izakaya Matsuki

I visited Izakaya Matsuki on my own and had a fantastic experience. The sushi was incredibly fresh and absolutely delicious. The restaurant has a very authentic Japanese atmosphere, and the staff were warm, friendly, and welcoming. I felt comfortable dining alone and really enjoyed the whole experience. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for great Japanese food in Ho Chi Minh City. I will be back!

I went to Matsuki on the strength of its reviews. I’ve lived in HCMC for 6 months and I eat sushi daily so I know some things. First understand that there’s a Japanese izakaya and a Vietnamese izakaya. In the former, highly skilled specialists make your food. BBQ skewers, rice balls, sushi, etc. In the latter, they assemble food with minimal training. There is massive difference in flavour, texture, etc. Matsuki is the latter. Food was okay. Service was attentive. Environment is horrific. Everything is cramped and crammed. Tiny stools wedged against half counters allow you to stare at a wall while everyone hits your back when they walk by and screams in your ear. With everyone so close together, elbow to elbow, you will be disturbed by everyone else’s talking and bumping. And there’s smoking!!! Not sure why this is ever allowed since it makes pristine raw fish taste and smell like an ashtray. Putrid. There are countless options in this area including a few steps away. I won’t return to Matsuki.

Excellent food, my favorite wad the sliced beef medium well. Sapporo beer draft is cold and they serve hot sake. Staff service is excellent with fair command of English.

The food was decent but I was not a fan of the constant upselling. Try to order a bottle of sake for 750k, was basically told ‘that’s not delicious you should order this one’ and pointed to bottles which were 1,700 -2,500k. My question, if these are the only ones that are ‘delicious’ , why sell any others? Please, ask your staff to stop making customers feel cheap and take their order as they choose. It feels really uncomfortable. My final bill was almost 4m, for two people. I don’t want to be made to feel cheap for ‘only ordering the 700k sake’ I would like to add, the service was good apart from that, the server was friendly and attentive. I feel they are trained to upsell like this and it’s not pleasant.

This izakaya had very good service. The restaurant was clean and well maintained, and I liked that there were plenty of tables, which made it feel comfortable and relaxed. However, the seasoning of the food felt a bit bland overall. Especially the cucumber salad, I could barely taste the salt or sesame oil, which was a little disappointing. On the positive side, the skewers were grilled perfectly. The pork belly skewer in particular was cooked over high heat just right, with juicy meat and great texture. I was very satisfied with the doneness. That said, the charcoal aroma felt quite mild, so I wished it had a bit more smoky flavor. Still, overall, I was satisfied with the experience.