Matsuri (St James's)

I have been to Matsuri several times in the past and was looking forward to going again. The first thing I noticed was the new bar area, a great improvement on the old one, even though the Italian bartender was a little hard to understand. Alas it was down hill from there. Gone is the traditional Japanese welcome at the bottom of the stairs and gone are the Japanese/Chinese waitresses. Italian head waiter, Italian manager, Italian wine waiter, if I wanted to go to an Italian restaurant I would do so.

Food was OK but a little pricey, service has been better, staff looked stressed and tired and the atmosphere was non existent.

I shall not be going back.
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Zhang Ziyan
4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Friday, June 07, 2013

Had teppanyaki for 2 with lobster, scottish fillet and kobe beef. Knew it would not be cheap but cant honestly say that it was worth £330. Having said that food and staff, ambience etc were really great - just not worth the money.
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Stuart Hunter
6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Monday, April 23, 2012

Good food, satisfactory service. Not worth the money. It's possible to get tepanyaki for less, slightly under the quality with more flair and interaction from the chefs for 50% less bill, a five minute walk away from here.
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5 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Sunday, March 11, 2012

why cant people take into consideration the rent restaurants have to pay to have a location on St James street, its only a rip off when the food and service is poor which it isn't.

you shouldn't go out for a meal in one of the most prestigious areas of London if you're watching the pennies (by the way I am not rich myself) I just unsure I have enough to splurge.

You can see Matsuri buys top quality produce on teppanyakis all your food has to look good, each piece as well as tasting good so therefore rising their food costs or they could do it on a budget and serve you rubbish and relocate to Streatham.

Also when in restaurants always state TAP water, you will always be given bottled if not, after all they are there to make money!
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Jade Dean
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, November 10, 2011

Totally over-priced. Food was good, but nothing to write home about. Rolls were very small, and plain. The worse thing was we asked for water and they didn't ask us if we wanted tap or bottled (we wanted tap) so we just assumed we were given tap, only to be charged 9.80 pounds for two bottles of water! Total rip off.
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Debra Macchi
5 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 0
Saturday, July 09, 2011

the place is really good, I am a regular customer for about 4 years. The food and service is the same it have been - high level. what attracts most to Matsuri is that the food is cooked in front of you. you can also ask for a private room: once me and my frieinds were given a table in the private room and we didn't even ask for that, so it was great.

I would recommend it to everyone, who wants to enjoy Japanese food, while being entertained at the same time.
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KK
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, June 10, 2011

Food was good, service was decent, but very very expensive! So go with a big wallet.
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Sam J
6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Sunday, October 17, 2010