Matsuzaka BBQ

I did a vegan diet for three weeks, and afterwards I had a powerful desire for beef. Instead of going for the usual (for me) Korean bbq, I wanted to try something new. I’m happy I did because this place is outstanding.
Firstly, though, I should mention the parking situation which is absurd. The ‘lot’ is small and every spot has a sign on it stating that it’s reserved for a particular store in the mall. The few set aside for this resto were taken so we had no idea where to park. Luckily, we found a spot on the street but if there wasn’t we would have driven off. Once in I asked the waiter and he said that despite the signs, one can park in any spot in the mall’s lot.
At any rate, as many have pointed out, the décor is modern and clean. I noticed that this isn’t really a resto that caters to small parties. There are only 2 2-​tops. Since the resto was empty they sat us at a 6-​top equipped with grill. The 2 tops have no grill attached to it so I don’t know what’s supposed to happen should one want bbq.
This is not trivial since one definitely wants to order bbq here and one wants to cook it oneself. That’s key. I ordered the ribeye and cubed shortribs. Both orders look small but for one person it is more than enough – I’m no dainty eater. I cooked it all rare a couple of pieces at a time and I’m still in disbelief at how good the beef is here. Tenderness is not the most important criterion for evaluating beef but truth be told the cubed shortribs were so tender, like eating toro, that one virtually forgets that fact. Amazing. Tastewise it won’t compare to a nice dry aged porterhouse (not too many places serving that these days), but with the dipping sauces it makes for a very nice beef experience. I didn’t even order the american kobe shortribs that they also offer, but I can’t imagine how it could be more tender. Note: ask them to bring some hot sauce, which sauce must be house made because it was really, really good and unknown to me (I was half expecting them to just bring us siracha or something similar).
My wife ordered scallops and shrimp, both of which she liked. I can’t comment since I didn’t try them. We shared tempura. I’d pass on that next time. Ok, but nothing special.
I can’t remember the total cost but it was reasonable. The service was good but then again there were only 4 customers there. I can see it getting hectic if the place is packed.

I went with a bunch of my dad’s friends because they were hanging out and they promised me a yummy meal. I honestly had no idea this place existed. The first thing I did when I got there was go to the bathroom. Amazingly clean bathrooms!
My brother and I shared the 2-​person Combo Special. SO MUCH FOOD, whoa. Their ingredients were prime /​fresh. If you look at their combo photo in their ad, our table looked exactly like that #NOLIE.
My fave was their salted beef tongue. HOLY MOLY that stuff is good. Their mixed veggie dish was good: white mushroom + squash + corn. All fresh, not frozen. Combo came with dessert. Green bean ice cream was light, not rich. Good ending to the meal.
Everything was pretty good, and the service was attentive. They even quickly switched out our grill halfway thru because it was getting a bit crusty from all that grilling. I feel like this experience is worth the money. GO J-​BBQ HERE, Y’ALL!

The inside has nice décor and the service was decent.
Good quality meat but can be pricy. The three sauces that come with the meal is delicious all together.
Don’t come here starving because the portions are small.

Open late, nice décor and friendly service. The cuts of meat are lean and prices varies depending on what your palate is in the mood — from affordable short ribs to pricey Kobe beef. They also provide 3 different dipping sauces which I liked all of them — BBQ, garlic and lemon sauces. However, the serving might be on the smaller side. I believe it’s single serving so I can see how it can get expensive right away. Plus, sides are extra.

Wow, a nice local eatery, I was impressed! Nice décor, great service, delicious food, good sake selection. :)
We were seated in the back corner of the restaurant, liked it so much, private and quiet. Menu is nice, appetizers, beef, pork, chicken, seafood, veggies, side orders. We decided to start with 720 ml sake, they use small container with ice to keep it chilled, in case we can’t finish it, they will keep the bottle there. Thoughtful :)
Orders: Kobe beef, ribeye, calamari, grilled mackerel, oyster mushroom, butter spinach, chicken fried rice.
I loved calamari, so tender, grilled mackerel was a bit salty, oyster mushroom was so delicious, spinach was soooo good! My favorite!
Hubby loved ribeye more than Kobe beef. We all loved chicken fried rice.
Service was great, they kept checking on us to make sure everything was fine. Server was a bit surprised we finished that bottle of sake. ;p
Tab was $ 125 with $ 45 sake, a bit pricey for a neighborhood eatery, but I liked the food and service, very nice, and they open till 11.30 PM, which is good for late dinners.
Ps. Restroom is very clean. :)

Primo~
Primo Cuts of Meat! Woohoo! Excellent décor, service!
This Yakinuku place is located in a hard to see plaza from the Nogales coming Southbound from the 60 Fwy. If you spot B of A on the corner! Turn RIGHT now! Cuz, if you pass B of A, you passed it, and cannot get into their parking lot. You have to turn right into Daisatte, otherwise you can’t get into the parking lot on the left hand side directly behind B of A. It’s located on the ground floor of a rather NEW 3-​story mall. Parking seemed to be tight, as when I got out of the car, people passing by in their cars asked me if I was leaving… LUCKY! ^_​^
The interior of this location is dimly lit with good mood lighting, but, with lights spotted onto the tables. There is an bar area, as well as the main area with many tables separated by a bamboo curtain. A great date place! Large screen TVs are strategically situated and popular Asian music is granting audiences. An «A» rating from the Co Health adorns the doorway. The entrance is festered with a wall of assorted alcohol bottles. Very tasteful décor. Even the restrooms are something to behold. AKA, it’s Clean and New! ^_​^
I came here for the Lunch special, but opted for the upgrades (all 3) for Ribeye, jumbo shrimp and short ribs; additional charge. Service was strong although, I came toward the end of lunch. Darn, that 60 traffic! My food was excellent, I did have some «flaming» situations, so the staff came over to help! ^_​^
Yes, this is yakinuku, it’s self cook; SO don’t come if you DON’T want to do it! LOL! Guess what! HOT POTs and AYCE KBBQ are the same!
Yes, It’s yakinuku, SO if you can’t wait until it’s cooked, don’t come! LOL! Guess what! HOT POTs and AYCE KBBQ are the same!
Yes, this is Yakinuku, so, if you’re «EL CHEAPO!,» don’t come! LOL!
Yes, this is Yakinuku, so, you can bring a date! So, don’t PIG OUT! LOL! So, you can pay attention to your date as well! ^_​^
REMEMBER, if the food is good quality, you don’t need to rush and pig out, before you lose all sensation in your belly! ^_​^ As, in the case of the AYCE, the quality of meat is not as good, BUT, you are compensating by eating MASSIVE amounts; so NO MATTER what, the restaurant usually won’t go out of business, while you elevate your cholesterol uncontrollably! Unless, that «food coma» feeling is what dictates a good time, every time.
I can remember the first instances of hearing «Yakinuku» from either Jdramas or Animé (like Naruto). So, restaurants in japan, like family restaurants, maid cafes, okonomiyaki, and Yakinuku made into some of our collective consciousnesses.
I did get to sample a Yakinuku restaurant while in Japan; in about 2006. One of my friend’s family took me out. Well, Yakinuku and Okonomiyaki; heehee, what were the chances… ^_​^
It was a big affair; located within the Shinagawa Prince Hotel complex; my guess was that it was quite pricey! Lucky, my hosts were 2 Japanese doctors! ^_​^ I can closely associate this place with my experience in Japan. A higher price for quality. Don’t get me wrong, there were the assorted AYCE BBQ in Japan, BUT, not a real place, I would bring a date, for a DATE NIGHT!
So, if you like a classy and clean place, come on down! be sure to take advantage of the specials and happy hour!
Pro’s
Nice place, nice décor
Good and attentive service
Good selection of primo ingredents
Nice selection of Alcohol and nonalcoholic beverages
Specials and happy Hour
It’s NEW!
Con’s
Difficult to find for the first time
Parking may be hard
I will definitively keep this place on my short list of places to come back to; again and again! ^_​^
I don’t know about you, but, I don’t have to engorge myself to enjoy myself every time! ^_​^
I am not saying that I don’t enjoy the AYCE KBBQ (or the engorging, food coma experience),
BUT, this is NOT one of those places! ^_^

I will make this clear.
The reason why it’s 3 stars, is because of the service and portion.
Food — 4 Stars
One Strong strong advice, if you come here, don’t get cheap.
Get the Kobe Rib-​eye Cubed beef.
Remember that sh*t.
Cubed. $ 25 a dish.
There’s so much flavor, so buttery.
Oh my god, it made my mouth so happy.
Beef tongue (salt and pepper with green onions) — It’s good too, don’t cook it for too long, or else you’ll lose the taste.
Jumbo Shrimp — Fresh and Good!
Lamb Chop — Yes, not too gamy, Me like. I never was a lamb’s fan, but this was pretty damn good. Though, a little too fatty for me.
Pork Intestine — salt and pepper style– Good, but not super great. Maybe I just wasn’t used to it being grilled.
Now, what’s wrong with the service ?
They opened 15 min late. (we waited outside in the cold, all confused).
Missed my order.
Should have checked /​changed the grill more often.
Other than that, it’s not bad.
The price a little too steep for how much you get.
It takes about $ 30 – 40 to really fill up a person.
** They added gratuity on our check without telling us, good thing we noticed ***
Nice atmosphere, very young Taiwanese feel.

the 3 star average and the 3 dollar signs made it a place i don’t visit. alas, i was forced to come here. we dodged this restaurant the last time when my in-​laws family friends flaked last minute. whew! but not so lucky for chinese new year’s eve. the day before we were going to have hotpot at home… until the family friends were suddenly available again.
we had 9 people. ordered 2 combos for 4 people (they didn’t charge us for the extra miso soup, salad, fried rice, ice cream since we had 9).
combo for 4 people @ $ 89
edamame
miso soup
house salad
veggies to grill — onion, corn on the cob, japanese pumpkin, etc.
10 meats (shortrib slices, rib eye steak, premium beef, chicken, etc… see online menu)
fried rice
ice cream (choice of green tea, red bean, vanilla)
personally, i prefer not to cook my own meat. this is because once we start… more than one person wants to help. then it’s messy or flipped before the side is done. sitting with people who really want things overdone is annoying also. just cook my meat and bring it to me on a plate, please! (but at least we didn’t smell like bbq when we left)
FYI: here slices means TWO. got two bites of shortrib slices and two rib eye steak bites which were my faves. i love marinated chicken. think we got extra cuz the other side didn’t eat much chicken.
their meat quality was good but it’s very little for the meats you actually want especially when i only liked 5 of the 10 meats.
their fried rice was surprisingly tasty. i wasn’t going to eat it since i’m not big on fried rice… haha.
ice cream was standard. i had green tea. tasted the vanilla ice cream and thought it was too sweet.
good meat quality but waaay too pricey for the area.
at about $ 30 per person, i’d rather go to AYCE kbbq or better yet, prime rib somewhere.
SKIP unless you want to pay more for less.

I had a craving for Gyu-​Kaku, but it’s just soooo far. Lo and behold, thanks to my friend Unilocal,Matsuzaka BBQ popped up!
At a three stars average, I have to say I was a bit weary. But what the heck, I was hungry and wanted to eat now, now, now!
Upon entering I was impressed with the décor. It is easily on par with any swanky eatery on the west side. Very modern with big screen TV’s all about, strumming Chinese alternative rock. I have to say, I was a little worried at first. The place was emptier than empty. Uh oh… But too late now, I’m starved and will eat cardboard if I have to.
With the server’s suggestions, we ordered the following:
Homemade Kimchi: Good!
Filet Mignon — Garlic: Great!
Sliced Beef — Yakiniku Sauce: Out of this World!
Pork Belly: Out of this World!
Zucchini: Good!
Spinach: Great!
The presentation, beautiful. Good looking food, prepared eloquently and plated on artisan dishes. A piece of artwork, through and through. But most importantly, the food was REALLY good, just so flavorful. They give you dipping sauce, but truthfully, you don’t even need them.
If I had to ding the place, it would be the service. A bit unpolished, but by no means bad at all.
So there you have it, it exceeded my expectations by A LOT! Thumbs way up! But as always, let me know what you think!
Side note: For those who chimed in that Korean BBQ nearby is better in value and taste, you’re compare apples to oranges. Like baseball isn’t basketball, a Beamer isn’t a Benzo, nor Memphis BBQ isn’t Kansas City BBQ. So with that said, it’s Japanese food, not Korean. Totally a different experience from presentation to taste. If you want to gorge on so-​so quality beef, buffet style, go for it. If you want a more refined experience, with quality and attention to detail, this would be it. Don’t get me wrong, both are great in their own right, just saying.

A date brought me here once and it was less than impressive, as I’m not a fan of barbecue. The restaurant was quite spacious (and empty), with large tables with grills in the middle, creating quite a large space between you and the person sitting across from you.
Everything on the menu is pretty pricey, ranging from $ 7−18/plate for meats (lamb is $ 5). My date ordered so many, I forget which we ate, but there was one dish I loved: salted tongue with green onion. Having never eaten cow tongue before, I was pretty grossed out, but only briefly. It’s really delicous and the green onion really adds to the flavor of the meat.
The bill was expensive and overall experience was just a-​ok. I most likely would not come back as it’s pretty far from where I usually hang out and there are a lot more tastier (and less pricey) options in the area.

I came in here using the
$ 25 gift certificate and to give the place a shot. The catch is that you have to spend a minimum of $ 35 for it to apply. My server decided to grab a pen, scratch off the $ 35 and wrote in $ 50 instead and told me that’s the new minimum price. Can we say UNETHICAL. Hey smart guy, you cant change the terms of which i agreed to of $ 35 at the time of purchase. How about I take your menu and scratch off the prices and write in new prices since you guys are way to pricey for what you get anyways, and say «These are the new prices I’m going to pay today»
WANNABE GYU-​KAKU but will never compare. Just an overpriced knock-​off.

I do not know why some people have had bad experience here. I ate here a couple of times. services and food were great! love their pork and kobe beef. Japanese BBQ is definitely better than Korean BBQ I must say. Ever since I started eating Japanese BBQ, I have never had Korean BBQ anymore. Although Korean BBQ can get you filled for a cheaper price yet the meat is just different. if you want to get a taste of FRESH meat. Try Matsuzaka BBQ.
Things to try: Pork Toro (limited each day I believe), Kobe boneless short ribs, Premium Rib Eye steak. salted tongue with green onion.
Get those and you will not regret it.

I don’t usually write reviews but I will try my best to rate this place. I was invited there yesterday and was very pleased with the entire experience. I never knew there was Japanese BBQ. It was a very interesting experience and the food was great.
Meat– Very fresh although not big portions
Salad– I liked the salad very much, it went great with all the meat items.
Beef tongue– very tender and good
Pork– was as good as any pork meats anywhere else.
Steak– very flavorful.
Squid– ok
I can’t speak for the drinks there because i had the hot and cold saki and it did it for me.
Price is worth the experience.

We came here on a weekday night for dinner. I made reservations but it definitely wasn’t needed. We were the only table there until after an hour in another 2 tables came in. Nice modern décor.
: SERVICE: 3.5÷5 stars
One star off cuz we keep having to flag the waitress down to have her refill our water & getting our grilled changed (like 3−4x for. Aside from that service was pretty good. Again we were the only table & not like they were busy. There were 3 – 4 servers just standing around. So really the service should have been top-​notched.
: FOOD: 3.5÷5 stars
Portions & pricing were ok. Not a whole lot of variety. Don’t expect to get extremely full unless you want to spend the money or you order lotta rice to fill ya up. The quality of the meat was pretty good. They only give you 2 dipping sauces (both were very minimal so I had to ask for more). We had the following:
+ Chicken cartilage — crunchy
+ Rib eye steak — very yummy but u only get 5 slices =\
— Premium beef tongue — weird that the slices were thick & you only get 4 slices a dish. Expensive for $ 8!
+ Salted pepper pork toro — pretty good
+ Pork belly — pretty good
+ Miso intestine — oooh so yummmie! :)
+ Oyster Mushroom
+ Yam
— Fried rice — bland & not worth the price
— Cream of asparagus — it isn’t what you would imagine it to be. So it comes wrapped up in foil & within you get cut up the asparagus & mixed it with shredded crab meat. Don’t know where the cream is?
: EXPERIENCE: ³⁄₅ stars
Ehhhh wasn’t super impressed. Odd thing is one should be able to control the fire for the grill at whatever temperature/​pace we like. But that wasn’t the case. Our server told us either it can only go on low or high. Wth? No medium?! So we either had to burn thru our food quick or starve if we left it on low.
Just an fyi — although this is a Japanese bbq restaurant it is ran by Chinese people — of course the location Rowland Heights should pretty much give it away. I noticed they were showing the Chinese news on their flat screen tv’s. But they do play Japanese pop music in the background.
So OVERALL — I probably wouldn’t return unless it was a special occasion or they have better happy hour. But it definitely is not a bad spot to check out at least once for some tasty bbq~

Matsuzaka is a wonderful establishment that serves decent yakiniku for the area. I had a very pleasant experience dinning here for the first time and will for sure to return soon!
The Food:
Meat — Portions are on the small side but item prices are reasonable to compensate. Good quality meat, not the most amazing pieces of beef but definitely exceeded expectations for the price. Sirloin steak (4.5 stars), beef tongue w/​green onions (3.5 stars), and yakiniku marinated chicken thighs (I know, chicken? Yes, it was excellent! 4 stars) are the highlight of the meals!
Sauce — Previous Unilocaler is right on the sauce, I wish there is more than one sauce as options. You get only one ponzu-​y tasting yakiniku sauce which was very bleh (2.5 stars). It’d def. help if additional (sweet, spicy etc) sauces are provided.
Sides — 2.5 Stars, A-​Okay! House salad was grocery store euro blend pre-​mixed. And the kimchi fried rice was just okay as well. Good enough to accompany the meat dishes, but very average on its own.
The Rest:
Atmosphere is casual although the establishment is decorated modernly and lounge-​y, clean and spacious. They do have wire charcoal table grill, not electric. And I think it makes a difference on how the meat taste, I enjoy the extra smokiness!
Service is okay. The wait staffs are noticeably new and inexperienced, but they’re all very friendly with great attitude.
Deals:
1. When you check in on FB or Unilocal,you get a free beer (Sapporo, not a glass, a whole bottle per check-​in!).
2. They’re on
! We bought a $ 100 gift cert and had absolutely no problem using it on our $ 200+ bill. So we ended up with a bill of $ 25 per person including tax and tips, and that’s with sake and beer.
Overall, Matsuzaka is a feel good place and I wish them much success.

Just came back from lunch! Although I smell of meat! It was DELICIOUS to say the least! (Plus, they appeared in the local magazine of WaCow LA, so I had to try it!)
FOOD: The food is cheaper during the day apparently ($ 9.99 for three selections!) — I had a good look at the menu. They are the expensive side of Korean BBQ. But! The meat were fresh and very yummy! We ordered three orders of beef, two chickens, and two short ribs. The chicken and beef were AWESOME! They were marinated with sauce and once grilled and dipped in ponzu sauce = BOMB​.COM! What’s even better? Squeeze lemon juice over it and you’ll get a tangy flavor with it. (: That’s my tip of the day! The short ribs were thickly cut and the tenderness was delightful to the taste buds, but they were bland. We had assumed this was also marinated as stated on the menu, but when served, they weren’t. :(We were also provided with salads and miso soup, the salad was topped with this citrusy type of sauce, I loved it– but didn’t dig the actual greens they used. I’m a Romaine lettuce type of girl. :-P and the set came with rice too– So I was über full by the end of lunch.
SERVICE: One star docked because they were just SO slow– there was nobody in except our table and it took over an hour to get our food. Even my sister started complaining, and she rarely complains about things. They messed up our orders at one point, but they gave us four free edamames to make it up and they sincerely apologized. That’s all good with me!
AMBIANCE: Hip, once again– very modern designed (white granite table, very geometric shapes, etc) but they had a lot of space, and the chairs were super comfortable!
OVERALL: I would only come back if it was a very special occasion or I had the money to splurge… The food was delicious, but honestly too expensive to be eating BBQ here on a regular basis.
Another Tip of the Day For Fellow Unilocalers: Check-​In once and get a free bottle of Sapporo!

don’t know where the one star people are from but I really enjoyed my dinner tonight at Matsuzaka’s. 4 people, tab around $ 130, very full, had appetizer and dessert. For this level of food, very reasonable cost. First time there so we ordered different dishes. Recommend: Kobe beef, beef ribeye steak, beef tongue with onion very good, the special pork (forgot menu name), the large shrimps… even the fruit salad was good. Overall, no complaints. It was a Monday night, not crowded, good service. Nobody coming over to cook for me, we cooked our own food and had a great time. Meat were all very juicy and very tasty… Highly recommend, would go back again! Not 5 stars because 5 stars means perfect perfect but this is definitely like 4.8 stars!
Oh, and forgot the Kimchi fried rice was really good too!

I havent done a review in like 3 years so this had to be some pretty damn good shiet. I met my boy up in the spot and the food is good. The Kobe is the shiznits but if you can’t afford it dont order it. You can still get your grubs on with the prime rib, sirloin, Kurotota (check spelling?) pork, and beef tongue. Those are just some of my favorites.
Some people complained that the servers cook for you, I, for one, aint complaining one bit. I’m one lazy dude and if I have to pay over 20 bucks per meal somebody better be cookin’ for me.
Overall I digg the joint and I dont have to drive to either Pasadena or Rancho Cucamonga (god, I hate RC, residents of RC its nothin’ personal) to dine at Gyu-​Kaku.
Some suggestions:
1. Have some sort of happy hour at the joint. The décor and ambience of this restaurant makes me feel young again, and happy hours grabs 20 something oops thirty something like me wanna go get a buy one get one free Sapporo.
2. Have an all you can eat menu.- Im a big boy. Nuff said

I think some of the negative reviewers forget that this is a yakiniku style restaurant. It isn’t all you can eat. If you want to gorge on starchy foods then hit up the ASIA BUFFET over on gale and fullerton. I guarantee you will feel full, unsatisfied and gross after. I think as long as you know what to order at Matsuzaka then you will be full and happy.
For a party of two, I highly recommend the chicken cartilage (not on the physical menu), the mountain yam, oyster mushroom, 2 – 4 different plates of meat or seafood, an order of salad or an appetizer, and the fried rice or white rice. You will be VERY satisfied and it will probably run you only about $ 60 – 70.
If you think about it, that’s actually a lot of food for 2 ppl. If you can even finish that then you are probably overeating, if you are not full after that then I suggest you get on weight watchers asap cus you need help with portion control. This is a fun date place or for large groups, I have to agree that I don’t particularly like or need the servers to grill my food for me but you can politely ask them to let you grill it by yourself. I personally feel that for this area, this is a real find that stands out among all the other typical restaurants surrounding it.

I’ve had dinner here under the previous owner and the current owner and there’s been a lot of improvements under the new management…
Food quality: kobe beef, short rib, beef tongue, mackerel, etc awesome before and still awesome now
Price: expensive before but now the price has dropped under the new owner.
What really surprised me is the expanded menu. For example, they’ve added fried rice/​kimchi fried rice to the menu. This is a nice touch. No longer will you have to constantly stuff your face with meat like Chole Sevigny in Brown Bunny.
Overall: Big Thumbs UP