Matsui Sushi - Alexandria

I visited this restaurant based on a friend's suggestion and was not let down! The food was incredible, I'd give it a 10/10, and I am already thinking about my next visit. I tried the volcano ramen, which is noted as *very spicy*, and it definitely lives up to its name! It is much spicier than what you would typically find in American cuisine. This was by far the best ramen I have ever had. The restaurant gets very busy during dinner time, but for good reason - the food is phenomenal and the service is both friendly and efficient.

Rated around 2.5 stars: Matsui is a Japanese restaurant owned by Koreans, offering sushi, Japanese and Korean fusion dishes, and ramen. We visited for an early lunch and ordered the Toro and Sake Belly nigiri, which were decent but not very fresh. The Salmon Sushi Box bento box was disappointing, as the salmon was dry and had a fishy flavor, and the miso soup was missing. The Volcano Ramen, advertised as extra spicy, was lukewarm and lacked heat, with overcooked noodles. Despite the underwhelming food, the service was friendly and the restaurant seemed popular among locals. Parking in the shared plaza lot can be limited. Overall, the experience was mixed with friendly service, mediocre nigiri, lukewarm ramen, and questionable spice levels.

The service at this restaurant is terrible. The waitress did not check on us for drink refills, resulting in having to order more expensive canned drinks for $3.00 each. One waitress was outside and the other was on her phone behind the bar. It took four trips for the waitress to get the proper takeout containers. The food, a simple chicken fried rice, was not the best. While the rice had excellent flavoring, the chicken chunks were tough. We paid more than at other places and do not feel it was worth it. We suggest trying Chef Huang's in Alexandria, VA for excellent service, taste, fast service, and a friendly atmosphere.

Ramen is the best in the area. Sushi is also great. I would recommend carry out as the place is small.

Matsui was highly recommended yet it was not the finest sushi experience I ever had. Customer service on our first visit varied depending on who was serving us. The male server who brought our appetizer was very courteous and friendly and corrected an error made by the server who took our orders. My husband was not thrilled at the tough texture of his chicken in his meal and didn't like how the female server disregarded me and did not put in the order for my appetizer but she did for his appetizer. He didn't like it when we were not asked if we wanted a refill of our drinks. He does not want to come back to Matsui and would prefer Chinese takeout from another establishment. He also thought Matsui was overpriced compared to the many Japanese restaurants we went to with better service and food. Regardless of the treatment and his complaints, he did give a 20% tip and kept his complaints private. I liked my sushi and how efficient the sushi chefs were. The servers were polite. One of them was forgetful but it didn't bother me. As for my husband's complaints and his complaint of how I was treated by a server, it didn't upset me, and she was not rude to me just forgetful. I told him that I didn't take it personally and that when he isn't around me females are not very nice to me or just very rude out of pettiness at least the servers were polite at Matsui). I was going to give it 3.7 stars and round it off to 4 stars. Yet, due to his complaints and refusal to ever go back to Matsui, I lowered my rating to 3 stars. I have to consider his opinions and thoughts. His views matter to me deeply, even though, I had no complaints except that my husband was unhappy with the food service and that the server forgot to put in my appetizer order and other things I requested.