I have been looking for good Japanese food in Panama. I am almost always disappointed. Here at Matsuei, I was not disappointed with the katsu pork curry, the salmon teriyaki, and the sake. (mmm!) I loved the food, and it is almost exactly as it is cooked in Japan. I give 5 stars for the hot entrees, and they are delicious. I will however take off one star because the sushi still was offered with cream cheese. No sushi should ever be served with cream cheese! It is not Japanese style. period. So even without the cream cheese, I thought that the portion of fish should be bigger, and the portion of rice should be smaller. The quality of the fish was VERY GOOD. Salmon sashimi is likely my favorite thing to ever order in Japanese restaurants to evaluate quality. And here it is a winner. (It's like going to Thai restaurants and ordering pad-thai. You can evaluate using pad thai as a baseline of technique , flavors, and quality). Bottom line: I will go back. However, it is not budget-friendly.
