will receive a deep orange pigmented slice of flesh that is bursting with the essence of what salmon is and should be. And, the meaty texture is firm and slick with omega-​3s.
Just as exceptional are the fried menu items, specifically the «katsu» or cutlets. A really good Japanese restaurant prides itself on its breaded and deep-​fried meats and this one is a classic. Crunchy but not over-​greasy. Flaky but not burnt crispy. And, the meat is juicy, not dry. I have spent as much as $ 25 for a thick cut of pork cutlet in Tokyo so I know what it is like to be in katsu-​heaven. This place does it best here.
The chef’s daughters only make a rare appearance as servers, unlike in the past, but the service continues to uphold the tradition of high expectations when dining Japanese.
This place will not be around forever so get here soon for a fast-​disappearing glimpse of what ubiquitous fine Japanese dining used to be.

This place use to be my favorite until a few weeks ago… there were only a handful of tables in use when we got there at 5:45 and yet it took over an hour for our order… we had ordered 2 extra items to go so my husband could have something for lunch next day and when we finally flagged down the waitress for our bill and the to-​go portion of our original order she must have forgotten to turn order into chef because she came back and said it would
be another 20 minutes… we said forget it… by this time it was already almost 7:30. We also noticed the quality of the maki rolls was not up to par… have decided to find a new favorite sushi bar.

Ordered sukiyaki, ebi and spicy tuna tonight. And some mochi — green tea and red bean. The portions are huge! And the dinner comes with salad and soup. It was fresh and absolutely delicious. It is family owned so they are so friendly and go above and beyond.
We have had chicken and beef teriyaki before along with Udon and it was Delish then as well. Great food, great service and great environment. And there were tons of regulars that came in while we were there and they knew everyone’s name!!! Love this place

I’ve been on a mission to try new sushi spots in the Edmonds/​Lynnwood area.
Matsu was next on the list. The Unilocal reviews are very hit or miss so I was unsure what to expect.
The spot is pretty hard to find. I actually drove right by it twice before realizing where it was… but that has nothing to do with my review.
A friend and I arrived around 8 on a Friday night. There were 2 other parties there, so rather quiet for a Friday night. The menu was pretty standard, which was disappointing. I appreciate when sushi houses feature a handful of uncommon options.
Our order: house salad, scallop sashimi, spicy scallop, toro sashimi, spicy tuna, shrimp tempura roll, soft shell crab roll. We also had 4 bottles of saki and a couple tall Sapporos.
The scallop sashimi was very good. Very melt-​in-​your-​mouth. The tuna was totally average. The spicy tuna was … not. It was definitely just a tuna roll, and really nothing other than tuna, rice and seaweed. This was about what I’d expect to find at the grocery store.
The shrimp tempura and soft shell crab rolls were also fine, nothing special.
Total bill was $ 100 +tip, so about average prices, maybe a little on the cheap side.
Overall, it was good, not great. Pretty average across the board. Not a mistake to try, but probably won’t be back. There’s better in the area.

Matsu sushi was located in a strip mall that doesn’t seem to have any interesting store…
It was a small cozy Japanese eatery. Nothing trendy or big sushi menu.
I tried a few appetizers, calamari, tempura, sunomono (cold seafood appetizer), Kani croquette (imitation crab and mashed potato inside) and boiled spinach. Nothing stands out but all were OK.
Portions were not big as other Japanese restaurant nearby.
They have daily specials posted at the sushi bar area so check it out in addition to the regular menu.

I looked for the best sushi in Lynnwood and had to choose between these guys and another one (right across the street). A friend and I found ourselves here and I’m so glad we did!
It’s nice inside, the edamame was delicious. We ordered 5 rolls to split between the two of us, and each bite was wonderful in every way. If I had the money to go out (and felt like eating white rice for the rest of my days) I’d go here daily.
Recommended if you like yourself a simple, delicious sushi roll. Go for it!

I realize they have this in fine print on the menu, but still. They were going to charge me extra to switch out tuna for cucumber rolls. I think that’s ridiculous. I feel that they should go out of their way a bit for customer satisfaction, esp. considering how many years I’ve eating there.
That being said, cali rolls are still creamy good, unagi is still grilled and sauced to perfection, and miso soup is still not too gritty.