Shinmatto at The Pocket, KL
Chirashi don, with sashimi piled high on a bed of fluffy vinegared rice, is the centrepiece of the Shinmatto pop-up at Pudu’s popularly discreet The Pocket.
While not your typical restaurant – just bamboo boxes of sashimi freshly cut by a single employee behind the counter – it has our attention for offering what they’ve dubbed as DIY Chirashi Don. That is, take as much sashimi as you can in 75 seconds for just RM28.
What is Shinmatto?
Shinmatto is known for importing fresh seafood from Japan’s popular wholesale Toyosu Market to locals, including KL’s popular Umi Ka Shin. They’ve been operating a pop-up at The Pocket since December 2025, delivering chirashi don with airflown seafood every weekend in a pretty unique way.
Patrons are given a decent-sized bowl of slightly vinegared rice upon payment, and 75 seconds to pile as much sashimi as they possibly can.
All-you-can-take chirashi don
Shinmatto delivers seven types of sashimi during each service: salmon (sake), Japanese bluefin tuna (akami), Red Sea bream (madai), Japanese anchovies (shirasu), yellowtail (hamachi), flying fish roe (tobiko), tiger prawns (kuruma ebi), and sea urchin (uni).
But you’ll be lucky to find all seven options available on a single visit to the pop-up stall. There are usually limited portions of the fancier fish, like akami and hamachi, which tend to be scooped up fast by eager early-bird customers.
On our visit, we had options of salmon, anchovies, tiger prawns, fish roe, and two other filler ingredients, cubed cucumbers and tamago.
Here’s a pro-tip: Go for all the sashimi offered, as everything is incredibly fresh and worth trying, and get the most bang for your buck by forming a layer of anchovies and fish roe over the rice, before moving on to the sashimi, so nothing spills over.
But don’t get greedy. Any sashimi that does fall from your bowl will end your given 75 seconds early. And yes, the staff will have a timer going to count you down.
And while most will skip the fillers, consider sparing some space in the pile for the cucumbers and tamago, as they add a nice crunch and sweetness with each chew of rice and juicy sashimi.
Soya sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger also come with each order.
Chirashi Don at Shinmatto in The Pocket
Here’s your excuse to visit Shinmatto soon – the price for each DIY Chirashi Don is only RM28 till 1st March 2026. It’s typically priced at RM68.
There’s typically a line at the pop-up, but it goes by quickly as each customer is only given a set time each, so you can pretty much predict how long you’ll be in line. We waited around 30 minutes for our turn.
The pop-up opens from 11.30am till 8pm, but closes early if they finish their ingredients.
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Cover image adapted from: TheSmartLocal Malaysia