Cairns Gourmet

People come to Cairns for the spectacular Great Barrier Reef. While you're here you'll want to eat, drink, and be merry. My blog will give you the low down on the restaurant, dining, and local bar scene. I've got no connection with the local industry other than as a consumer, so I'll give you an objective opinion. Contact me by commenting on the reviews and I'll post answers on the site. All images and material on this site are subject to the copyright of carinsgourmet.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Matsuri Japanese Cafeteria



Matsuri - Japanese Cafeteria

Address: 62/64 Abbott Street, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia.
Ph & Fax +61740310271

Summary Information

Name: Matsuri - Japanese Cafeteria
Address: 62/64 Abbott Street, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia
Cuisine Type: Japanese
Licensed: No - Soft drinks only.
BYO: No.
Price Range: $10-$35 for mains (excluding specials, platters)
EftPos/Credit Cards: Yes, all major cards accepted
Parking: Nil - street parking only
Disabled Access: Main entrance at street level, no stairs. No disabled toilet.
Deals: None.
Dress Code: Casual.
Family Friendly: Yes.
Smoking: No
Overall Rating 8 out of 10
Food: 8 out of 10
Drinks: N/A
Service: 7 out of 10
Ambience: 8 out of 10
Value for Money: 8 out of 10
Recommended: Yes. Second/Third Date.

Review

Matsuri is centrally located in downtown Cairns, one block from the Esplanade waterfront area of the central city. Matsuri has ground floor site with street frontage onto Abott Street. They make the most of the space available by offering street front seating in addition to the interior seating inside the cafeteria. The front of the cafeteria features examples of Matsuri's dishes and specials boards in both Japanese and English. The front of Matsuri is open air and allows a clear view into the cafeteria from the footpath. There is a specific area at the front of the cafeteria where the sushi chef makes all sushi fresh to order, and for those that are alone, there is a bar set up where you can order and watch your sushi being made. Being open air at the front, Matsuri is not air conditioned so for those of you that find the North Queensland heat a bit difficult to bear, you might want to take this into account before deciding to dine here. There are ceiling fans throughout Matsuri so for the locals this is plenty enough to keep the temperature down. Matsuri is decorated in a Japanese style, Japanese pop music is played to add to the ambience to further enhance the Japanese cuisine experience offered at Matsuri.

On entry into Matsuri patrons are greeted by the sushi chef in traditional Japanese before proceeding to order at the counter. There is a large menu at each table which includes many pictures of the food available. Specials are advertised throughout the restaurant. While orders are placed by customers at the counter, meals are delivered to your table. Matsuri is authentic Japanese, and as such, Japanese is spoken by all staff and all menus and signs appear in Japanese as well as English. The menu is extensive and coupled with the specials can seem a bit daunting, however there is something for everyone and the pictures are a helpful guide for those not familiar with Japanese cuisine. We are not aware of Matsuri offering any special discounts at all, and no such offers were made known to us by staff. Matsuri is open during the day for lunch from 12:00-2:00 pm, and in the evenings for dinner from 5:30 pm until closing.

Teriyaki Chicken Don. This dish appeared on one of the specials board and the picture took our fancy. We ordered the dish and when it arrived it consisted of three strips of chicken katsu and four strips of teriyaki chicken laid on top of rice with a salad included in the same bowl. There was a garnish of grated pickled ginger and Japanese mayonnaise. The teriyaki chicken had been prepared with plenty of teriyaki marinade/sauce and this was absorbed by the rice underneath, flavouring it beautifully. The teriyaki chicken was extremely moist without the slightest hint of dryness and was tender enough to literally melt in your mouth. It had been prepared with skin on which giving the dish extra flavor. The chicken kits don was lightly fried and cooked to perfection in a very light batter of rice flour. Again the meat was extremely tender and moist. The mayo and ginger complimented both chicken types and was rounded out well by the delicious short grain rice typically preferred by the Japanese. The salad was fresh fancy lettuce leaves with a ginger based sweetish dressing that was simply divine. All produce in this meal was very fresh and of superior quality. Even those salad dodgers out there should give it a go! An extremely satisfying dish, a good size representing value for money and easily enough to fill you up. This dish would have been well suited to a nice unoaked chardonnay, however as Matsuri isn't licensed we were not able to take advantage of this.

Combination Sushi Platter: This dish was something of a specialty. The sushi was made freshly before our eyes by the sushi chef while we waited. This did result in a delay between the arrival of this dish and the Teriyaki Chicken Don, however it was a small price to pay for such freshly made exquisite sushi. The platter consisted of four crab stick, salmon roe encrusted, sushi rolls on each corner of the platter, while in the middle of the tray were one tuna sushi piece and one salmon sushi piece. There was also a slightly unusual tofu sushi piece that was very interesting on the palate. Also there were 3 cucumber sushi rolls, and 3 tuna sushi pieces of varying length. Included in the platter was an abundance of pickled ginger and wasabi. The platter came with soya sauce and trays for two. The sushi simply could not have been fresher, nor better crafted. There was an array of taste in each one, which we found surprising as much of the sushi we have had in Cairns has been bland. However, Matsuri is a welcome exception to the norm in this regard. The sushi absolutely fantastic, particularly the salmon roe pieces which bought the salty taste of roe to the palate while eating. Initially the serve did not look large, however it was extremely filling and we had difficulty finishing the entire platter. Excellent cuisine, coupled with exceptional value for money. We will certainly be ordering this again.

Matsuri does not have any web presence at all. There were a number of other Matsuri restaurants on the web, however none were related to the Cairns Matsuri Japanese Cafeteria. Overall we were impressed by Matsuri and would recommend it. Matsuri is probably not suitable for family groups as Matsuri is on the small side. There were not any facilities for children, or any entertainment provided. There is no parking at Matsuri, however there is usually plenty of metered street parking available on Abbott Street. Access to the restaurant is straight off the footpath and there are no stairs that we noticed in Matsuri making disabled access possible. However, while the bathrooms were clean and available at the rear of the cafe there was no disabled toilet. Our overall assessment is that Matsuri s a great place to go with your significant other, or on a third or subsequent date. Good place for a quiet chat with fine food.

6 Comments:

At 8:34 PM, Blogger Ben Wilson said...

Sounds nice. Out of ten?

 
At 8:40 PM, Blogger Frontman said...

I would give this an 8.

 
At 9:13 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I ate here about two weeks ago, on a visit to Australia (I'm American). Japanese food is easily my favorite, and I've had my share of both the good and bad. This restaurant surprised me -- 9/10. We actually ate here twice during the 4 days we were in Cairns!

 
At 6:40 PM, Blogger Kat said...

I just ate here thanks to your blog (on holidays from Victoria) and would like to thank you for the informative review! My husband had a sashimi an sushi platter and having visited japan his response was "best sashimi and sushi outside of japan!". My
teriyaki chicken don was wonderful! Too many Japanese restaurants in Australia saturate it with sauce!!! Thanks heaps for the recommendation and we will be checking your blog out b4 we come next time!!!

 
At 6:51 PM, Blogger Kat said...

I just ate here thanks to your blog (on holidays from Victoria) and would like to thank you for the informative review! My husband had a sashimi an sushi platter and having visited japan his response was "best sashimi and sushi outside of japan!". My
teriyaki chicken don was wonderful! Too many Japanese restaurants in Australia saturate it with sauce!!! Thanks heaps for the recommendation and we will be checking your blog out b4 we come next time!!!

 
At 7:23 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Only been to Cairns twice (i'm from England), but ate here several times (within 6 months). The sushi & sashimi is fantastic, friendly staff, the set meals (bento) are great value for money. I've never left there feeling that I hadn't had a good meal. The fact that you see more Japanese people eating there is always a good sign.

The food is beautifully presented, the staff are friendly (which i've found in all Japanese restaurants in Cairns) and helpful, the food is delicious and good value.

Even if you're not too keen on sushi/sashimi, they do noodle dishes (these are HUGE), curry, basically something to suit anybody.

I just wish there was a Matsuri where I live.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home