Katsuya

09/24/09

PAY MORE FOR NO APPARENT REASON

by Adam Rehmeier

Katsuya Hollywood is bad news. It might be terrific dining for the Minnesota set---tourists easily impressed by the flashing lights of Hollywood Boulevard and the chance to dine of foods they've only read about in celebrity magazines---but for those who enjoy sushi on a regular basis, this place is a real let down. seriously. the menu is like a "greatest hits" of the Studio City or Encino Katsuya. Only the most popular dishes. No special menu. No life. No soul. It is the sushi equivalent to orange chicken and sweet & sour pork, or translated into American, Hamburgers & Fries.

This place is not only pretentious, but the prices are disturbingly skewed. For instance, creamy rock shrimp tempura is $17 here versus $11 - $12 in Studio City. Instead of giving you whole shrimp, they have quartered the shrimp and stylishly lump them on a shiso leaf---the only problem is, the order is about 1/3 of the size of the Studio City Katsuya. The baked crab hand roll was limp and pathetic---hope you like a 3-1 mayo-to-crab ratio. We had some nigiri sushi: Yellowtail Belly, Snapper, Albacore, and Salmon. The yellowtail was actually decent and fatty, but the snapper, albacore, and salmon were bottom-barrel. Truly. And covered with pickled ginger and micro-cut scallions. The taste was overwhelming. I believe there was fish somewhere in there. One bite and I knew why they were covering for this poor fish that was probably frozen for over a month. It's just sad. The staff was friendly and courteous. No complaints there. But I really love a sushi place that is trying to get you in and out and paying attention to you, constantly checking in on you to see if you're ready to order more. The wait staff is very lax here, mostly actors with big dreams, so don't be surprised if you don't see them for five to ten minutes. A very light lunch for 3 came to $185 w/ tip. When i say light, i mean light. And that, my friends is pure BS. I'd tell you where to go in town, but to be honest, i really don't want to corrupt my favorite spots in LA. i'd rather those places just stayed focused on delivering amazing quality fish. The tourists don't care anyways. They just want to sit in a restaurant that doesn't have a smoking section and eat radically foreign stuff like edamame. Try Little Tokyo if you want the real thing. Down with pretentious LA sushi!

• Pros: ???
• Cons: 2nd rate sushi in a cliché Hollywood setting

09/24/09

worst sushi and getting worse

by jaimes

I've dined at Katsuya in Studio City, Katsuya in Encino, and Katsuya in Hollywood. I've lived in California for 8 years now and I have to say the food at the Encino and Hollywood locations has declined so much, today will be my last visit to Katsuya - period. I hate that I was even inclined to write this review because this used to be one of my favorite places to eat - lunch or dinner.

I ate at Hollywood Katsuya today with my husband and a friend. We were greeted properly at the door. Our seats were comfortable. And our server was great - super pleasant. But when the food started coming out I couldn't believe it. Our rock shrimp tempura was cold and looked like it had been sitting under a heat lamp forever (can't figure this out because there was only about 5 other people in the restaurant). And they must have butterflied the shrimp to get more out of it because they were the tiniest pieces of shrimp I've ever been served. This was super disappointing for two reasons: this used to be my favorite dish and how can you screw up fried shrimp? That was $17 for about 10 miniature pieces.

Then we ordered the other dish Katsuya is famous for: crispy rice and spicy tuna. It was so over cooked I thought I cracked my jaw trying to bite into the rice. And it tasted like butane. I was so sad because this was my other fav dish.

Next we ordered a plate of sushi: salmon, yellowtail belly, snapper, and albacore. The salmon was watered down, like it had been frozen. The yellowtail belly was ok. The snapper and the albacore were TERRIBLE. I eat sushi all the time so I know what it's supposed to taste like. For those of you reading this that are not regular sushi eaters, sushi is not supposed to taste fishy - THIS WAS SOOOO FISHY TASTING. And it was so obvious that they were trying to cover up the taste of the fish by drenching it with scallions and sauce. Yes, albacore is usually served with ponzu and onions but it's supposed to compliment the fish, not cover up the taste.

We also ordered some baked crab hand rolls - these were ok but on the skimpy side - mostly rice with hardly any crab. Again, cold and that made me sad.

So, 4 orders of sushi, 3 baked crab hand rolls, 1 order of crispy rice, 1 edamame, and 2 bottles of water = $145.00+ $27 TIP= $172 for LUNCH. Sound it out with me: pre-ten-tious.

For those of you that are reading this thinking that I'm a 300 pound woman that expects huge portions - not the case. I'm a pescatarian who LOVES sushi. And again, it saddens me to have to write this but I think people deserve to know that the quality of the Katsuya tradition has gone done considerably. Just because the economy is sad doesn't mean the food has to be - people are still willing to spend money but I won't for bad food.

• Pros: posh environment
• Cons: way too expensive for such bad food

09/05/09

Delicious (although pricey) drinks!

by 2XBRUIN

Seven of my girlfriends and I stumbled upon Katsuya while looking for a pre-Pantages (Legally Blonde-OMG U GUYS) drink! The parking attendant at Pantages suggested Katsuya and while I had heard great things about it I had never been there myself (like sushi but don't LOVE IT).

Upon walking in through the doors the first thing you see is the bar (YAY). We were greeted by the hostesses in a friendly manner and we maneuvered our way past these giant holographic looking cubes (with knives) to the bar. Surprisingly we were able to find a bunch of seats together (for the review that said there were no chairs at the bar...I have no clue what they are referring to). I honestly thought the bartender was going to get annoyed with us because we moved twice (found more chairs) and informed him that we were all paying separately (sorry!). However, he was super nice, gave us a friendly smile, commented on our pink outfit theme, in Legally Blonde style, and made some good suggestions. The Burning Mandarin is delish if you like something tangy and spicy and unique. It reminded me of the Lucas bar from the paletero or something with Tamarind. The other reccomendation, if you like mojitos, is the Watermelon Cucumber Mojito yummy! We didn't have any food but we sure enjoyed the $14 drinks. I think they are worth it but I guess since money is not an issue for me it didn't hurt me to pay so much for a drink. I will say though they COULD be like $10-$12 since the portions (especially the martinis) are pretty small. I could have had 5 of those things in a few minutes...

As for a few of the reviews that state they were discriminated against due to race etc. Well I will tell you that while we didn't have dinner, so I can't speak about the service there, we never felt that this was an issue with a group of 8 Latina women. Additionally, while I don't think any of us are ogers we are not model looking or super skinny or any of the descriptions that some of the reviews stated you had to be in order to be treated well. Our group ranged in age from 21 to 31 and in sizes from a 5 to an 18 and we were always treated with respect. The bartended (didn't catch his name) was attentive and not once did I feel uncomfortable or intimidated at this establishment. Trust me, even though there were 10+ degrees between the 8 of us and we are highly educated, professional women, our casual look and our preference for speaking Spanglish can sometimes be frowned upon. I have been at many places where people assume that we are just some "Latinas from the block" and make you feel that way without knowing that we have great careers and are highly educated. However, at Katsuya this never even crossed my mind! I will check out the dinner next time and will let you know if I get good service.

THE GIST: If you are looking for a good drink before catching a Broadway show this is a good spot. Walking distance from Pantages.

Pros: Yummy drinks, friendly bartenders, beautiful decor and ambiance

Cons: Drinks are Pricey average at $14. While I can understand this for some of the fancier drinks (Burning Mandarin-yum) my friend ordered gin and paid the same for a small shot. A bottle of it costs $14 -come on!

• Pros: Beautiful decor and ambiance, yummy drinks...
• Cons: Expensive...

08/14/09

BURNING MANDARIN

by MissLinz

This is a place with 3 star food and a 4 star scene. Take guests here from out of town and they'll feel they went all Hollywood for a night! :) Aw, so cute. Seriously, I go just for the burning mandarin martini ... normally I don't do flavored vodka and definitely not Absolute, but, it works in this drink so don't mess with it :) - Cheers bottoms up

• Pros: Best best martini if you like it spicy :) You know you do!
• Cons: Shoved to bad table on busy night if you're not cool enough

02/24/09

Melt in your mouth sushi!

by Rubyred1

The food here is A++. Me and a group of friends went for a friend's birthday. When our party arrived, they walked us to our table, they pull back curtains and revealed a private room for our group of 8. It was FANTASTIC. Our waitress was super attentive (although there is quite a bit of running around that goes on, as it is such a busy establishment). She was wonderful. The fish is soo fresh, it is amazingly wonderful. I had the jalepeno yellowtail sashimi for appetizer and it is to die for. Along with that I had the crispy rice with spicy tuna...my absolute favorite dish. I wasn't that fond of the shisito peppers appetizer (it was a little underseasoned ...like it needed a bit of acid or something). And the miso soup was classic. For dinner I had a spicy tuna sushi roll with rock shrimp on top of it (EXCELLENT) and salmon sushi (SUPER FRESH). I recently went to the Brentwood location and loved the ambiance even more...it's more rectangle and large (as opposed to the hollywood location that is split into areas and divided by the reception/bar area. Both are uber trendy and the food was equally excellent at both locations. The creme brulee was pretty good.. and I also had an apple tart like thing...which was decent. Bottom line is that I'm a huge sushi fanatic and the freshness and quality is exceptional at these two restaurants. I'm gonna try Nobu next and let you know what I think!

• Pros: The freshness and quality of the sushi
• Cons: A little haphazard service...but if you're used to ethnic restaurants....then it's very good!

02/18/09

best sushi we ever tried

by carsylv

my mum and i had a short break in LA and was booked this table at katsuya by friends. as we'd never eaten sushi before we were a bit apprehensive. we arrived on a Sunday night to very friendly staff and shown straight to our table, the waiter that we had was brilliant and very helpful we explained we'd not eaten this before and he basically ordered for us and thank god he did. it was delicious and he couldn't have ordered better. Also the puddings were fab! it was quite expensive but we enjoyed it and came from England to try it! our only gripe was when the taxi driver dropped us off we were a little scared!!!! there were lots of people hanging about outside the door.

• Pros: fast food
• Cons: slightly rushed

01/19/09

great food, poor service

by tyro1

went for dinner with party of 6. the waiter was stressful and kept harassing us to order. we spent $300 for the 6 people, and yet he made us feel like we needed to order more. great food, but pretentious people that work there.

• Pros: food
• Cons: service

12/27/08

Don't go out of your way to come here

by sammietorino

This restaurant is nothing to rave about considering there are hundreds of others like it in LA. When I walked it felt like I was walking into a spaceship. I was waiting for the Jetsons to come in and sit next to us. The staff yelled the standard Japanese greeting which was cheesy. Leave that to traditional sushi chefs. The food is ok. Pretty good except the sushi, which was bland. Good trendy drinks. I'd come here again if I was invited but won't voluntarily go back.

• Pros: drinks
• Cons: ambience is tacky

12/17/08

over priced

by casualcat

this place is over priced by far, and the service is not the best it could be on some nights, but it had that hollywood feel, too bougie for me i suppose.

11/16/08

Hmmm, Katsuya.

by kayispsyko

First, let me say one thing. If you are indeed a female, and your are ...

1. not wearing heels

2. not wearing something tight

3. not good-looking..

You will be stared down not only by the people who assign you a table, but by everyone else in the restaurant. Basically, you have to be slim, slender, or thin to feel comfortable. While it is a restaurant, it is also a show and tell runway as soon as you walk in. I felt like I was at a go-see the whole time. While the food is really good( the crab and mozzarella thing was amazing), you can't even eat in peace without someone looking or staring at you. Just be aware, you have to look good to eat peacefully. Sounds ridiculous, but, its true. Especially if you are as young as me(18), people look right through you. If you don't like competitive environments, I suggest you do not eat here.. especially at night. You will feel paranoid 24/7. It is actually a positive thing to say that everywhere you turn, you see an attractive person; you will never get bored of sight. Trust me. The whole night, my friends and I were basically eye-flirting with other men. Sort of child-ish to say, but it's true. That's just the way it is if you show up with all of your girl friends and happen to sit next to a group of guys. Money wise, be sure to bring a credit card AND about 50$ cash. You definitely have to valet your car. Hollywood is crazy and we all know this.. Anyway, I must say that when they do retrieve your car, be prepared to be embarrassed if it is not one of the following: BMW, Mercedes.. Just to let you know. As I said previously, the food is good, and take your time ordering. My friends and I had the menu by our sides ordering whatever we wanted. Your meal will be significantly cheaper if you are under 21(hint: alcohol is pretty up there). Unfortunately for us, all we could enjoy was seeing other people sip their alcohol. Oh, and beware of the geisha in the bathroom. This lady walked in and completely flipped out.

• Pros: good looking people,environment
• Cons: service,