Matsuri (CLOSED)

The actual restaurant space is beautiful. The food while good is not great. I think for the money there are many better sushi restaurants in the city. I would suggest this restaurant to people who are visiting that want to go to a sceney restaurant and be in a beautiful space. The sake list is the best part of the menu. I went on Friday night. Our reservation was 9 pm group of three. We were seated right away to this high ceiling room on upper level where we can see the mostly everyone in the room. Then, food…it was not good! Miso soup is just any other home cooking kind. Sushi, we ordered Sushi & Sashimi Bayashi (sushi & sashimi for up to 3 people) was not even enough for 3 Japanese. Also we had a special roll with a cherry blossom but it was too salty. Taking about salty…their soy sauce was TOO salty without taste of soy. Last dish was Sea Bass (whole deep fried served with ponzu sauce). The Ponzu sauce it came with was salty even with other garnish of Daikon and scallion did help. Shrimp Tempura, you can get the same quality in any Chinese-operated-Japanese restaurant quality. The desserts were okay nothing special. This is my forth times going because one of my friends like to watch celebs coming to this restaurant. One of my friends that visiting from Japan wanted to go so I went regardless of not having previous good food experience. I guess I might be so spoiled with better Japanese taste. I would go back if I was invited.

Go for any special occasion or make one up. Share several small plates, (it's less expensive and you get to try several different items) I reccommend the unagi pie, mushrooms, and yellowtail. Plus, they always have great specials. The sake black cod and the duck breast on the large plate menu is absolutely devine. The waiters are extremely knowledgeable and can answer any questions. The atmosphere and decor is very unique and truely spectacular. Thursday through Saturday is usually very busy but if you're patient, sit at the bar (try the shochou and plum wine cocktail), take in the scene, enjoy the fun bartenders, look out for the celebrities and before you know it, you're table is ready. (would you really want to eat at a place where there never is a wait?) Of course the locals enjoy more space and less waits on Sundays and Mondays.

I went there w/ a friend on a sat night and we were seated right away but we had to ask for menu's. When they finally took our drink order we were ready to place dinner as well. The appetizers came before our drinks even! The waiter was not very attentive and it was not even very crowded. The atmosphere is trendy and appealing and nice background music but that's about it.

I booked a party of (9) here as I wanted all of my friends to have a great dining experience at a place none of us had been to before...and we did! The space was sexy, the service accomodating and, though I didn't order the sushi as so many past reviewers have complained about, I did have the duck breast with wasabi chive sauce which was absolutely delish--tender and flavorful! Yes, a bit pricey but we had a wonderful dining experience to start off a Friday night--even saw supermodel Daria Werbowy chilling on the steps outside waiting for her dinner party. How hot is that?!

I walked into this place and was seated in probably a pretty undesirable area but didn't mind at all as it had a good view of the larger area below and a gorgeous ceiling. I eat sushi all the time and really looked forward to the chef's tasting platter my friend and I ordered. The toro was chewey and hard to eat, and the rest of the platter was also disappointing. As for the other rolls on the menu, nothing inspired, and a place at this price point really shouldn't have an extra charge for rolls being made inside out. Can we say tacky?

I actually eat sushi on a daily basis and normally eat around my apartment on the upper east side. I went to matsuri expecting very good sushi considering the higher priced menu than most other sushi places. And I have to say that this is subpar sushi. But if you are not going for the sushi, then the atmosphere is wonderful and the hot dishes were quite good.

The actual restaurant space is beautiful. The food while good is not great. I think for the money there are many better sushi restaurants in the city. I would suggest this restaurant to people who are visiting that want to go to a sceney restaurant and be in a beautiful space. The sake list is the best part of the menu.