Matsu Chan

Cuisine: Japanese
Address: Harvard Square Plaza, 5990 Sheldon Rd., Canton, MI
Telephone: (734) 459 1779
Web: http://www.matsuchan.com
Price: $

Hidden in the corner of a stripmall, Matsu Chan is a tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant that serves Japanese ramen noodles. It is run by a husband-and-wife team - the wife waits the 6 or so tables while the husband cooks up a storm behind a tall counter. The decor is quirky - the walls are lined with a collection of license plates from all over North America and there are stacks of Japanese comics in a corner. Most of the customers are Japanese (which we took as a sign of authenticity) and the wait could be long if you go during lunch hour.

There are ample options for vegetarians and you can also request substitutions. We tried the plum rice ball appetizer ($1.75) and we thought the plums gave it a pleasantly tangy taste. The gyoza were stuffed with meat (unfortunately, there wasn't a vegetarian version) and pan-fried. We thought they were a little chewy.

The main attraction at Matsu Chan are of course the noodle soups and we have tried a range of them. The vegetable ramen came in an overwhelmingly big bowl with a ladle to match! The veggies were just crisp enough and plentiful. The menu suggested that the noodles would come in a "clear" broth, but we found the broth to be anything but clear - it was starchy and gelatinous. The mountain vegetables (山菜, sensai in Japanese or shan tsai in Mandarin) ramen ($7) came in a "soy" broth that had much the same properties as the clear broth. Very tasty once one overcomes the disappointment of the broth consistency. The last ramen soup we tried was the seafood ramen ($9), served in a clear broth similar to the vegetable ramen one. It came in a huge bowl with plenty of leafy greens, squid and prawns. We also tried both a seafood and a vegetarian version of the nabeyaki udon ($11). Both were very satisfying and are probably our favorite soups at Matsu Chan, but contrary to what we had experienced in other versions of this dish, the udon came with a hardboiled egg, rather than a poached one. Finally, we wanted to try one of the rice-bowl entrées, so we ordered the eel rice bowl (there are no vegetarian rice bowls). It tasted fine, although we think any of the soup entrées would have been a better choice.

Overall, Matsu Chan is a good dining choice on a cold winter day - and there are plenty of those in Michigan!