Come check out this locally owned Japanese restaurant. They've been around for a long time and it's the closest thing to authentic Japanese/local as we can get here on MAUI. Service is always quick and food is always on point. I never have a bad experience at restaurant matsu. read more

I was undecided: 3 1/2 stars...4. The food was good, the portions plentiful. And the sushi was even pretty good. We went with a group- got a variety from the menu. They have a picture book explaining the menu (helpful). Quaint, small, casual- a good stop! read more

The chicken katsu was very good. I was very happy to eat lunch from here. It wasn't my first time and won't be my last.

I love the food here. I especially love that they serve soba noodles, my fav Zen Taru Soba. All the dishes we've tried were so tasty. I could eat Japanese food every day. Keep up the good work. read more

I needed some food for the 5 hour plane ride back home. This location is very close to the Maui airport and the food was very good! I'd visit this location again. read more

Best local Maui japanese restaurant...ate my first spam katsu there...that chicken curry katsu...theyre usually packed and it gets busy but worth the wait read more

My son said best California roll ever. I had the miso Saba which was very tasty. The miso soup also tasted better than most. Very friendly counter service and overall affordable sushi. read more

Love that it's freshly cooked. Too bad it's pretty tight there especially when it's lunch time. They need a bigger area one day.

Great food. Our employees frequently buy lunch there. The cashier is very friendly also. Check out the awesome mural on the rightside exterior wall... read more

Still loving this place. Many years eating here, and still just as good. Wish I still lived on Maui so I could eat here more than once a year. I had the teriyaki ahi, as usual, and it was the same as it was back in the old days in Maui Mall. My wife had the shrimp tempura, and she thoroughly enjoyed it, like she always does. Thank you for so many years of making me smile. read more

Yeah man, Restaurant Matsu all the way. We had a few hours before a flight out of Maui and made it over to RM. It's awesome! After all the resort headache dining experiences, it was a relief to walk in, give our order to the friendly cashier, and have a seat. Within a couple minutes we had the fried chicken (excellent, as others have mentioned), tempura shrimp, and a bowl of ramen (I was coming down with a cold and it hit the spot). The food was all excellent (as far as this mainlander could appreciate) and the low key atmosphere was perfect. Kudos to Restaurant Matsu -- they do what they do and they do it very well. read more

Awesome Japanese food the rice is the best on Maui along with alot of other things I like that they keep the menu simple and clean the food is always what you expect been going here since they were in Maui mall with my parents a while ago. They have the best fried chicken on the island to me a must have. Saimin is also really good the dashi (broth) tastes like it's made from scratch my kids love it here. Great job to the people who are making it happen here and thank you for making good food for many years and Maui hopes many more years to come. read more

We ate at this restaurant because of the Yelp reviews. Obviously, the prior reviewers were missing their taste buds and did not mind spending hard earned money for not much of anything. Don't waste your time. Find a McDonalds or head to Zippy's. read more

I really love this restaurant. They have really good Japanese food and familiar Japanese style service. The food is really affordable and tasty. My recommendation is to try the curry katsu, katsudon, and california roll. The salted cabbage really good too. I love eating at Matsu's, it's probably my favorite place to eat. Be warned though, the restaurant is small so they might not have any place to sit, but I still recommend eating at Matsu's. If you like affordable Japanese food it's the place to go. read more

Cheap, quick, and effective. The menu actually offers a wide variety of Japanese dishes. The sushi is good, nothing outstanding or noteworthy. The draw of this place is the quick service and cheap prices. read more

Inexpensive and delicious what a perfect combo. Tucked in a light industrial area in a run down building. You go in and order at the counter. U do everything else get ur drink, silverware, condiments and stuck in traffic down at the raggedy tables. This all adds to the charm. When my donburi came I swooned. It was perfectly cooked with just a dash of egg and a delicious sauce. My children had a huge tempura plate cooked perfectly and a roll as well. My daughter had the glass noodles with steak and veggies. It was perfect for a 10 year old. We will be back. read more

Definitely not fine dining nor a fancy place. It's a hole in the wall joint with good food. My daughter is a super picky eater but she ate up the miso butterfish and the mini-ramen. We went to a "nicer" noodle place but she wouldn't touch any of their dishes. My curry chicken katsu was delicious and the total bill came out $35 for two adults and two kids. You can't beat that value and taste combination. read more

horrible 1. causing or tending to cause horror; shockingly dreadful: a horrible sight. 2. extremely unpleasant; deplorable; disgusting: horrible living conditions. read more

Good selection of food to eat. I got the tempura udon and my boyfriend got the miso ramen. Both very delicious and good portions. I could definitely see myself eating here often if i was a local. Prices are very reasonable. read more

A little hole in the wall with delicious unhealthy food. Everything fried, but so tasty and well done, it's worth the treat. Classic locals spot that was friendly if you were friendly. read more

Gotta try the fried chicken, Heart Attack waiting to happen but well worth it, kind of like how Pioneer Chicken used to be, do you remember? The size of this plate lunch is pretty generous, comes with a big mound of white rice, some pickled cabbage with about 7 or 8 pieces of boneless chicken and a half of a lime which usually is pretty useless as 8 times out of 10 is bone dry but that's okay cause the chicken is great- salty, crunchiness. The portions of their other plates are unfortunately rather small. read more

No-nonsense cafe with good simple Japanese food. I will be back whenever I'm around.

My wife and I were starving after our 6 hour flight from California so we headed to Restaurant Matsu right after we picked up our rental car. My wife ordered the tempura ramen which was okay and I ordered the shrimp tempura/chicken teriyaki combination box. It was a good sized portion of food but the tempura batter was not light and fluffy and the gyoza was deep fried not pan fried. A filling, adequate meal for weary and hungry travelers. read more

Everything is delicious! Our faves are the mochiko chicken, ten don with egg, and Katsu don!

Average Japanese food for Maui. Better options available. Very tight and limited space inside tho.

One of my favorite places to get spam musubi! Their teriyaki style spam musubi is to die for! Got some Maui manjookie cookies on the side.

Food is great , alittle upset plan to take the family there for dinner and it was close , next time

wonderful people, very helpful. I wanted some miso soup one night and went there right at closing time and more than one person helped me get the miso soup I was looking for. I am impressed with the dedication and their pricing was incredibly cheap. I will will definitely visit this restaurant again... read more

Best authentic Japanese food place on Maui! Never been disappointed in anything we have ordered here. They make everything fresh so be prepared to wait - but so worth the wait!!! Owners and staff are so friendly and accommodating!!! read more

Best ramen on Maui! We go at least once a week and I always get the same thing tempura ramen. More of a casual Japanese plate lunch spot but they are renovating so I'm excited to see what is in store for Matsu! read more

A friend and I wanted to get some lunch that was convenient & close to her work place. I heard a lot of good reviews about Matsu's. Just 2 minutes away which was a plus! Parking was not an issue they have a big lot. The cashiers are very friendly. I wasn't to familiar with there menu but their picture book at the counter was helpful. My friend wanted something cold since it was a hot afternoon & got the cold ramen; I wanted to try there fried chicken that every body been raving about. There are about 8 tables that sits 4 we got to have a table since we beat the lunch hour traffic. It got a bit busy people in & out picking up take out orders. We got our food about 10 minutes & the chef personally brings out your food to you; a real traditional Japanese restaurant. There's a station with all the condiments and you help your self; We grabbed everything, sesame oil, pepper, shoyu & tabasco we even forgot to put it back because we were to busy enjoying our meal :) my friends Cold ramen was served with artificial shrimp, vegetables & chives served in a dark broth which she Drenched with sesame oil & pepper which actually brought out the flavor! My fried chicken came with 6 big pieces, salted cabbage, slice of lemon and a good portion of rice; the chicken was still steaming which meant it was made fresh. The chicken was boneless and juicy on the inside; the batter was crispy and tasty; some pieces were a bit to salty but the lemon balanced the flavor out. The Vibe inside Matsu's is very cozy makes you feel like your eating at home; you clean up after yourself and store dishes at a busing station they have setup. Truly a Kind & Respectful Family owned restaurant that takes Pride in their Culture. Good Food with Good company! Thanks HJP! for helping me out with this project. read more

This little place is kind of hidden but I'm glad we found it. The decor isn't flashy, the sort of furnishings you'd expect at a little local cafe, and you have to seat and serve yourself. It's very laid back but clean and the woman at the counter was very polite. We tried the mochiko chicken and unagi don, both of which were tasty. The chicken was, however, on the greasy side; it could have benefited from more drainage before serving. The unagi was well cooked, as was the rice that accompanied both dishes. Some people may be turned off by the serve-yourself rule but I really enjoyed the comfortable, homey atmosphere. read more

I honestly don't understand how this place gets such great reviews... Maybe I just ordered the wrong thing, but what I did order was inedible. I got the oyako don, and 3/4 of the bowl was mushy rice, the chicken was flavorless and had a funky texture, and no amount of soy sauce could help. The only thing that was good was the mochiko spam musubi. The food is cheap for a reason, the ingredients were probably the cheapest they could get. read more

I've been a fan since it was open at Maui Mall. The food is awesome, and the prices are reasonable. My entire family loves Matsu (kids ages 6,11,and 14). They have all grown up on the miso soup and rice. Family favorites are the tempura ramen, miso soup, fried chicken, chicken katsu, chicken katsu curry, tofu salad, California roll, spicy tuna roll, and salmon roll. We live on the west side, but we're at Matsu's almost once a week. I only wish they had a Lahaina location, so I could save on gas. :) I can't wait for the restaurant side to open, for full-service! read more

As first timers, not sure what to expect from the time we walked into the door. People by the door waiting for??? Soon to find out you must place your order from menus on the counter with a cashier, who is also taking phone orders. If there were more people behind me waiting to order, I would have felt more rushed to make a decision. Also stressed as there were not any tables available and we were eating in. After ordering and getting a table, I actually saw some specials on the wall that we would have liked to have tried. Considering the size of the seating area, the food didn't come out that fast. Must be the phone orders. The tempura was really good, noodles okay. Two bowls of noodles with tempura, under $20. No drinks ordered; used the water machine which was slow in filling the cup. Crowd thinned out at 1:15. All said, would return and concentrate on the tempura and maybe try other noodles. read more

this place must have closed up or gone on vacation. Drove to it twice in one week (1/1/12 so may have been closed for Sunday or New Year's day and on 1/5/12- closed on a Thursday?). read more

Always the first place I eat when I come home! Love this local Japanese place. Unpretentious, friendly, and yummy. Always get the "A" special. read more

don't go there around 7:00PM, all CLOSED signs were up! Online and their on restaurant it says closed 7:30PM! Very disappointing!

Great food! My family is obsessed with Restaurant Matsu. Everything tastes so good, from the Chicken Katsu to the Tempura Ramen. And the sushi is ono too! Can't wait for this restaurant to expand into a larger one! Only regret is that they don't have a location closer to me in Lahaina! read more

I agree, this is primarily a locals only type of place. Located on a main artery in the busy industrial area of Kahului, with ambiance that'd probably put off some people with its no frills, no fuss, mostly self-service experience which can get very warm and "cozy" when busy, this place delivers on the eat like a local experience. Those in the know, KNOW that the food is 'ono and this is THE place to go for plate lunches and catered platters for parties. I have not had one bad meal here, ever. And I've been eating Matsu's since I was a kid and they were still at their old location at Maui Mall. I remember, while away at college, how I craved their yummy fried chicken, tempura, and local style California rolls! It gets super busy at peak times, so be prepared to queue at the register. Calling your order in ahead is hit or miss as they wont answer the phone if they're busy. They have extended hours and are open for dinner, so you can enjoy Matsu's for more than just lunch. Look for the random cabin or ski chalet-looking building with a tight parking and you'll be in the right place! read more