Matsu Sushi Restaurant

A Dynamite Roll lands first at Matsu — shrimp tempura, avocado, cucumber, and crab bound under a stripe of eel sauce — and for plenty of tables that ten-piece roll is the whole argument for the place. It is only the opening move. The same Hunter Street East kitchen that cuts maki also ladles spicy beef stew and packs rice into a hot stone bowl, which makes Matsu less a sushi stop than a Japanese-and-Korean restaurant that runs both in earnest. The clearest way to read it is as two menus working in parallel, where a single order can move from a dragon roll to a Korean soup without ever feeling like a compromise.

The Japanese side is built on rolls. Past the Dynamite, the special maki run to the Gold Dragon — salmon and avocado layered over a Dynamite base — and the Red Dragon, which trades in tuna, while a Salmon Avocado Roll, the Skydom, and a vegetarian Mango Veggie Roll in mango sauce fill out the lighter orders. Tempura comes two ways, shrimp or a vegetable plate of eight pieces. The Korean half is where the menu stops behaving like a sushi counter. Dolsot Bibimbap arrives as bulgogi and vegetables over rice in a hot stone bowl with miso alongside; Kimchi Pork Fried Rice comes crowned with a sunny egg; and tteokbokki, chicken ramen, and a beef udon soup give the table warmer, roll-free routes through the same kitchen.

What the two halves say together is that the Korean cooking here is a full menu, not a courtesy listing. Yukgaejang stands as a complete meal on its own — spicy beef stew with vegetables, egg, and rice — and so does a donburi of panko chicken over rice with miso soup; neither leans on a roll to feel finished. The heat is there for the diners who want it, in the chili-laced tteokbokki and the kimchi fried rice, but the menu never forces it. That depth changes how an order gets built. A table can split a few rolls for the sushi crowd and still anchor the meal with a bowl heavy enough to stand alone, a wider way of ordering than a sushi-only counter allows.

Off the plate, Matsu is shaped for more than a single dine-in habit. Private dining spaces give small groups a setting for a family dinner or a quiet celebration without the press of counter seating, and an accessible price posture keeps an ordinary visit from tipping into an occasion. The takeout side is just as considered. An active online ordering flow makes carryout a built-in part of the menu rather than an afterthought, and the dishes that travel best — the Dynamite and Gold Dragon rolls, a Chicken Donburi, Kimchi Pork Fried Rice — stay clear and complete in the bag. Catering trays go further still, covering sushi and sashimi, maki, teriyaki, fried rice, noodles, and appetizers for office lunches and events.

For a Peterborough diner, that range is the reason to keep the address handy. The order that explains the kitchen fastest is a Dynamite Roll to open, a yukgaejang or a dolsot bibimbap to give the meal weight, and a vegetable tempura to pass around the middle — sushi-led, but never sushi alone. Vegetarians have a real path through the Mango Veggie Roll and the tempura, and the cautious can stay on familiar ground with a Salmon Avocado Roll or a bowl of beef udon. It is an easy table for a mixed group, where the rolls keep the sushi-minded happy while the bowls and noodle soups settle everyone else. The hours hold steady, half past eleven to half past nine most nights and a touch earlier on Sunday. The dragon rolls travel as cleanly as they plate.