MATSU

Authentic Japanese food overlooking Yas Links

It’s an unlikely location for a top-notch Japanese restaurant: the upper floor of the Yas Links clubhouse.

The Latin music that played across the peaceful patio, overlooking the popular post-game watering hole Hickory’s, makes the scene even more incongruous.

But head there all the same, because the food is authentic and delicious, the service attentive and atmosphere serene.

Named after a coniferous evergreen that is also grown ornamentally in Japan, our night on the patio of Matsu was marked by one delicious offering after the next.

Our meal started with a generous portion of salty edamame and was followed by an immediate winner: the tofu salad (Dhs64). Laced with goma, a tangy white sesame dressing, the greens were topped with cubes of agedashi tofu, which is lightly deep fried to create a pillowy, almost cream cheese-like consistency, and gobo chips made from Japanese burdock root. Our other starter was the salmon tataki with ponzu sauce (Dhs45). We loved how the delicately seared fish paired with the tart ponzu sauce.

We sampled a bit of maki sushi and liked the spicy tuna (Dhs35) and crispy ebi tempura (Dhs60) the best. Be prepared: these rolls are oversized, which might prompt the uninitiated to compare them to the clumsy versions we’ve attempted at home. Instead, you will be tucking into the kind of thick rolls that are popular in Osaka and across the west side of Japan.

For mains, our vote goes to the tender tuna steak, which was topped with crispy renkon (lotus root) chips and served with buttery asparagus spears (Dhs108). We filled our bellies with the hearty steamed rice dish seafood kama meshi, which was mixed at our table and filled with an impressive amount of salmon, mussels and unagi, or freshwater eel (Dhs90).

We are consistently impressed these days with the quality of Japanese desserts, and the matsu houji-cha creme brulee (Dhs63) was everything this dish aspires to be, topped by a crispy, carmelised shell, which we joyfully punctured to reveal smooth custard underneath. The matcha and milk roll cake (Dhs45) offered layers of cream and green tea-infused sponge that left a trademark lingering sweetness, just like our overall Matsu experience.

Yas Links, Abu Dhabi, Mon to Wed 6.30pm to 10.30pm, Thur 6.30pm to 11pm, Fri 12.30pm to 11pm, Sat 12.30pm to 10.30pm. Tel: (02) 5560096. matsu.ae