Matsu Japanese Steak House & Sushi Bar

I honestly cannot believe I was taken here by my fiancé on my birthday.
We sat at a tiny table with a fabulous view of an old, very dirty window unit.
The Tea was like mop water and the waitress looked at me like I was an alien every time I opened my mouth.
There is a lot I have to say but I don’t want to be too rude to I will leave it at one star and move on.

Not the nicest restaurant in the area, but the great food and sauces keep people coming back!

Overall great experience. I got the filet and shrimp set which ended up being quite a bit of food as it is a 5 course meal. Soup, salad, fried rice, entrée/​veggies, and noodles. Everything here was very surprisingly good (esp being in kilgore) the filet was cooked to my taste which was lightly seasoned, med well. Shrimp was nicely flavored w salt, spices, and lemon. Fried rice was surprisingly really good. Soup and salad was nicely done too, w good flavors. Couldn’t make it past half of my entrée as I was too stuffed by then. Everyone had leftovers at my table so I really don’t see any reason to get appetizers, etc. Definitely will drop by again.

It’s good for this area but against others, meh. Not so much.

I ate here a couple of weeks ago. A friend asked if I was going to review it on Unilocal and I told him that was called «picking on the defenseless» and Matsu didn’t need me piling on. Then I went on Unilocal just to see how it was ranked and was completely flabbergasted to find a 3.5 star ranking. The only reason I give this place 1 star is because there’s not a zero star option. Fellow Unilocalers, sometimes you shake my faith.
The last time I went to this place was maybe 7 – 8 years ago. As I was finishing my dinner I had the entertainment pleasure of watching a cockroach walk across the table. This looked like a very confident cockroach who would have walked across my plate, up my shirt and into my nose if I had let him. I’m pretty sure the little F___’er winked at me as he walked by. After that, I vowed never to return.
Well, never say never because I was invited with co-​workers to return. This time the entertainment was two red wasps battling overhead. It’s a really shitty feeling when you are sitting at the dinner table pondering the irony of being killed by a wasp sting to the neck at a restaurant you swore you’d never go back to!
This place was Shogun’s before it was Matsu but the Matsu folks decided to keep the Shogun feel. Same peeling wall paper. Same light fixtures hanging askance. Same worn carpet. Same dingy fog you have to walk through to get to your table. At least they fixed the septic system… or rerouted it… I think.
The food was tolerable at best. The servers were very nice.
I don’t kick little kids in the back of the head and I don’t pull the wings off butterflies just for fun, but for the sake of humanity and the validity of Unilocalers worldwide, I must give Matsu its zero star due.
Frowny face.

Horrible! Rude service and unbelievably slow unattentive waiters, who spent more time gossiping with each other than paying attention to customers. We were asked to move which wouldn’t have been an issue had they asked politely. The place was dirty and had a broken water or sewage pipe in the parking lot. Never again will we go back. We left before our sushi was done it was such a bad experience.

Service was good. Food was good but not great. The building is pretty from outside but the inside needs some updating. And this place will benefit from serving mixed drinks.

First of all, I am not one to write bad reviews, but I was very disappointed with Matsu. Let me give you a breakdown. Upon arriving, they did not ask if we wanted hibachi or sushi. It was our first time visiting, and they sat us in the hibachi area, which was extremely cramped. I was sitting literally 2 inches next to a complete stranger. We ended up asking to sit in another area. They sat us at the sushi bar area, which was similarly cramped, but not as bad. Our waitress was very loud and not very helpful. She left most of the work up to the sushi chef, who spoke English in an unintelligible accent. We ordered a few standard sushi rolls, which tasted fine. We also ordered a side of fried rice which didn’t come until after we were already finished with our sushi! I thought that they had forgotten about the rice, and I was ok with that, but apparently, they remembered, and brought it out right before the check with no apology or explanation. The rice was cold, under-​cooked, and overly seasoned. On top of all this, the manager on duty that night was playing on her smart phone or talking (very loudly) about how she couldn’t wait to get off work that night. Honestly, my husband and I were just trying to have a relaxing dinner out, but it turned out to be extremely stressful and a waste of money. :(

Wallpaper peeling, low ceiling black from smoke, smoke exhaust vent system covered in grease, floor looks like it has never been vacuumed. DIRTY. I have pictures of lighting connected by power cords. Fire hazard! Food tasted frozen, lobster was Canadian not Maine, steak was bland and old, and portions were small. Staff couldnt answer basic culinary questions. My sushi and salad were like soup, covered in sauce to cover ingredients or taste. My bill was $ 97 for two people. I expect more for that price. Go to Shoguns instead.

While the Hibachi show was entertaining, I was more concerned with the quality of food than the «wow» of the chef, and so as he did his tricks, I watched my scallops and shrimp sit and cook. Three minutes, still cooking. Six minutes, still cooking, while the chef twirls his blades. Ten minutes before my shrimp and scallops came off. They were overcooked and rubbery. My date ordered the filet and chicken. The chicken was overcooked and, while the chef asked everyone how they wanted their steak and got requests from medium rare to medium well, every steak went on and came off the grill at the same time… well done. Extremely poor cooking for a $ 20-​$ 30 plate restaurant, at which rate I expect, at the very least, that my chef knows how terrible overcooked seafood tastes. I won’t talk about the wallpaper falling off the walls, because that’s not going to change my rating at all, but at $ 30 a plate you would expect that they could afford new wallpaper. Unsatisfied.

Excellent food and very friendly waitstaff. The cook was awesome. I knocked one star off only because the mens bathroom floor is in dire need of repair and the pathway to the front door needs a makeover. Overall, excellent restaurant.

I’m all about some steak, shrimp, and chicken hibachi. Get some veggies, fried rice, and smother it in «sexy sauce». No liquor, but they have beer and wine-​based cocktails. The management is always very nice, and the service is usually pretty fast. Some of the chefs are hilarious, which is what I expect at a hibachi restaurant.

The best hibachi in east texas. The building and parking lot are a little rough around the edges but for the best prices plus some of the best grill and sushi its difficult to be harsh on those few faults.

I have loved eat at this place for years. I finally got my husband (a VERY picky eater) to go and it is now his favorite place to eat. Great for a night out with your honey or for the whole family.

who would have thought a good chop chop and sushi place in this area. not only are the cooked items great, i had salmon at chop chop table, but the sushi was great too. only complaint, felt a little dirty but got over that quickly.

I would give this place 5 stars if they were to upgrade their building. The food is great and probably the best value for this genre in East Texas. I would recommend it to anyone as they will be sure to get a great meal. I do agree that Alex is the best cook to get but I have not had him since they opened up Osaka in Longview (also delicious).

My husband and I were visiting Kilgore for the weekend while my daughter attended the Rangerette Camp at Kilgore College and wanted something for dinner that wasn’t fast food, fried, or Mexican. This appeared to be quite a feat, given the choices we had found. Fortunately, we came across Matsu Japanese Steak House.
We’ve been to Kobe, Benihana, and Shogun and found Matsu to be very similar and just as dependable. We ordered the Filet, Shrimp and Lobster and all were cooked to perfection. The fried rice and noodles were nicely seasoned and delicious in their own right.
The building itself needs some refurbishment, but, aside from that, it was a good meal.