izakaya Matsuki — Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City

So I came here with my party of four people. We were seated right away, which is a plus considering we had no reservation. I called a couple of starters including the combo sashimi, cá trích sashimi, and a mocktail of apple & ume. I don’t know what is it but the sashimi cá trích was a bit bitter, and the combo platter of sashimi was underwhelming. The grilled unagi was delicious, but you should order extra rice to go with it to balance everything else. Oysters were plump & juice, and my husband enjoys them a lot. The grilled skewers were marinated well and were delicious. Try them if you get a chance. The downside to this dinner is the service. As my friends were finished ordering, I asked the server if I can keep the menu because I want to order more, but the server insisted that I hand over the menu. I don’t know if he heard me when I said I want to keep the menu because I want to order other things too. Next is the bill. Our bill came out to about 2.400 VND ($94), and we paid using bank transfer. We were still talking and chatting for about 5 minutes after paying the bill, and the server rudely asked if we can leave because there is a table of 6 waiting. So frustrated, we left. I didn’t know that there was a rule that we had to leave IMMEDIATELY after paying the bill. If that is the case, let the guests know because that ticked us off. I would not come back here because I thought this is the place for people to come together to have good foods & chill, but...

Ambiance: 9/10 - Good decor. Love the vibe. Food Quality: 7.5/10 - Every dish tasted great except for the stir fry beef udon. Also the skewers felt a bit lackluster. Service: 7/10 - Food comes out rather slow. I believe it’s also because of the dinner time so that’s acceptable. Value - 7/10 - It’s Izakaya. It’s small portions with normal pricing. Meets the expectations. Cleanliness: 8/10 - Generally clean place.

Overall Score: 38.5/50

Location - 8/10 - Japan town, can’t miss it. Too many restaurants though, can totally miss it. Menu Variety: 8.5/10 - Very good variety of dishes and rare to find drinks. You can try a lot going with a group of friends. Bathroom: 8.5/10 - Just a normal bathroom but the decor using the empty bottles really adds a good touch. Noise: 6.5/10 - Bad music and noisy. But it’s also Izakaya. Space: 7/10 - Feels cramped where we sat that’s expects in Japan Town.

Final score: 77/100

Man, I personally like Tatsu much better. So this score makes sense. The restaurant does the job well and you need to know what to expect.

The seating on first floor near the bar is awesome. The bathroom is clean. Lots of good drinks to choose from and plenty of food variety.

Music is bad. Food comes slow on busy days. Somewhat cramped. And food could be better I think, especially skewers.

Rating:

“I’ll take...

Came in on a Sunday night at around 9:20pm and placed our order of beef tongue, chicken skin, and pork intestines along with a Sapporo draft. The restaurant didn't look overly busy as we were seated immediately in a nook under the stairs. Our three dishes arrived at 10:08pm (45-min wait for 3 small dishes). The beef tongue wasnt as tender as one would expect but still manageable. Didn't come with any lime or sauces besides a container of ketchup packets available on the table. The pork intestine was also chewy. If ones waiting 45-min for food, I'd expect it to be at least worth the wait. Don't bother coming here wasting your time as there's plenty of other izakayas within 100m. In the end, I think they saw me writing a review and finally someone came over to apologize for the wait and offered us a free ice cream dessert but the damage had already been done. Lastly, there's a smell of cigarette smoke in the air that didn't help the overall...