Matsukado

Matsukado is now closed. FAIL.
They owe $ 30,000 in back rent. Good luck to the landlord trying to collect that sum!
From Eater:

Came here for lunch. The lunch special is a great deal with the ramens priced at $ 6.95 and you can order a mini don for $ 5 extra. Fantastic!
It’s exactly like your average local run ramen restaurant in Japan, and reminds me of my visits to Japan. In the East Village, most of the other ramen restaurants serve speciality-​type ramens, but Matsukado is like your regular ramen diner, which is what makes this place 4-​stars.
The noodle is nice and chewy. I had the Shoyu ramen and the broth tasted nice and light, but still quite meaty. My dining partner had the miso ramen and the broth was very tasty. I’ve probably had some better ramen before (which is why I didn’t give it 5-​stars).
I’d probably come back here to try the other varieties of ramen (there’s around 20 different types), but for the first visit, I had to try the simple types of ramens first. My theory is, if the regular ramen doesn’t taste as good, it’s probably not that great.

On my off-​day from work, in conjuction, of feeling ill all week from the nasty rain and cold to sunny mid 50’s I was hoping for Ramen noodle to soothe my throat and warm my insides.
Matsukado is CLOSED! The replacement restaurant is currently Spice Thai NYC.

Just went here today. Decent food. I had sansai ramen. They have a soy-​based broth so that works for vegetarians. Also obviously a lot of pork based options.
I thought the food was decent. Not the very best, but certainly good. The décor is kinda funky, it has a weird feel to it. There’s a whole library of japanese manga comics in the back, but they didn’t look touched at all. I don’t know if this is really a japanese hangout, somehow.
One more noteworthy point, they have BYOB, so bring on the wine!

I want to give Matsukado a 3.5. Not worth 4 stars but definitely above a 3 and here’s why…
Major Plus:
BYOB — and super lenient. We brought beers — they provided bottle openers. We brought rum/​vodka — we ordered sodas — they brought over glasses with ice and mugs. No questions asked. They even told customers, there is a deli around the corner — feel free to bring back whatever you’d like.
Extensive menu — decent prices. Sushi rolls range from $ 5 — $ 12. Entrees range from $ 8-​$ 15.
Good for groups — they take reservations and are super lenient. It wasnt so full on a Saturday night at 8pm. Went with a party of 8.
Why not deserving of a 4?
Food was OK — just standard for the price. This goes for katsu don /​/​chicken teriyaki /​/​sushi /​/​udon /​/​soba /​/​ramen etc
Service is REALLY slow for food… I suggest ordering appetizers to go with the alcohol you brought to last… at one point, they messed up our sushi order so it took almost an hour to get 3 rolls… they just completely forgot our order. Although service is very slow — the wait staff is really nice and patient. That offsets some the negative a bit. They also neither bug you to order in the begininng nor bug you to rush and leave in the end.
—I would come again if I’m looking to grab some food in my belly and pre-​game when I’m looking to go out in the East Village area.

Feed 10 hungry women on a Saturday night. What a challenge.
Couple of friends have been here and I’ve been warned there’s nothing to rave about. We were all starving, getting cranky and we badly needed an inexpensive place to eat A.S.A.P. I was tempted to say «peace out bitches» then run to Minca or Momofuku. But surprisingly I felt bad (not heartless after all) and gave in to trying Matsukado. It can’t be that bad.
Upon walking in, we were immediately greeted by a strong smell of liquor. Ha! So it IS still BYOB. Except for the 2 groups drinking up front, the place was practically empty. Interesting. Normally, if there is good food and it’s BYOB it’ll be packed right? Hmmmm. We sat towards the back where it was more calm.
I ordered Karaage (deep fried boneless chicken) and Chashu Ramen. To my surprise, the karaage was actually good. Crispy on the outside and moist inside. Unfortunately, the ramen wasn’t all that. The broth was okay. What put me off was how dry the roast pork was. It seemed pre-​cut hours ago. Yet, my friends roast pork looked moist. WTH?!
Pros: The décor is cool and the server was attentive. Inexpensive and BYOB

This place is now closed!
Matsukado is at the bottom of my Noodles list for sure.
The only couple of things I like about this place were the mural on the walls and the cute host. Other than those, a wash.
The noodle was plain, look and taste. I have never seen unattractive bowl Japanese noodles until Matsukado. The big thing was, they forgot to put in fishcakes, which according to the menu was part of the Chashu Ramen.
May be I am just picky, maybe because I don’t get to see my bowl being put together. Maybe I’ll come back and try the tapas… Maybe.

Two thumbs up for Matsukado!
Décor: When we first walked in, I immediately felt like I walked into a japanese diner, given the look of the tables and chairs. The mural on one wall was pretty cool and the exposed brick on the opposite wall gave the place a more vintage feel. The only thing that bothered me were the table legs. Not much legroom under there.
Food: BF and I were pretty satisfied with the food. We had the Kaki-​Age Tempura for appetizer, which consisted of julienned onion, sweet potato, seafood, zucchini. For entrees we got the Katsu Don Buri (which I loved), the Okame Udon (which was presented beautifully and had light fishy/​mushroomy broth) with a small bowl of Una Don. I’m not sure I would come here for the Ramen since there are lots of other really good places in the area. I was much more interested in the donburi above all else, which was why I decided to try Matsukado today. Overall we were very pleased with our meal.
Patrons: At first there was only one other couple dining in the restaurant, which I thought was odd for a Sunday afternoon around lunchtime. But after a short while a number of other Japanese patrons came in. I think it’s a good sign when a Japanese restaurant has a good number of Japanese patrons also dining.
Service: Our meals came out in a timely matter, though the service itself could have been a little more attentive. We weren’t given any napkins (though BF instructed me that Japan is like that in general), and it took a little while to get the server’s attention so we could pay. We werent in a hurry so it wasnt a big deal.
Overall, I would keep coming back if I ever crave donburi again :)

I came here right after it opened when they had their $ 6 mio ramen special. It came with 2 pieces of char-​siu, an egg, and some bamboo shoots. The bowl looked a little empty when the waitress first sat it down in front of me. The taste was fine, I asked for it «usuagi» meaning light flavored so I can’t really comment on the broth but my friend thought his was pretty salty. The noodles were fine but they were nothing special. With the competition in ramen getting more competitive, they need to think of a special twist to keep their customers coming back.

Thumbs up for BYOB and a place that has an extensive menu of ALL noodle types ranging from ramen to udon to soba! Also a large variety of japanese tapas. We ordered agedashi tofu, takoyaki, and a mushroom medley in foil wrap. I ordered the miso ramen, but thought it was a little bland. Many of the neighboring ramen houses make it better. I doubt the noodles are fresh and home-​made… didn’t taste like it. However, my fiancé’s curry soba was tasty. Our friend ordered the nabeyaki udon and he seemed happy with it. For an extra $ 5, you can tack on a mini-​don with your noodle order.

The first thing I noticed walking in here was just how empty it was. Matsukado is a relatively wide and expansive place compared to most of the other cramped east village japanese noodle houses so any empty seats will look that much more obvious. There were maybe 6 other people there and no one seemed to be in the talking mood so the top 40 soundtrack was clearly audible.
However it was a sunday night and the restaurant recently opened so I wasn’t going to hold the lack of customers on them. Plus, it’s BYOB (at least for now) so we had with us huge cans of sapporo, and immediately, the waitress provided us with glasses for our beers. In my head I was thinking how awesome of a place this would be for a big group dinner where everyone was looking to get bombed… but I digress.
As other Unilocalers have pointed out, the menu is LONG and there are at least 10 variations of ramen, soba, and udon. My ramen loving g/​f got the tonkatsu ramen while I ordered one of my favorites, shrimp and vegetable tempura udon. After watching my g/​f take a few bites, I could tell the ramen wasn’t one of her favorites – instead of a porky, rich broth, I tasted a watery and flavorless broth with noodles that were more soggy than chewy. My udon was a little better – the broth was earthy and satisfying and the noodles chewy but I really didn’t like the way they served the shrimp and veg tempura. Rather than having whole shrimp and vegetable slabs like you would normally see, Matsukado’s shrimp and veg tempura came sliced and diced so that I couldn’t recognize what I was eating.
Probably the best thing we ate all night was a fried octopus appetizer that was tender and fried perfectly. But if it weren’t for the sapporos we bought, I would’ve been pretty disappointed in the meal. If matsukado loses its byob, I don’t know what will drive me to want to return.

We would probably come back to try the other items on the menu, but what we ordered was fairly underwhelming We went there thinking that with the abundance of ramen joints in NYC, a new restaurant brave enough to take on the competition must be pretty exceptional. It wasn’t.
We ordered the standard Chasu Ramen and the Nabeyaki Udon, with a Takoyaki to start. The nabeyaki udon was fairly mediocre– very limited amount of chicken and broth too sweet. I did like that there were plenty of veggies in the bowl. Olaf thought his Chasu Ramen was also nothing special– broth was flavorless yet a bit too sweet and the pork not so good. Other ingredients were also somewhat deficient.
On a Wednesday night the restaurant was surprisingly empty and quiet. There were three other tables; one of which looked like it was occupied by the manager. I quite liked the décor a lot — very inventive graffiti logo — and the red chairs reminded us slightly of Daikokuya Ramen in LA that we visited back in October.
The ramen menu is extensive and prices are reasonable so even though the experience was not spectacular as we’d hoped, we are curious to return to try other dishes.

I know many reviewers have commented on the complexity of the broth here, but the bowl I had today was not up to par. The portion is average sized, no bigger than a bowl you’d get at Minca or Ippudo. My shoyu ramen was one-​dimensional, lacking salt and with no umami to mention. The base was bland: dashi and not much else. Noodles were doughy, without spring and cooked past katame. Two thin slices of the leanest chashu I’ve ever seen adorned each bowl, thin and overcooked. To put it succinctly, I’ve had better bowls at Narita International.
Ready for the good news?
The curry udon was great, chewy noodles in a thick flavorful broth (bear in mind that curry udon is a tough dish to fuck up.) The tonkatsu in both the curry and on my donburi were a bit dry, but still the right amount of crispy and toothy. The various small plates we sampled were all solid, coming out quickly and piping hot.
Service is pleasant, helpful, and quick. The interior is fun: rad KRESS mural, manga tankoubon lining the walls en route to the kitchen, cartoon animals in Sharpie reminding you to wash your hands in the bathroom, Marley and Beatles mini-​marathons on the soundsystem.
Overall, it’s a nice space with a laid back vibe and some decent izakaya-​type fare. BYO is cool for now, but I think I’d be more inclined to come here once they have their liquor license (especially if they get draft beer). Low 3 for now, but I’d love to come back once volume improves and give one of their weirder bowls of ramen a chance.

Got the lunch special miso ramen.
It was only ok, the broth was not very deep and a bit sweet for my tastes. A big complaint I have is the choice of pattern for the tabletops — it creates a weird optical illusion. Also the tables are a bit too high for the benches.
There are many other ramen joints I would recommend over this place. But go now to catch their (limited-​time?) grand opening prices.

Are you familiarized with the r/​K Selection Theory in Biology? 2 main strategies to survive: adaptation versus specialization … or high number of low quality individuals ® versus low number of high quality individuals with nobody else to compete successfully in that ambiance (K).
Being barely 1 month old, Matsukado is already known as a new hot joint for Ramen at the East Village that offer however not only Ramen but Soba and Udon as well, and what is more, almost 24 different types of Ramen, about 15 Soba, and another 15 Udon dishes in addition to Izakayas, Hot and Cold, fried appetizers and other comforting Japanese dishes as Donburi. I automatically wonder if Matsukado belongs to an r strategy offering all kind of Japanese noodles which could ended up that maybe they will never be the best; or a K strategy, with exceptional Ramen and noodles as decent competitors in the area to the ones offered in places as Ippudo.
Just one visit doesn’t give me the answer yet. Also, I couldn’t compare with the Ippudo Ramen, that I consider the top of the neighborhood, since they didn’t have available my first selection to compare, Vegetable Ramen over a miso broth soup. I just opted for the one that call my attention more that night: the Kimchee Ramen over Soy based broth.
The ambiance match perfectly well with the area where is located. There is not traditional Japanese elements but very modern instead; Street style with colorful graffiti covering one of the walls, black ceiling and a Kitchen in the back with a look that support the fact that Matsukado is a family-​owned restaurant. We went on a Wednesday night at 8 pm and there was plenty of space, even not 50% occupancy but we already saw a big group of 10 people and several couples arriving when we were finishing. The service was fast and very attentive but its noticeable they are new and our server couldn’t answer some of our questions without to ask and as I mention they didn’t have available some of the items in the menu which makes my friend and me re-​think about our dishes. Well, just one month old. Acceptable for me.
As I said I had the Kimchee Ramen; My friends opted for Udon noodles with sweetened deep-​fried tofu and Udon with mochi and shittake. We all were surprised how different the broth tasted among the three of them when it looked the same, in particular the Udon dishes. Any of them tasted as complex as the ones that I tried at the top places but again the ones that we choose can’t be compared to the famous Ippudo Ramen with a broth derived from pork, chicken or seafood and seasoned with other ingredients as miso or soy sauce, since its a different kind of noodles. It was a simple broth in this case, very clean which doesn’t mean it was tasteless. All the opposite in fact. The Kimchee Ramen wasn’t too spicy and I had to add extra spicy sauce. We all liked the noodle texture as well and I founded the mochi in particular exceptional. As well as the quality of the ingredients; really fresh. My friends also order croquettes and fried baby octopus and they said it was pretty good as well. A pleasant experience far a way from regular.
r-​selection predominates when the ability to reproduce quickly is crucial. K-​selection predominates however when the ability to compete successfully for limited resources is the issue. Low prices and plenty of choices could be the equivalent to the r strategy but Matsukado didn’t offer us average noodles that night and so can maybe ended up being a decent K type as another top option to survive in the Ippudo kingdom.
Taking Kain V’s words, spread the word and let us know.

went here last night with a group of 7 and was seated immediately. plenty of space, with an eclectic environment that combines graffiti art and cement floors with cute red diner chairs and checkered tables.
it seems like a solid standby when you don’t want to wait in line for ippudo, rairaiken, minca, or setagaya — and cheaper too! it’s not really specialized in any type of noodle, but don’t think that means nothing is good!
we started with the karaage, fried octopus, and grilled squid. couldn’t complain about any — the squid esp was nice and tender. not chewy at all. for mains, i had the $ 8.50 kimchi soba (hot) which hit the spot! soba noodles themselves weren’t anything to rave about (see soba-​ya or matsugen), but the shoyu-​based broth was clear yet flavorful… even after tasting my friends’ tonkatsu and miso-​based broths. the spicy tonkatsu broth was also good. not as rich and thick as ippudo, but i’d say at least on par with menkui-​tei and minca. the spiciness was higher than expected and it was incorporated into the broth, not just added as chili oil on top. the miso wasn’t ‘miso-​y’ enough for my friend, but i thought the fermented soy flavor came through enough — not overkill like rairaiken’s. another friend tried their udon and gave a thumbs-​up. had enough density without being too water-​logged.
their donburi was also generous and nicely balanced btwn sweet and savory. i’d definitely come back and order that when i need some comfort food…
i can see myself coming back here again and again, taking FULL advantage of the BYOB right now, and especially bc there’s no line… yet! oh, they were also nice enough to let us split the check on 3 separate credit cards!

With the neverending Ramen craze in the East Village, another Ramen bar opens and catches every Ramen lover’s attention. Most likely we’re wondernig if Matsukado can top Minca, Setagaya and Ippudo ???
Matsukado, a japanese chain from Yokohama is a ramen bar but with more variety than the usual bars which tends to offer just ramen and gyozas.
With a 6.95 Shio Ramen special I had my expectations real low. I figured they wanted to use the low price to attract people to try out this new place.
Verdict? The broth was bland, noodles were okay and the pork had a unappetizing smell and taste to it. Fail.
don’t think i’ll be coming back for a second shot unless they come up with a better special to lure me in again.

Great bowl of ramen for cheap. This is a new joint but the menu is very extensive. They have everything from Ramen, bento box, tempura to dessert.
I like their broth, flavorful, clear, and non-​greasy. I ordered the kimchee ramen and the only thing I wish they had is some meat in my bowl. The appetizers we got, which are the fried mackerel and fried boneless chicken, are both very crispy and delicious.
They don’t have a liquor license yet so take advantage of the BYOB!

Matsukado is pretty good. For my first time I got the Matsukado ramen, which is basically a seafood stir fry in gravy on top of noodles and broth. It might sound intense but it was quite easy to eat and quite tasty. The portions here unlike other ramen shops in NYC are very generous. The ramen here comes in huge bowls with plenty of springy ramen along with flavorful broth (not too salty!) as well as generous fresh toppings.
Matsukado’s menu is the most extensive I have seen at any ramen shop in NYC. They offer over 17 different kinds of ramen as well as over 25 different tapas cold and hot tapas. On top of that they also offer over 17 different udon or soba dishes. It gets even better, they also offer 7 different variations of donburi. Lastly they also offer over 12 different entrees. Yes I counted everything on their menu LOL. Just Incredible. The prices here are also very reasonable.
The service here is very friendly and super quick. Literally 5 minutes after I placed my order, my huge bowl of piping hot ramen was placed in front of me. The space is also very nice and unique. There’s plenty of seating and street art along the walls. It was quite empty when I came here on a Friday night around 6. I’m guessing because no one really knows about this newly opened spot yet. Don’t let this deter you from trying this excellent Japanese restaurant. I think I’m going to come back every week and try everything on their menu. Highly recommended! Spread the word!

I had a nice late lunch here today and couldn’t pass up the special combo offered: A large Miso Ramen $ 6.00 + «Mini» Donburi accompaniment for $ 5.
More than enough food for two normal humans… I had intentionally starved myself the day before as an excuse for Gluttony at Matsukado!
My Katsudon came out quickly, and was a delicious helping of fried Pork Cutlet mixed with egg and onion over rice. Followed by an enormous bowl of Miso Ramen with MORE pork and hard boiled egg accompanying the fresh noodles and delicious creamy miso broth, with liberal amounts of Sesame seeds, scallion, and something raddish like I wolfed down and forgot to note. Whatever it was, it was good.
Miso Ramen is ALWAYS good on a cold day. And today it was 28º F. :/​
Stephany (Manager/​Owner) is very friendly and already very much a part of this NY neighborhood. The entire space is unique with a mix of American diner seating and traditional Japanese restaurant style and other amenities, like a massive shelf of Manga, counterbalanced with a Large American Graffiti Style Mural of the name of the establishment. However, the mural boasts modern takes on traditional Yokai, Japan’s Monsters, and other more serene elements; like mount Fuji and Fuedal era images of breaking waves, all perfectly nestled in the letters of MATSUKADO. Painted by KRESS, all the way from Japan, they didn’t pull any punches in making this establishment unique unto itself.
And hey, for $ 15 you can stuff yourself (and a friend for real…) and chill in what is EASILY one of the best spots in the St. Marks area.
A welcome addition to the East Village/​Astor Palce/​St Marks area, I’m looking forward to their long stay here.
I am heading back for Curry and Donburi!
Sugoi!