this is life in austin & aspen

The holy grail of Aspen food is UNarguably Matsuhisa. As in celeb-heavyweight Nobu’s little pet sister restaurant, the one Chef Nobu only opened for fun. You wait for someone’s rich parents or tourists to invite you to dinner there, and then you feel awkward the entire time because it’s so expensive and extravagant that you can’t possibly let them pay but they have to because you can’t possibly pay. Unfortunately for hoity-toities, I am here to dispell this uber-exclusive reputation.

The people at Matsuhisa are NICE. And accomodating. And helpful. They move tables so you can see Monday Night Football. They smile when you order three orders of $5 fried shrimp (I mean, tempura rock shrimp, natch … pictured above). They love to bring you more $10 sake, brewed EXCLUSIVELY for Matsuhisa in Japan and quite possibly the only sake I ever want to drink again. Seriously delish sake.

We went for the Monday Night Football specials … but here’s the secret: the Matushisa bar menu is reasonable. Like, Austin reasonable. Think Piranha Sushi prices. Amazingly reasonable for Aspen.

For instance, this is from Matsuhisa’s bar menu, not their MNF menu. It’s $18 for a Chef’s Choice sushi special – 5 pieces of sushi and a spicy tuna roll.

This was 4 pieces of raw fish for $5, which is pretty cheap but does not satisfy a tall Vermonster man.

We ended up ordering several rounds of sushi and sake, so we barely kept the tab under $100 with tip for two people. BUT for Matsuhisa, and fresh, delicious sushi in Aspen, we were happy. A packaged grocery store sushi roll at Clark’s will set you back $10, it’s worth it to get the freshness from Matsuhisa.

Matsuhisa: the secret is the bar menu.