Matsutake, Japanese Hibachi and Sushi at Herndon and Reagan Airport - Ballston and Crystal City Have Closed

[soapy]

I went Matasuke last night for dinner with a group of friends, specifically to try their hibachi. I found the experience to be kind of meh. My whole group ordered hibachi, everyone's dish was in the 23-25 dollar range and came with soup, salad and shrimp appetizer but the fried rice was an extra 2.50. To me this felt pretty expensive for the quality of food served to us. The miso soup was heavily salty. The salad greens were wilted and limp and drowning in dressing. The brighter side the fried rice was pretty decent, as was the vegetables. The steak was cooked to perfection but my chicken was a bit on the tough side. I suppose part of the 22+ entrees goes towards the hibachi chef who was sufficiently entertaining (he did a neat trick where he flipped an egg up in the air and caught it on a the side edge of his spatula) All in all I felt that the whole thing was kind of overpriced. The service wasn't very good and they were trying to rush us all night long. I had not had hibachi in 8 years so I probably won't go back for it for another 8 or so.

A coworker of mine swears by their sushi though so it might be worth others to check out that.

Address: 320 23rd St S, Arlington, VA

[Sthitch]

A coworker of mine swears by their sushi though so it might be worth others to check out that.

I have not been to this location, but have tried the sushi at the Herndon location and found it to be below average. The tuna was a bit more red than it should have been, and my over-all impression of the various cuts of fish was that it was not as fresh as it should have been (not saying it was off, just not particularly fresh).

[DanCole42]

But the yum-yum sauce! For the love of god, man, how was the yum-yum sauce?!?!?!

Kyoo no tema wa kore desu.... MAAAATSSUUUUTAAAAAKEEEEEEEE!!!

[DPop]

I went here too many times when I worked in Arlington and agree with Sthitch. The sushi was never fresh and at times pretty bad. No offense to your coworker, soapy, but it sounds like they might not have ever had good sushi before. I think if you took them to Sushi Ko or Kaz it would be a real eye opening experience for them.

[soapy]

I went here too many times when I worked in Arlington and agree with Sthitch. The sushi was never fresh and at times pretty bad. No offense to your coworker, soapy, but it sounds like they might not have ever had good sushi before. I think if you took them to Sushi Ko or Kaz it would be a real eye opening experience for them.

Well part of the reason she might have liked it so much was becuase it was a hop skip and a jump away from her apartment and she hated to cook and loved to eat sushi.

Was the yum yum sauce the mayo based sauce? I think they used that as salad dressing as well as as a dipping sauce for the steak.

[DonRocks]

[The following posts have been split into separate threads:

Boru Fusion (goodeats)

Note also that the Herndon location has its own website here which implies these each may be separately owned]

[cheezepowder]

Ballston Matsutake recently closed (ArlNow).  (Also mentions Crystal City location's closing.)

[ktmoomau]

Not surprised we hadn't been there in a long time as it just kept going downhill.

[DonRocks]

Ballston Matsutake recently closed (ArlNow).  (Also mentions Crystal City location's closing.)

I believe this is still open at Reagan National Airport, so I guess this thread will stay alive for now. That said, if this is the only buying power they now have for raw fish, that's not a promising sign.

If anyone knows the relationship between the following three locations, please let me know: 1) Reagan National Airport 2) Ballston and Crystal City (which have closed) 3) Herndon (which has a separate website).

What a mess.

[Josh]

I believe this is still open at Reagan National Airport, so I guess this thread will stay alive for now. That said, if this is the only buying power they now have for raw fish, that's not a promising sign.

If anyone knows the relationship between the following three locations, please let me know: 1) Reagan National Airport 2) Ballston and Crystal City (which have closed) 3) Herndon (which has a separate website).

What a mess.

 

Don't they have some ownership interest in Hikari on H St. NE? After a couple disappointing trips there, we haven't been back, so I have no idea how it does business-wise.

[ScotteeM]

I believe this is still open at Reagan National Airport, so I guess this thread will stay alive for now. That said, if this is the only buying power they now have for raw fish, that's not a promising sign.

It is still open at National Airport (DCA), right next to Ben's Chili Bowl.

My husband is flying to Denver today from National, and we went early so that we could have lunch before his flight (we needn't have rushed--his flight is delayed at least an hour). Decided on Matsutake, largely because sushi is a safe bet for me if I take my own gluten-free tamari sauce. We encountered a bit of sticker shock, as they charge dinner prices all day, so the sashimi and sushi combos were 50-70% higher than lunch at, say, Blue Ocean, would have been.

We shared the Sunomono appetizer ($8.50), which was 2 shrimp, 2 pieces of crab stick, 1 small piece of octopus tentacle, and 1 thin slice of two other fish I couldn't identify. I didn't try the crab stick, but the fish and octopus were like rubber, and the shrimp were just OK.

Husband's Udon bowl included tempura in the bowl of soup (he complained that it made it soggy). With fat white noodles AND rice, it was hearty and filling. I don't know how it tasted but he wasn't raving. I think it was $12.95.

I ended up with Bul Go Gi ($8.95), which was served in a sizzle pan, not grilled. The marinade was really sweet and I got tired of it pretty quickly. It was a fair amount of meat (3 oz), with a little broccoli, mushrooms, and carrot pieces, and a small bowl of rice. I've had much worse (Burke Garden Restaurant) and much better. I wouldn't order it again.

We would have gone to Ben's, but we were unsure whether there was anything that didn't contain wheat gluten.  Might look into that, or try to find Five Guys, if we decide to eat at National again.

[Al Dente]

I got wrangled into dining at the Herndon location recently. Everyone at the table went the hibachi-flat-top-magic show-thingy route, so I tried the sushi. The sushi was nothing special, and the tastes I had of some of the crap coming off the hibachi sucked-- low quality ingredients, overcooked, and greasy.

Is there such a thing as a high quality Japanese "Steakhouse"? I don't think I've ever been to one. 

[DanielK]

34 minutes ago, Al Dente said:

I got wrangled into dining at the Herndon location recently. Everyone at the table went the hibachi-flat-top-magic show-thingy route, so I tried the sushi. The sushi was nothing special, and the tastes I had of some of the crap coming off the hibachi sucked-- low quality ingredients, overcooked, and greasy.

Is there such a thing as a high quality Japanese "Steakhouse"? I don't think I've ever been to one. 

I worked in Herndon for a while, but it's been about 5 years. Every few months we'd go to the lunchtime sushi buffet at Matsutake, which was fine as far as sushi buffets go. Never went at dinner or a la carte.