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My Katsu Bento was amazing, the sauce they use is just right, and it was so good.
My tuna was also particularly better than other joints I have visited in Tucson, although I feel there was not enough wasabi initially.
The little gift shop was so cute but it was closed when I went late. I will come back.
My only disappointment was in there teas, which where all Trader Joe-ish Bland and Bagged, and pricey i guess. I want my green tea done right where ever I go , but more so in any Asian Themed Restaurant. Also prices were not the cheapest, for the Bento at least, you couldn't get filled under 10 bucks. But I would say Quality is better, Rice could use small improvement.
I grew up with a lot of traditional, homemade Japanese food. I never thought I could find a Japanese restaurant in Tucson that could even come close to some of the comfort foods of my youth. But Yoshimatsu comes pretty close! Lots of traditional Japanese food and drink, and you gotta love the little corner full of Japanese trinkets and odds and ends. They even have the display case of fake food, common in authentic Japanese restaurants.
The bentos have been the best value for me -- a little bit of a bunch of stuff. I've had the salmon teriyaki, the saba shioyaki (makerel), and the ginger tofu. I've also had a couple of the non-bento stuff: the udon and their curry. I haven't been disappointed yet!
Gets pretty crowded for dinner, unless I've just been going at all the wrong times. You order at the front, take a number, and seat yourself, and your food will come to you when it's ready. Yum!
I've been to Yoshimatsu several times. The food is excellent and the decor is quirky enough to keep things interesting. I love anime and a lot of other things Japanese, so it's not a stretch for me.
The bentos have a lot of food, a good value. The miso soup, tempura veggies and chicken katsu curry have all been above average. The chicken katsu was actually really tasty. But I digress...
I always go for the salmon.
Really, just lay it out on the table and let me have my fill. The menu informed me their salmon is raised (locally?) in conditions almost identical to their natural habitat, which certainly seems to make a difference to my taste buds.
After living in LA for a handful of years and finding Hama Sushi in Little Tokyo, Tucson had been a *tad* more depressing than it honestly really had to have been. Not any more! Yoshimatsu has been my salmon sashimi salvation (yikes. sorry, but it's true!).
The staff looks cool and are nice at the ordering counter and in general, but aren't always very helpful (or even within eye-shot, depending on where you sit). Which reminds me: Ask for wasabi and other condiments ahead of time, especially if you are there near closing time. I always remember them being stingy on the ice in water for some reason. I'm not certain if this is a cultural difference or not... someone help me out! Joking.
I just read through the other reviews just now and it seems I'm not the only one harping on the service. Nice to know.
Good luck!
I love this place, my kids love this place. Not much not to love about this place besides when it is packed and it is hard to find a seat.
Bento boxes are the best and although I have tried them all I still prefer the salmon. I love thier brown rice and all the yummy condiments and the retro japanese decor with the kung fu and godzilla movies playing. It is like stepping into an eclectic Japanese cultural portal with great food!
This is certainly the best Japanese restaurant in Tucson.
Why?
Because I have never seen such a place like it! Its decor and menu are incredibly unique.
I highly recommend the Unagi Bento, which is fresh water eel. The Bentos include soup, rice, and salad. The rolls here are great as well.
Dessert is fantastic.
Quite simply, anything you order here is going to be great -- at the least.
And this is the place where I was introduced to "Ramune!" If you have yet to try it, I suggest you do (it is available at many asian markets)!
Sushi items range from about $4 to $12. Entrées range from about $9 to $17. Desserts are about $6.
The atmosphere is certainly interesting. And the staff is extremely friendly, as they give great recommendations.
This is certainly my most favorite restaurant in all of Tucson.
Tried Sushimatsu the other night- it was very good. In fact, I would say it's some of the best sushi I've had in Tucson. The prices are a little higher then other places, but the quality is so much better- the ingredients were fresh, the rolls were, well, rolled tightly.
I wish their service was a little better though. On the night we were there (a Saturday no less) there was only one guy serving, and the waits were long. He seemed annoyed when we asked him to clean some soy sauce off our table that was left by whoever was there previously. Myself included, I was in a party of three people, and when we asked him (at the beginning of the meal) if he could separate our checks into two, the guy seemed to think about it for a bit, and then said "uhhh, we don't do that". That's fine, but he was less then pleased when we had to tell him which items to be charged on which card. It's not like we were asking for a really complicated request, splitting checks in two is pretty standard these days.
Anyway, it won't stop me from going there, the sushi was too good, but be prepared for some slow (and sometimes sketchy) service.
Love this place! what can I say, if you want authentic Japanese food in Tucson this is the place. Just remember that this place is a little different,
Happy Hour is a must! half priced appetizers and very cheap drinks (SAKI BOMBS for me)
It is like anime meujiam here. They have many special and unique toys, signs, and picture that even we cannot find in Japan. That why I love it. So cute.
Chi likes vely much. When I come Yoshimatsu, I feel like home. Food is good and authentic, just like Japan.
One of my favorite lunch and dinner spots in Tucson. Authentic non-sushi Japanese food. It's always fresh, though healthier but not super healthy. It's reasonably priced, great decor, and super close to campus.
Highly recommend it. Try the don, really good. Appetizers are good too, not healthy though, lol.
can't say much other than, this place is super delish. the food was very fresh and the service with friendly. can't wait to go back!
The food here is awesome. The service is nonexistant and/or awkward, possibly because most of the waitstaff are that "I'm an introverted college student, have just learned about japanese pop culture and curse my American heritage" crowd. Don't worry, I am/was one too so I can make that joke. Don't get caught refilling your own water, or you'll be told that they'll bring some to your table and then they won't.
Other than that, all of the food here is amazing and at a decent price. If you get in during the right hours you can get half price on some items (sushi, ginger tofu, gyoza, etc) and that actually makes the place a pretty good deal.
Go in knowing that you're gonna need to fend for yourself and you won't be disappointed at all. Oh, at one point they had weird hours. They opened in the afternoon, then closed for a couple hours and reopened, but the menu doesn't change or anything. I'm not sure what that's all about, or if they still do it, honestly.
It's first important to establish something that some people don't seem to be aware of: these are actually two, separate restaurants, Yoshimatsu, the healthy Japanese place, and Sushimatsu, the sushi bar attached.
I've been coming here for years. It was one of the first places I was brought to when I first moved to Tucson, and I've brought people here ever since. Having had Japanese food in Japan and in other parts of Asia, this is the most authentic Japanese restaurant I've found outside of California.
But, here's the deal: this is not the best sushi. I come here for the happy hour deals on the sushi rolls ($2.50 for California, $2.75 for spicy tuna), but would not eat the sushi otherwise. There are just much better sushi restaurants in town and, for what it is, it's a bit overpriced.
But then there's the Japanese food: udon/soba, dans, bentos, etc. That's the good stuff. They have some really great lunch specials, but the dinner prices don't usually go over $10. More like $8. I used to come here quite a bit to get happy hour, or just to sit back, read the paper, and enjoy the healthy food at a reasonable price.
The "used to" is because, when prices started going crazy, the owner seemed to go crazy too. The happy hour was effectively eliminated, prices were raised a bit and there was an incident where she refused to leave the chicken _out_ of my friend's udon bowl because of a strict "no substitutions" policy.
Things seem to have settled back down on that end and, on recent visits, it's gotten better but is still not to the standard it was when I used to eat here, which is why it loses a star for me. 3-5 years ago, this would have been one of my first suggestions for a place to eat in Tucson, but that's really the case anymore. I'll continue to come, but I'm a bit skeptical now.
Oh, and per the "Waiter Service" thing below, it's complicated. You order at the register, but someone will bring your food out for you and sometimes fill up your water, but you can't always rely on that.
Truth. No lie.
I've been going to Yoshimatsu regularly for about 2 years now. It's the best and most accessible Japanese restaurant in Tucson in my opinion. So I go there for my Japanese fix. Going to Tokyo frequently, you get to understand what great Japanese is. Yoshimatsu is a 7, but a great 7.
This is the main point though.
Their Autumn special for the salmon dinner plate... it's incredible. That was the best salmon I've had in a long time. It was such a nice steak filet, pan fried... it's the best. I think i'm going to go back tomorrow night for it.
The Salmon Autumn Special!!! Get it!
My favorite restaurant in the history of restaurants. Since trying the ginger tofu bento, I rarely order anything else--until I saw the new "Autumn" special of Sweet and Chili Stir Fry so I had to try that with tofu and veggies. Sweet AND chili! Haha. Yummmmmm! Everything I've eaten there has been amazing. Fresh. Delicious. Don't want to kill myself from being bloated afterward. Perfection.
The owner, Yoshimi I think, comes out sometimes to bus tables and refill drinks. She's lovely, always making sure everything is great. Tons of vegan and vegetarian options clearly marked. Wonderful.
I guess this is good for tucson. I may be spoiled by eating sushi in San francisco. The fish was not very fresh which is the first thing about sushi that disappoints me and scares me at the same time. Over all the food was pretty good but I did not feel like it was a shining gem of excellence nor did I feel like I ever wanted to eat at this restaurant again. I would say try it, but dont go there expecting good sushi.
If the waitstaff would be Japanese and the menu in Kanji, I would believe being in Japan. The food is not americanized, the portions focus on quality and not quantity and a good selection of food.
I ave eaten in a lot of Japanese restaurants in Japan (around 100) and this place could be even considered a good place in Japan!
Itadakimasu!
Eat here at least once a week. I miss the Japanese restaurants in Seattle, so this quickly became a favorite for me after I realized it had opened.
I highly recommend it for a lunch place, so you can take part in some of the lunch specials like the Sushi Lunch A or B....basically a small (but average size) bowl of vegetable udon noodle soup. 6 pieces of spicy tuna (for lunch A), or 6 pieces of california roll (for lunch B), sided with cucumber salad. For about $7.50 its a great deal.
They also have excellent pork katsu curry...but i must say i love the udon noodle soup so much i dont usually stray enough to tell you other dishes to try.
nothing better than a fresh tasting, healthy, light meal like udon soup!
Enjoy delicious Sushi hundreds of miles from the sea!
It's really 2 restaurants, a classy side and a less formal counter service. The dishes are uniformly great and the ambience is sweet.
Being from San Francisco, I feel this restaurant would not be out of place in SF's beloved Japantown.
It was nice enough for me to take my mom there when she visited!
The food is so good!!! I love all of the items that come with your order. I ordered the Tofu Veggie Burger which sounded odd but was recommended to me by the waiter/server/cashier person. She said that it was her favorite dish and I could see why. It was really yummy. I ate almost everything that came on my adorable little tray plus a side order of sweet potatoes. I would come here all the time if I didn't live in the Phoenix area. When I come back to Tuscon again......I will certainly eat here.
5 stars...
Yoshimatsu is the jam. Ginger Tofu Bento Box is the jam. the brown rice is the jam. the seaweed salad is the jam. the nori rolls are the jam.
you don't need to order anything else but the ginger tofu bento. i'm serious. best item they serve. hands down.
this is one of tucson's best places to take that girl who you wanna make out with. doing it is awesome!
This is one of the best Japanese restaurants I've been to in the US. So often in the US, Japanese restaurants seem to only have sushi and the obligatory teriyaki chicken. I'm not saying these things are bad; I love sushi and teriyaki chicken, but Yoshimatsu serves so much more. They have all kinds of incredible, authentic dishes such as donburi, bento, soba, udon, etc. They even have okonomiyaki!
I also love the way Yoshimatsu is decorated! It's filled with all kinds of Japanese pop-culture kitsch such as product advertising posters and signs and posters and figures from anime such as Lupin III. They also have this great little Japanese market where you can buy Japanese souvenirs and food items.
If I could give Yoshimatsu more than 5 stars, I would. It's simply the best Japanese food you can get in Tucson. In fact, now that I've moved to Washington, DC, I've yet to find any Japanese restaurants here that are even as good as it. I miss you Yoshimatsu!
I'm always torn with Yoshimatsu. The food is pretty good, especially considering it's Tucson. But the service often leaves one wanting.
The food is a pretty standard variety of japanese favorites. Portions are generous. I enjoy anything with their gyoza, the udon soups, and the chicken katsu curry. I love that they give you a bowl of miso soup with your lunch/dinner in. Also, the happy hour specials are excellent.
What knocks it down a star though is the service and atmosphere. As some others have mentioned on here, the service and air can be unfriendly and pretentious - especially in Sushimatsu. Simple requests can lead to long waits, confused looks, and sometimes rude responses (we were once told our request would be a "big pain" - their words, not ours). Other times though, the cashier will be willing to assist in making sure you get the order you want. Usually the cashier is relatively friendly and sometimes even jovially chatty. It's very hard to predict if it's going to be a good day or a bad day at Yoshimatsu with service.
Despite my problems with the service, we still return because the food is tasty at a reasonable price. Prices are decent for a filling dinner. Though, the service sometimes makes me wonder if I couldn't make the entrees cheaper at home to avoid the pretentious attitude.
I will continue to recommend this place to friends with the caveat about their service.
The Chicken Katsu Bento is my favorite. The Chicken Curry with extra veggies, Ginger Chicken Bento, Oyako Donburi and Yoshimatsu Bento are also great.
The servers always seem a bit stressed, and it can take awhile to place an order, especially during Happy Hour (5-7, I think). Don't go too late, they close the kitchen about 1/2 hour before they close, and you'll be out of luck. If the parking lot is completely full, you won't get a table.
Get the natto appetizer if you want to try a food you'll never forget- it's fermented sticky soybeans. Actually, don't get it- it's quite an acquired taste, and you may gag if you try it. However, that is just one of the many cool foods they have. The seaweed salad (which comes in the bentos) is yummy.
If your food needs an extra kick, next to the salt and pepper shakers there should be another shaker with some red powder mixed with black sesame seeds. I don't know what it's called, but I call it yummy hotness.
The hot green tea is from a bag, but I like the iced matcha. They have an odd selection of sodas, so you may just want to stick with water.
Kids are fairly easy to please with a kid sized bento- don't tell them that the big thing in the miso soup is a mushroom, and they may try it and like it.
I do not understand why Yoshimatsu is consistently voted best Japanese in Tucson Weekly or various polls. Having lived in Japan, I was very excited to come here for the first few times, and to order cooked Japanese dishes. However, I find their cooked dishes bland (e.g. okonomiyaki). Maybe it's because they're trying to be very healthy, but it sub-par to Japanese homecooking. I also find all the 50s monster/character decor tacky and catering towards American notions of Japanese culture. However, I do like to come here for their sushi bar, whose modern decor I do appreciate.
Hmmm, I know people love this place but I just don't get it. The food's not bad but the service is. Especially avoid sushimatsu which is cramped and unfriendly.
Also, there is a sign telling people that their children had better be behaved or some such shit. Maybe they've had bad experiences in the past or something, but I thought that was lame. It made me want to misbehave while I was in there.
The best Japanese restaurant in Tucson.
I love everything here. The food is soo delicious. I can't name anything specifically, everything is great. Even their dessert (try the red bean ice cream... its not as intimidating as it sounds).
Love that they carry Echigo beer. I havnet found that in any other restaurant in this whole nation.
The sushi @ Sushimatsu is delicious. You can't beat the vegetarian selection.. and for the quality the prices are well worth it and reasonable.
I wish they had better timings for business...
If only Yoshimatsu could take over the world...
Is Yoshimatsu the best Japanese food I've ever had? No.
But it is consistently the best vegan option in town, hands down.
My friends and I are obsessed with the curry vegetable udon soup (have them add deep fried tofu, and you won't regret it). But the ginger tofu, stir fried veggies, veggie gyoza, and veggie tempura are all very good too. And if you are willing to eat egg noodles, their veggie yakisoba is spectacular.
Lovely simple ambiance. Where else can you get okonomiyake? The gyozas were good and yakisoba was excellent. Yes, there are certain things in a Japanese restaurant I MUST order, I don't want to, I MUST.
You order at the counter and the unique wait staff bring it over.
Tried the deluxe dinner chirashi ($14 - as opposed to the lunch special chirashi $10) in the Yoshimatsu sushi bar section. OK, nothing to write home about. Rather heavy on the vegetation instead of fish, fake crab legs junk, cooked shrimp. Unfriendly sushi chef.
everything is so good here. love the bento boxes.
I don't really see what all the hype is about. My meal wasn't that impressive and the miso soup was way way way too salty.
Yeah for Yoshimatsu! I enjoy eating in a cartoon. Lots of fun pictures and masks to stare at while you eat, as well as Japanese cartoons on the tv (no not Anime). My favorite is the tofu curry, anything curry, always curry. If you'd rather have sushi then try Sushi-matsu inside the restaurant. A restaurant inside a restaurant, how novel! I know! Sushi-matsu is a bit "fancier" a bit more of a "date" place, but very cool. Go, bring a friend, make them pay, it'll be the best Japanese food you've had yet, in Tucson.
Authentic and healthy Japanese food! People who have been to Japan before tell me that this place brings back memories of their trips. Sushi isn't featured so much, this is more of a noodle bowl/rice bowl/bento box place. Also has a cute litte gift shop area.
Some of the food is a little bland. If you go with something spicy it won't be spicy but it will at least have flavor. They have cool stuff and it's cheap.
There are actually two restaurants in one -- the regular Yoshimatsu, and Sushimatsu. I would give Sushimatsu a 3 or 4. The sushi is decent, and they have some nice vegetarian sushi dishes, using Japanese ingredients like umeboshi paste, shiso leaves, and gobo. The decor is nice, and the waitstaff is friendly (though sometimes service slows down when it's full).
The regular Yoshimatsu I'd give 2 stars. They do have a large variety of homestyle dishes like okonomiyaki, and lots of vegetarian options. But all the flavorings are quite bland. I keep trying different dishes hoping I'll find something good, but so far no luck.
Yoshimatsu is far far from being an Japanese restaurant. The decor is very cheesy to say the least, made to look Asian but far from it. It was crowded and noisy. I had to wait in line to order instead of ordering at my table. They cater to the college crowd and resembles more of a disorganized cafeteria with strange and very tacky seating arrangements. To top it off I I ordered a spicy seafood dish and when I went to purchase another 5 dollar item just to get the nasty taste out of my mouth and waiting in line for another 10 minutes the cashier had the nerve to argue with me that she "Would have to" charge me 50 cents transaction fee. Even when I explained my dissatisfaction with the quality of the $15 meal I just purchased... But that doesn't matter. Granted it was my first visit to the place, good food or not.. don't go there if you expect a decent dinning experience.
For the amount of food you get, the price is pretty cheap. Yoshimatsu is my favorite restaurant in Tucson so far. It's very comfortable and close to my house. They have many different vegetarian options and the food is mostly healthy and tasty. Besides your order, you get a complimentary bowl of miso soup and orange slices as a palate cleanser. I usually get the Veggie Gyoza Soup or the bento box that comes with a plum and cumber roll. I hear the Orange Ginger Tofu is good too, but I forget to order it. Definitely next time.
this place is REALLY cute, but the waitstaff does seem a little... angry, it might have to do with how completely weird the tipping system is...!!!
Heck, I have *Japanese* friends who eat there and say it's just like home cooking. Their new sushi resteraunt (Sushimatsu) - in the very same building - is a completely different experience. My friend says it's not the best deal in town, but I like it for the ambiance and excellent service. Also, the Green Tea Pudding is the best thing I've ever tasted. Both resteraunts cater to vegetarians; the main Yoshimatsu has a seperate menu.
Tucson, AZ
Category: Japanese
Tucson, AZ
Category: Sushi Bars
Tucson, AZ
Category: Japanese
Tucson, AZ
Category: Sushi Bars
Tucson, AZ
Category: Steakhouses
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