Matsunoki

Rating: ³⁄₅ (I was being generous at the time)
Date (s) visited: 2010
Food: ³⁄₅
Service: ³⁄₅
Atmosphere: ⁴⁄₅
Price: ³⁄₅
Parking: ⁴⁄₅
This was my «Goto sushi spot» after 9pm, but now it’s closed for good.
Food:
Enough to satisfy a craving.
Service:
Disappointed that their special, which were advertised outside their restaurant were for «Dine-​in» only. Really misleading.
Atmosphere:
Cool little joint.
Price:
Not bad.
Parking:
It was never an issue.

I am sitting in Matsunoki right now. I ordered toro nigiri and sitting in front of me is a poor quality maguro nigiri. It’s not as fresh as it should be. They wrote the bill wrong. It is just awful. Don’t eat here, this place should go out of business. the bill was incorrect. They did fix it but only after I had to bring it up. I will definitely not go back.

I figure I wouls step in and save this little gem. The critics that have written so far seem a little biased because of the Korean owned Sushi joint.
Well this is as objective as it will get since I am neither. As with Janet, my wife and I also live down the street. We have made it almost a once a week visit to this tiny restaurant to enjoy the sushi and other food available.
We have never had to wait for a seat but we generally go around 7 to 8ish in the evening. I really don’t care if they speak English and for all I know they could be talking a whole bunch of crap about us but they do it with a huge smile and a wave every time. I guess we are considered regulars now as the waitress knows by now that I am allergic to avocado (no bueno).
We haven’t had one bad experience in the many times we have gone there, in fact the last few times we only ordered sushi rolls and were given a bunch of sides (which I guess are korean). I also drink a lot of water when I go to restaurants… don’t know why, I just do. The true test to a servers attentive nature is how often they refill your cup without you asking. The waitress without fail, is on top of it.
We both love this place and if you get the runs like Olivia did it will only serve as a reminder of how good the food is.
Don’t let the mediocre reviews sway you from trying this place. It is at least worth 1 try.
As you leave the entire staff thanks you for your business… even the sushi chef.
Keep up the great work Matsunoki… see you next week =0)

Went twice so far… The food is good portion size is healthy, and from 9pm — 12am its 20% the entire menu!
The only thing the tables are smaller then the bench seats you sit on. Kinda weird.

I live down the street so I was waiting to see what kind of eatery this place was going to turn to once Maru closed. A Korean owned Japanese restaurant is not uncommon to Hawaii. This kind of establisment also runs in my family so I’ll try not to be biased.
I liked this place. It’s a place to go and be comfortable and have some beer and sushi with your friends. It was pretty packed when I went there. I had to wait for a table that was just getting up. If you ever been to Maru, you know this is a small place.
We Ordered…
Sashimi platter
Assorted Tempura
One order of Toro Nigiri
Spider Roll
Beer
We had…
All of the above and
Salad
Miso Soup
Green Onion Pancake (Korean Dish)
Tsukemono
and a bunch of other stuff!
That’s the beauty of Koreans owning Japanese restaurants. You get all the fixings. What’s wrong with that? The bill came out to be under $ 40. See the pictures I posted.

Haha, guess I’m the first to write a review about this place…
Anyhoo, my grandma and I came here for lunch today. I wanted to try this place, because every time I drive by it on King St. (which is often), curiosity gets the best of me.
My grandma had a bento box, which included tempura, rice, miso soup, sashimi, and salad. I had the sushi-​sashimi combo: hotate w/​mayo, maguro, sake, tamago, tako, shiromi, couple pieces of kappa and tekka maki, and couple pieces of maguro, hamachi and sake sashimi. We also split a negi hama roll, which was quite good.
Couple things that stood out in my mind: all the pieces of fish were very fresh (the hamachi was like butter) and the ambiance was nice. There’s a small sushi bar and they also serve liquor.
Overall, it was decent, nothing extraordinary or mind blowing. My grandma pointed out that even though it was a Japanese restaurant, it was run by Korean people, hence the Korean side dishes. It’s also good to know that it’s open till 12 am each day, I think. I would recommend folks to try it. For those who are looking for a good night out, you could pound some food here and go to the strip club next door too haha.

I ate at Matsunoki last night, and this morning at 5 am, I woke up with a bad case of the runs. My stomach was making really loud gurgling noises. I am not happy that Matsunoki ruined what little sleep I get, so I docked a star for that.
Matsunoki seems to be another Korean-​owned Japanese restaurant. I liked the small banchan they served, especially the light, crisp seafood jun with little bits of shrimp and octopus. Service was friendly, but the Korean waitresses do not speak or understand any English or Japanese. I had to point to the menu when I ordered.
Even with the menu pointing, they still got my order wrong. I had ordered the seafood tempura, with crab, shrimp, scallops and vegetables. I only got a shrimp tempura, and when I informed the waitress, at first she didn’t understand what I was trying to say. I also tried to tell her that the imo (sweet potato) tempura was raw and I wanted it cooked, but no matter what I said, she merely smiled and nodded. I told her it was hard, it was raw, it was not cooked, and I made sad faces at her, but alas, the language barrier could not be crossed.
They did correct the tempura order and soon after, brought me out another basket of tempura containing the missing scallops, shrimp, and crab. It turned out to be a lot of tempura for $ 13.95, four pieces of each type of seafood. Sadly, the crab was imitation and the tsuyu (dipping sauce) was weak, but the scallops were really good. The tempura was above average; the batter was not thick and cakey as in most local joints, but I didn’t like the types of veggies they used: broccoli, bell pepper, button mushrooms, RAW sweet potato. .. .
I was hungry (what’s new?) so I also got a crispy tempura and crab roll for $ 7.50, with shrimp tempura, crab and avocado rolled and topped with tobiko and a sweet soy sauce. It looked pretty, but tasted okay.
I tried a bite of my friend’s «gyoza» and it was really good. It was actually mandoo, though. Their Korean food was better than their Japanese food. I would order the mandoo again. .. after my stomach distress dies down. ..

This is a new restaurant that opened near the intersection of King and Isenberg.
The sign reads MATSUNOKI, which intrigued me because it sounded like a new Japanese restaurant. My friend and I decided to go just the other night.
We entered and there was no one inside. This was around 6 pm at night. Usually a peak time for people to be eating. So that was kind of odd.
Then we placed our orders. I got the roll with salmon, ahi, and avocado, and my friend got the sashimi platter.
While we were waiting, we got served some banchan (however you spell that Korean word). Yes, usually when you go to a KOREAN restaurant, they serve you these side dishes that you didn’t order. It’s like their culture to do so. It was quite weird to get it in a Japanese restaurant. Then, they come out with a pajon (however you spell THAT Koren word). We said, oh, we didn’t order that, but they said, oh it comes with the meal. So we ate it. That was actually kinda good.
Our REAL meals were ok, but we started to get worried. We were eating sushi, yet… there aren’t that many people in the restaurant. How fresh is this fish?
To make a long story short, I think it’s a Korean operated Japanese restaurant. Which I have nothing against, because I like Korean food too. But it was just weird to eat at an empty restaurant.