I raved about Matsu in my recently posted Restaurant Guide for the Winter. Katie and I had long ago decided we’d hit it up for her birthday (which was today – she’s 25. Be sure to wish her a happy birthday!), and go for the adventurous “Chef’s Choice” dinner for the two of us.
While I didn’t have the camera on me to continue the trend of photographing what I’m eating, I can textually describe the entire affair:
First: Seafood soup. Clear broth, with crab + shrimp + whitefish + mussel + scallop. Broth was delicious, fish was too.
Second: Baby clams (each half was about the size of a penny) in a soy garlic sauce. A little hard to eat but extremely tasty.
Third: Shark Fin salad. The delicate flavored of shark fin was matched with sesame, which helped bring down the strong flavour of the shark fin. (Anyone who’s watched Battle Yogurt on Iron Chef with me should get that.)
Fourth: Ebi sashimi with wasabi tobiko on top, and prawn tempura. The ebi was good, but I’ve never been much for prawns.
Fifth: Toro tartar, I think with a little bit of yellowtail in as well. Heaven, absolute heaven. My favorite on the night, because I’m a huge mark for toro.
Sixth: Scallops steamed in sake, and served cold. At this point we started feeling full – then were told that we had sushi coming and then the main course.
Seventh: Sex On The Beach Roll (shrimp tempura inside, rice, seaweed, grilled eel, tobiko, three kinds of sauces.), plus six giant pieces of sashimi (two salmon, two tuna, two something else).
Eighth: Tuna Teriyaki. Whole sushi-grade tuna steak, done teriyaki style, with vegetables and a bed of onions. I know I keep saying this, but man, this was good.
Ninth: The big surprise – one I had known about from Monday, but managed to hide from Katie and she was completely shocked. They had bought Katie a small birthday cake – sponge cake with white icing, and Gary had put fresh fruit on top.
Add on to that a few sodas, two free beers, and green tea – we are unbelievably stuffed. I am in a near food coma, and the bill came to $90 for the two of us (not including tax and the absurd tips we tend to leave).
I don’t think I’ll have a better Japanese meal than this one for the remainder of my life.