Matsunori
Matsunori Handroll Bar, not to be confused with Matsunori Sushi Club, originated as a Boston handroll sushi bar. They decided to open an additional location in Long Island City, where there is an influx of Asians moving in. They do not accept reservations, so we decided to try to walk in around 6:30 PM on a Friday evening. Fortunately, we got there just before the lines, and we were able to sit at a table for 2. The counter at the time was completely open.
Ambiance & Service
The interior is not that large, so the service is quite hasty. When we sat down, a server came by with a tablet and took our order. You don’t need to order all the food immediately at once.
The service was pretty fast. They made sure there’s no more than 1 hand roll in front of us. Once we finished each one, the next one came within 5 minutes.
Note that you pay via the tablet as well, and it appeared that the tip is calculated post tax.
Food
We didn’t order off any of the special menus. We noticed that the classics come rolled up in its entirety, and the signatures come open faced.
One thing I noticed is that you really do not need to dip any of the hand rolls in soy sauce. A lot of the fish is quite fresh as is, and they season the rice and roll.
The Scallop ($10) came with raw scallops, cucumber, sea salt, and lime zest. This overall was pretty good. The scallops were sweet and tasted fresh. I wish the lime zest was more prominent to give it a bit more brightness.
The Snow Crab (Cali Roll) ($10) came with snow crab leg, mayo, cucumber, avocado, masago, and tamago. I didn’t get a bite of this, but my partner really enjoyed this.
The Eel ($10) came with eel, kabayaki sauce, ginger, and scallion. I was surprised that my partner didn’t mention anything of ginger, and they really liked it.
The Miso Butter Cod ($10) came with 72 hr marinated black cod and homemade butter cream. This literally was a melt-in-your-mouth cod. It reminded me of a mirin and miso marinade, so it comes off with a nice combination of umami and sweet. Definitely order this if you come here.
The Spicy Tuna ($7.50) came with tuna, spicy mayo, fried sweet potato, and furikake. The tuna reminded me of those spoons of meat around the bone because they were very minced together. Regardless, it tasted very clean and fresh.
The Spicy Salmon ($7.50) came with salmon, spicy mayo, and furikake. I didn’t have a bite of this, but my partner enjoyed it.
The Spicy Shrimp Tempura ($10) came with shrimp tempura, spicy mayo, tamago, avocado, and masago. This was surprisingly really good. The tempura was super crispy, and the flavors of everything combined were excellent.
The Spicy Yellowtail ($7.50) came with yellowtail, furikake, jalapeño, and spicy mayo. The yellowtail was very fresh, and there’s a bit of a kick to this.
Overall Impression
Matsunori is a very good addition to the Long Island City area for hand rolls. What’s nice about this restaurant is that the price is not too expensive, and the food was all very clean, fresh, and tasty.
Yelp Jabs
They do not sets of hand rolls, but rather individual. The spicy scallop was probably the best. The spicy tuna and spicy yellowtail were way too chopped up for my preference, so it was hard to taste the fish. It makes me think that it could be a lower quality fish…
I could taste the fish fine, but typically spicy tuna will be using the scraps of the fish. A lot of sushi chefs will take a spoon, and scoop the meat next to the bones. This reminded me of that. This Elitist could also realize that maybe it was a good thing that the fish didn’t taste fishy.
The portions for each of the handrolls were so generous
Compared to the other hand roll places in Manhattan, the portions are pretty comparable. It’s just two to three bites.
Revisions
- Jun 6, 2025 - Initial revision.