Monday, May 23, 2016

KATSUYA (BRENTWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CA)

Katsuya
11777 San Vicente Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90049
www.katsuyarestaurant.com/
Tel: 310.237.6174
$$$ ($35-$45)
Sat, 05/07/2016, 6:00pm reservation
    (3 Piglets)





Katsuya Brentwood is the Diners Choice winner for OpenTable of 2015. Located on the popular San Vicente Blvd, the restaurant offers traditional sushi along with contemporary Japanese dishes. It is the first restaurant expansion of the Katsuya group since Master Sushi Chef Katsuya Uechi partnered with SBE.   

The restaurant's décor is sleek and modern. The menu is slightly similar to the original Katsuya in Studio City but a tad unequal in terms of taste. It is a combination of Japanese fare meets Californian cuisine.

Interior
BURNING MANDARIN ($15.00): Absolut Mandarin Vodka, Hand Crushed Serrano Chili, Fresh Lemon and Orange Juice, Splash of Cranberry. This was a delicious drink. It was slightly sweet with a hint of spiciness to cut through the sweetness. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
MY FAVORITE DISH. CREAMY ROCK SHRIMP ($18.00): Crispy bite-size rock shrimp tossed in a creamy, spicy sauce. This is by far one of my favorite appetizers. The shrimp is perfectly fried to a crisp texture while maintaining a succulent piece of shrimp. The sauce is creamy, not overly spicy and definitely mayo based. I could eat this as a snack all the time!

CRISPY RICE WITH SPICY TUNA ($14.00): Our most flavorful dish on the menu and the one Katsuya is most famous for. I always order this every time I pay a visit to Katsuya. This time, I'm a tad bit disappointed. The rice was crispy, but it was super stale. The highlight was the spicy tuna. It was creamy and the jalapeno on top added a spicy and crispy texture to the dish. It's quite small, but it's worth getting if the rice was fresh.
SPICY ALBACORE SASHIMI WITH CRISPY ONION ($17.00): A Crunchy Twist on Albacore Sashimi. I always seem to find myself ordering this dish. It's mild in spice and I love the texture of the crispy onion. The albacore's texture was slightly off. I still enjoyed it though.
CORN ROBATA ($4.00): I actually loved this. Yes, its simple. Just mere grilled corn with some sauce on it. Seriously, I could eat those. The robata bar is actually pretty affordable if you want some small bites. Its a good way to fill up without spending so much money!
BRAISED PORK BELLY ($26.00 BUT WAS OVERCHARGED TO $32.00): Twice-cooked Pork Belly, Caramelized Fuji Apples and Asian Pears, Plum Wine Gastrique. Good thing I'm blogging or I wouldn't have noticed that I was overcharged on the receipt for this dish. The pork was nice and tender. The Apples gave the dish texture with a slight crunch to them. The sauce was sweet. I felt like I needed something to soak up the sauce. Additionally, I don't like garnishes that you can't eat. Putting long stems of green onion on the apples and pears is kinda pointless in my opinion.
NUTELLA CHEESECAKE ($14.00): Nutella Cheesecake with Fresh Nutella Whip Cream with a Mixed Berry Compote Sauce. It sounds amazing right? Who doesn't love cheesecake and nutella for that matter? I was hoping that it would be mind blowing, but it wasn't. The cheesecake actually had a very grainy consistency and lacked the smoothness I was hoping for. Additionally, the flavor of the nutella wasn't that strong. I appreciated the ice cream on the side though!

Overall, Katsuya is decent but lacked consistency. I actually think the original Katsuya in Studio City is better. I also wasn't too happy when I learned that I was overcharged for the dish. Would I come back? Sure. It's not bad and it's not amazing either.It's just ok. I would probably stick with the robata bar and maybe the creamy rock shrimp. For the price, I would probably check out other restaurants in the area. 


Notable Dishes: Creamy Rock Shrimp, Corn Robata, Spicy Tuna on Crispy Rice

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