Matsumoto Brunswick East is a stalwart in this part of town. Open since 2003, we have driven past countless times but have never gone in for a meal. One Friday evening we found ourselves at home, tired and hungry for something so decided to give this local Japanese restaurant a try.
After visiting Japan twice last year, our ideas about what Japanese food is have changed quite a lot. Japan does, in many ways, “ruin Japanese food” outside of Japan simply because the standards and quality are so high over there. It is important then, when reviewing a Japanese restaurant outside of Japan to compare it to the food of the city in which the restaurant is located.
When eating at Matsumoto, we used our favourite Japanese restaurants in Melbourne as a point of comparison, not our favourite Japanese restaurants in Japan. What is also true, however is that what Melburnians demand from Japanese food in this city has changed immensely since 2003.
The space itself is minimalist and uses a lot of wood with clean lines. It’s very much in tune with the Japanese aesthetic. Food wise the menu is quite extensive, with a good selection of sushi and sashimi along with a variety of favourites like Tonkatsu, Yakitori, Teppenyaki and Karaage. A small range of teas, non-alcoholic Japanese drinks and Japanese beer, sake and other alcoholic drinks are offered.
At the start of the meal a small plate of pickles is brought to the table. This is very common in Japan but still not very common in Australia and was a nice touch.
Takoyaki ($8.00)
Takoyaki is one of our favourite Japanese dishes. A typical street food option, Takoyaki are octopus pancake balls topped with Japanese BBQ sauce, Japanese mayonnaise and bonito flakes. The flavour of Matsumoto’s takoyaki was spot on, with each ball tasting just the way it was supposed to. Unfortunately they were relatively cool when they came to our table and instead of being soft and oozing like they should be, these takoyaki had quite a dense, crunchy batter.
Tonkatsu ($19.00)
This dish was great value, as it contained two quite large pieces of pork but unfortunately didn’t hit the mark as much as it should have. The pork was dry, the crumbing was not light like it should be with a tonkatsu and the second pork cutlet was simply put on top of the other, which meant that it was quite soggy. I’ve never had a tonkatsu in Australia that came close to what I had in Japan however even by Melbourne standards this was disappointing. There wasn’t any shredded cabbage on the side either, which really should be included whenever tonkatsu is served.
Jyo Sushi ($26.00)
The Jyo sushi was by far the highlight of the night. Exposed to the dining room was the sushi counter, and it was clear to see that all of the sushi was being made fresh to order.
The Jyo platter contained flame seared scallop & salmon, tuna, eel, prawn, tobiko & surf clam sushi rolls. The seafood was of very good quality and the rice was at the perfect temperature for sushi – not too cold as is often the case in Australia. each mouthful went down a treat.
Our experience at Matsumoto was a mixed one. The space was nice and service was very good. Food wise there was no excusing the tonkatsu however the sushi was much better than we had expected and went a long way towards redeeming the meal. Our tip if you visit then, is to skip the cooked options and go straight for the sushi. Diner’s expectations have changed since 2003, and Matsumoto needs to adapt if it wants to be considered one of the best.
Matsumoto
48 Lygon Street
Brunswick East
Victoria 3057
Australia
Telephone: (03) 9380 9288
Email: n/a
Website: http://matsumoto.com.au/
Open
Lunch
Mon – Sat: 1:30am to 3:00pm
Dinner
Sun – Thu: 5:30pm to 10:30pm
Fri – Sat: 5:30pm to 11:00pm
