Matsubishi
Local Benihana in Hong Kong
Matsubishi opened in 1979 on Jaffe Road in Wan Chai, back when teppanyaki spots were rare in the city. In 1989 it moved to its current spot in Convention Plaza. The name comes from a Japanese family crest (ka-mon): “matsu” for pine tree, “bishi” for the rhombus shape, with the logo showing two pine leaves forming that shape plus a flower - meant to represent harmony between the place and its guests.
Down a hallway motif of Kyoto’s red torii gate shrine, the restaurant was a lot larger than I originally expected, with regular dining areas, as well as multiple teppanyaki grills.
A fairly plain salad to start. There was some dried marinaded seaweed in the middle that was packed with flavour.
A small bottle of sake. When we see Dassai on the menu, it’s usually a safe bet. This one was a Dassai 39, with 39% of the original rice grain left after polishing. As with many other Dassai expressions, very fruity, floral and sweet.
Some smoked duck breast as an appetizer.
Off menu, we decided to get an geoduck, and have it served two ways. First, made into nigiri.
Secondly, cooked on the grill with a little butter, lemon juice and salt. Absolutely amazing and my only wish is that we tried some of the other fresh seafood they had.
The scallop appetizer, prepared on the grill similarly to the geoduck. I realized partway through that the salt, pepper, lemon juice and butter preparation is the same for nearly all the seafood they do - I just usually don’t get enough varieties of seafood to notice.
Our mains - A wagyu steak and butterflied chicken thigh.
As only proper, the steak was served with fried garlic chips.
A very western style fried rice, but absolutely delicious. Served with the classic miso soup, and some Japanese pickles.
My companion went with the fried noodles. Again, very western in appearance.
Finally, a scoop of matcha ice cream for dessert.
Overall, decent. We weren’t expecting a fine dining experience at the price point. We just wanted some last minute teppanyaki. It was very much lifting a Benihana from anywhere in middle America, and transplanting it to Hong Kong. They could do all the tricks, make all the recipes, but everything felt very “Americanized”. That said, who cares. A decent meal nonetheless.
Total damage: 3200 HKD/2 people