Jackie's World: Matsu Japanese Restaurant @ Lone Pine Hotel, Batu Feringghi, Penang

On last weekend, my accomplice & I went for a mini getaway & some chillin' out. "Mini" in a sense that it was done locally. =)

Watching sunset together by the beach
#nofilter #sunset #West #beach #sky #weather #perfect #BatuFerringhi #Georgetown #PearloftheOrient

So, we tried to have our hearty meal at this hotel's restaurant. I've read quite a number of reviews about it saying that it was good and the review pictures looked delicious too, so why not we try it here now?!

Here's the menu we've decided to choose, the Chef Utage Kaiseki's traditional Japanese 7-course dinner at Matsu!!

Matsu's Dining Area

Hot Green Tea

We ordered the set which came without the wine, unless you're a drunkard. Otherwise, no point! :-P

"Kaiseki" refers to a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner, which is comparable to the Western haute cuisine.
Yayyy~ First time having a fine cuisine, moreover in Japanese style. So, maybe next time, I hope that I would be able to go for the Western style of fine cuisine then, like the restaurants rated with Michelin stars *fingers crossed*
Ohhh yeahh, can't wait! I've got lotsssss of things which I have in mind and hoping that I would be super lucky to do all of them.
I sounded like a village girl, wtf~~ LOL!

This 7-course dinner is fit for a single person, however, we opted to share, cause sharing is caring? :P Anyway, if it wasn't enough, we could order an additional side order to make up for our hungry tummies. ;-)

1. It started off with a Starter Platter which featured 3 types of hors d'oeuvre (small portions of food served before the main course).

Starter Platter
#servings #smallportions #friedsquid #tamago #jellyfish

2. Then, resumed to feast on a spread of various sashimi (5 types). All these tasted fresh and juicy...yummmz!

A Plate of 5 types of Sashimi
#hokkigai (surfclams) #sake (salmon) #ibodai (Jap butterfish) #kihatamaguro (yellowfin tuna) #amaebi (sweet prawns)

3. Next, was the Yakimono, it was a grilled/pan-fried dishes beef enoki mushroom rolls with teriyaki sauce. The beef was tasty & tender.

Yakimono - beef enoki mushroom rolls with teriyaki sauce

4. Agemono - deep fried tempura sushi roll & vegetables

Agemono (deep fried)#tempurastuffedwithfishsushiroll #sweetpotato #brinjal or also known as eggplant

5. Nigiri sushi california uramaki

Nigiri Sushi California Uramaki
#shrimpnigirisushi #californiamakitoppeditoffwithslicesofavocado #tamago #wasabi #pickledginger

Aerial look of Nigiri Sushi California Uramaki

6. Misoshiru or also known as Miso soup (too bad, no picture of the bowl of huge white pot) :-P

My accomplice spotted that it wasn't supposed to be served with a spoon as one usually drink the soup off from the small bowl of miso cup. hehe~ The white pot was too huge lahh, one just couldn't drink from it straight away.

I guess that Matsu was too generous with the miso soup then. However, I felt that the soup was slightly on the warm side. I like it to be served freakin' hot btw, so that I could take my own sweet time to drink it later.

*Before we ended our 7th course dinner, we ordered an additional side order which was supposed to be a california maki, however, I guess that communication error happened as we just said it out verbally without pointing it out on the menu. So, it came with an Unagi Maki instead.

All is well, so we allowed this dish to be served. The unagi (eel) meat was good. However, I fancy that their sushi rice which stuffed those ingredients inside were falling off easily when I was about to pick it up with chopsticks. Though, my style of holding chopsticks was free style unlike my partner-in-crime. LOL!

It wasn't only me then, I noticed that my accomplice was facing the same problem too.

I was once told by close friend that the method of making & rolling a sushi rice depended on the chef's skills.

Unagi Maki (Eel meat sushi)

7. Lastly, to end our hearty meal, dessert Matcha Tiramisu decorated with almond nuts was served. It had some cheesy taste filling. I seriously love this dessert as it wasn't cloying and it tasted oh-so-perfect!