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Categories: Sushi Bars, Asian Fusion [Edit]
Neighborhood: DowntownMonday- Friday from 5pm- 8pm- Enjoy delicious cocktails like the Burning Mandarin & appetizers like Kobe Mini Burgers in the bar/lounge.
"I'm gonna have to disagree with anything negative about this place... It's a casual, yet trendy spot to go for asian cuisine (note- they…" read more »
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Just had dinner here with my brother and sister and am VERY surprised to see that Katsuya has so little stars. But my brother did know what dishes to order, so that may be the case.
Anyhoo, my favorites of the night were the Seared Tuna w/ Japanese Salsa which sounded interesting on the menu but was absolutely AMAZING! Thin slices of seared tuna almost tastes like roast beef and kinda melts in your mouth. Also loved the Lobster Dynamite Roll and the Rock Shrimp Tempura Roll. Both come with generous chunks of lobster or shrimp on top of the roll. I didn't think they were overloaded with mayonnaise sauce like some other reviewers said-- that would definitely be a deal breaker for me.
Even though the food was really good, I didn't eat too much because we just had Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. But then we ordered dessert, and it was GAME. OVER! I don't know what it's called because it's not on the menu, but they have a chocolate lava cake with ice cream that is a MUSTTTTTTTTTT! The cake is warm and moist with gooey, chocolatey fudge inside, and the vanilla ice cream is rich and creamy with a hint of caramel. They also have some really good apple crisp dish, but for the die-hard chocolate lover like me, definitely go for the lava cake.
The atmosphere is also great! I'm comin back and bringing my girlfriends!
Do not bother coming here. Katsuya has always been on my radar for a while and although I've been to the one in Brentwood, the new LA Live one still called out to me. The bf had never tried it so we decided to eat there before the opening of New Moon.
Big mistake. Yes, this is a fusion restaurant and I totally know that expecting great sushi here is not a good idea but the sushi here literally is D quality. How can someone mess up a california roll?
Here's what we ordered:
1) Spicy Tuna over Crispy Rice -- bland and too much rice.
2) Rainbow Roll -- they TOTALLY skimp out on the sushi on top of the California roll. At $18.50, you'd think they'd either make up on quality or at least quantity.
3) Lobster Special Roll -- way too much mayonnaise and tastes just like any other Dynamite Roll you can find at any sushi joint
4) Crab Hand Roll -- all rice no crab and too much mayonnaise
Don't bother coming here. Ambiance is like that of Geisha House and Takami so I'd rather go to Takami anyday. I'd give this place 3 stars but I'm docking one off for crappy WAY overpriced food.
The only good thing here is their hot green tea that they serve in an iron pot. It's super strong and tastes very Japanese.
I only had a drink and it was refreshing and good.
I had the watermelon cucumber mojito.
My friends had some rolls prior to watching a ball game. The service was fast and efficient except for the last part where we're about to get our check.
It took them almost 20 mins to get a small check on a non busy night.
It was a good experience to sum it up and i'm willing to try it again.
This should be 3.5 stars. .5 is from our nice host that came from Oregon State!
Pretty good food. I've been to this one and also the one in Hollywood. Izakaya by Katsu-Ya on 3rd is actually better than both. But nonetheless, my fave dishes here are....spicy tuna and crispy rice, yellowtail jalepeno, albacore sashimi with crispy onions (fried onions so addicting!!), rock shrimps. One amazing dish was the kobe beef with foie gras...wowow, goodness melting in your mouth! Also love the baked blue crab hand roll.
I love the Hollywood Katsuya WAY more the service here is ridiculous
With only one other table besides mine it took a waiter 10 minutes before they even asked me what i wanted to drink. Then the food was orderd wrong and a server forgot one whole order so while my bf was almost done with his food none of mine arrived. And it took them 30min to finally bring me a whole new order of food. Im really disappointed at the downtown location. I hate how the tables are way lower then the chairs outside too thats just ridiculous. Anyway i still love the hollywood katsuya and will still go to that location...
Went to Katsuya on a Friday night at 7:30.
It was on a Clippers game night, also with some kind of event or party going on, so it was pretty busy.
I ordered one of the specials and it was already sold out. I was surprised since it was only 7:30pm.
As for appetizers: the rock shrimp appetizer and the spicy tuna on crispy rice were both really good.
Main Courses: We had the teriyaki steak, the teriyaki chicken, and the halibut. The halibut was spicy, but all of the meals were good. The teriyaki meals came with wasabi mashed potatoes (which were hard to eat with chopsticks...) When we got our meals, they forgot that we ordered the teriyaki meals which came with soup, salad, rice, etc. So they had to come back a few minutes later with the rest of our meal trays with the rest of our food on it.
We also had the cucumber roll. It was very refreshing and you could tell that the vegetables, rice, and seaweed were all fresh and great quality.
The decor was beautiful. It was very trendy, and a definite fun place to do people watching. We didn't have any drinks but they looked good.
Overall, it was a good experience. I've definitely had better food, but for the overall experience, I would go back.
Really 3 1/2 stars for this place. Food was decent, decor was what was expected of an SBE restaurant - black, white, modern, hip, trendy - large pictures of geisha looking eyes and red, red, red lips.
As a fake foodie, I made sure to order many dishes to get an across the board feel of what this place had to offer.
Hands down, best dish of the evening? KIWI SCALLOPS. Thinly sliced layers of kiwi to scallop was an incredible combination. I was afraid the citrus would overpower the scallop - but the ever so slight char on the scallop balanced it well.
Second best dish? A special of the evening - a tofu spring roll. Bursting with freshness from the cabbage, parsley and carrot mix, it was a great presentation that came as a cut roll. And the tofu inside was perfectly fried - not greasy at all, just golden crust crisp. Only problem? Difficult to eat.
The rest of the dishes?
12 oz Kobe Ribeye - UGH, why did I do this to myself? Ordering steak from a sushi restaurant. This offering is only at this location and sure it came out cooked to order - medium rare, but it was blah.
Creamy Rock Shrimp - I'm not a fan of shrimp so I'm biased on this. Not good. It was like buying orange chicken from Panda Express - but a different sauce.
Albacore Sashimi with Crispy Onion - Pass on this too UNLESS you love crispy onion. The albacore was drowning in it so I have no idea the quality of the sashimi because of this.
And of course, being the fake foodie that I am, even with this much food, had to have dessert!
Profiteroles - basically looks like Beard Papa cream puffs with ice cream. I didn't taste but it came out with 5! Nice serving amount.
Chocolate pudding and salted creamy caramel - this was pudding with chocolate sorbet, caramel and some type of salty crunchy caramel candy bar thing. I thought this was pretty damn good. Enough salt and sweet.
Service was good, but we came at 6 o'clock when not that many folks around. Ambience good for going out.
Went to Katsuya tonight after watching "This is It" at the Regal 14 at LA Live. Felt like having a drink and nibbling some sushi. The sushi was good - I had a sashimi platter and Crunchy Rice and Spicy Tuna that hit the spot but my San Fran friend ordered a martini that I was pretty sure was devoid of alcohol. So if you wanted a $20 lime jiuce - this was your spot.
So food was satisfactory but the martini - meh. So have your drinks elsewhere or stick to the many good wines that were served.
We decided to try this new LA Live location of Katsuya for dinner prior to heading over to the Los Angeles Theatre Center (http://thelatc.org/home/), which is a cool space btw so check it out.
My companions have been to other Katsuya locations, but this was my first. Overall, I found the food to be decent (nothing I would go out of my way for, except for maybe one item), the prices high and the service quite good even on a Saturday evening. Our server was attentive and we didn't have to wait too long at all for our food and drinks. We ordered:
1. Spicy Albacore Sashimi with Crispy Onion - Of course we had to get this since it was one of their "signature" items. The slices of albacore were completely covered by the fried onion strings which maybe overpowered the fish some. I still thought it was ok.
2. Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna - The rice was surprisingly buttery. I've had a better version of this "signature" item elsewhere.
3. Kiwi Scallops - Really good slices of jumbo scallop on top of sliced kiwi with yuzu vinaigrette. This is the only item we ordered that I would say is a must-try.
4. Creamy Rock Shrimp - These bite-size rock shrimp tossed in a spicy creamy sauce were ok. The sauce could use more kick though.
5. Fried Tofu Roll - This was on their specials menu. Fried tofu, daikon radish, carrot, cabbage and sprouts wrapped in soy paper and sprinkled with peanuts. This was pretty good.
6. Kobe Ribeye - The ribeye came out sliced on a hot platter with some mushrooms. We had it medium rare and while the meat was nice and tender, I don't think it was worth the price tag.
7. For drinks, we asked the bartender to make us something with VeeV (http://www.veevlife.com/). Lychee martinis were brought out. It was pink and sweet and went down smoothly. I also had some hot green tea. They leave a pot of it at the table for you.
8. For dessert, we had one of the items on their specials menu. It had chocolate gelato, chocolate pudding, salted caramel and rosemary. One of my friends really liked it. I thought it was too salty. We were also celebrating my birthday so a dessert of vanilla ice cream and small, warm cream puffs were brought out.
Ehhh. This latest Katsuya just goes to show that no Katsuya will ever top, or even come close to, the original in Studio City. Same chain, but the sashimi and sushi is just fresher there. I would give Studio City's Katsuya 4-4.5 stars.
My must-have at any Katsuya: the baked snow crab hand roll, one of their specialties. What a lot of people don't know is that they will do a blue crab version of this same hand roll, which is not on their menu (this is a little different from the blue crab roll that IS on their menu). I always get AT LEAST one of each. They aren't cheap at $14 (you get two), but they are well worth it. Buttery, soft, sweet & savory... these puppies are guaranteed to start your meal off right!
Another thing I always get is the spicy tuna on crispy rice, although I am beginning to think it is now just a force of habit, as I think Koi's version is better. Still, it is really good.
Hmmm, this is starting to sound more like a general review of Katsuya, rather than one specific to the downtown location. Service and quality are not nearly as good as in their other locations, all of which I've been to. Here is my ranking (best to worst):
Studio City
Hollywood
Brentwood
Downtown
Glendale (this one just sucks)
So if you're going to spend the time and money, go west!
At the Katsuya in Hollywood, I had a "Hollywood" lunch. At the Katsuya at LA Live, I had a "Business" dinner. Lots and lots of business people come to this place after work. It also has outside seating, which is nice and reminicent of the Glendale Katsuya.
Anyway, food was great. Came here with my family (party of 5) for my birthday dinner. I had the Special Katsuya Roll and cucumber salad, husband had the Katsuya Bento, which was HUGE and worth the price, mom had the prix fixe which was also good for the price, dad had a bunch of random sushi and sashimi (he said it was fresh, but he's had better AND cheaper) and ordered a SCC Roll to share with the table (good, but if you don't like scallops, you'd best avoid it), brother had a kobe and mushroom thing. Total with tip came to $210, which is all right for a trendy night out considering my husband and I spend that for just the two of us sometimes.
Not a fan.
and I normally LOVE Katsuya, and Izakaya. I have dreams about their baked crab rolls.
Not at this place. Maybe I need to stick to the locations not owned by SBE.
The service was appalling. especially since we were one of three tables on the patio. we waited 20 minutes for drinks, we would have waited longer if I hadn't reminded our waitress.
the sushi was eh, ok. not katsuya quality. it was totally forgettable.
Out awesome waitress told us that the sunomono salad was too small to share, and made a cup with her hand to mimic the size- so we trusted her and ordered two. out come two large bowls of sunomono much larger than her cupped hand.
we ordered the baked crab roll I waited all day for, and it was just a boring crab cut roll.
so we told her what we actually wanted and out came bake crab hand rolls which finally looked right, but tasted cold.
will never eat there again, its too expensive for such a poor experience. Shame on me for being that close to little tokyo and not eating at komasa.
You will drop a lot of money at this place. The portions are the size of small animal droppings. And some of the dishes are just about that appetizing.
It took me 3 tries to find a dish that was satisfying. Yes, I'm that picky customer waitors HATE, but I know what I want, and hey, I made this place work for the $$. The waitors rolled their eyes at me a few times, which is unnecessary, but then again, I would have hated to wait on me too.
The dish I finally settled on was a sweet/sour tempura shrimp dish (forgot its actual name). It was pretty damn good, I'll admit. The food got better as the night went on.
Yes, this means you will be ordering at least 2-3 dishes in order to satisfy any tummy grumblings.
The kiwi scallops should have been called kiwi scallop...it was literally a SINGLE scallop sliced in 6 pieces with kiwi...
The dessert is the only reason I gave this place 2 stars. Again, I forget the name, but it was cheesecake, baked apples with cinnamon, raisins, and that gooey apple cobbler glaze wrapped in a weird pie crust type thing with vanilla ice cream...good lord. It lasted 20 seconds among a table of 6 people. This was the only thing worth the money.
Service was spotty...they tried to ignore us quite a bit. But as with all LA swanky spots, all the waitresses are super duper hot and flirt for tips, which is sleazy but better than a no personality dweeb.
It's worth a try if you're in the mood to drop a lot of money or in the mood for some LA plastic.
This is the first time I've been to Katsuya, had been wanting to try it since it is popular. The service was horrible from the start. We told our server we had never been there before and he basically told us that the food "comes out as it's ready," which he reiterated several times, including later in the meal when the rest of our party had finished eating and I was still missing a California roll. I would think that a California roll would not take as long as other cooked food, but it appeared that the order was never placed. My father ordered almond-crusted scallops, which he said were very good but there were about 4 of them for around $17 with a portion size smaller than my fist. The other two of us got 4 sushi rolls (2 each) and they were pretty small and poorly made. I've had better sushi at chain restaurants and take out holes-in-the-wall for a fraction of the cost. It was very overpriced for the portions, and we had to go get more food after we left because we were still hungry. The scallops and the appetizer (mozarella and crab) were the only items that were worth mentioning. It was not a very welcoming atmosphere and we won't be going back to this restaurant. Waste of money.
The place is sleek and chic but the food seems to be geared toward the mainstream sushi lovers. Nothing I particularly like other than the fancy specialty cocktail menu, too - get the Katsuya Fresh with Belveder
My review is based solely on drinks and their late-night menu. Bartender was attentive, friendly, and made some great drinks. The late night snack roll thing we ordered tasted ok after the Clippers game. This place seems nice enough but with their very steep drink prices I'd rather just grab a drink at the Yard House around the corner.
I felt I needed an " Andre 3000 " outfit to blend in with the crowd at this place. I started off with a watermelon cucumber mojito, which was very tasty so I decided to ordered a second one, but it never came to the table. I asked the waitress to cancel it, her reply... " are u sure? its probably just sitting right there at the bar" ...lol... correction....Im sure my $ 12 dollar mojito has just been sitting there, I saw it when I took a trip to the restroom about 10 mins ago. Luckily, the food saved the day.. Lobster rolls are incredible as well for those little gut killing Kobe burgers.
Boooo your service STINKS Katsuya @ LA Live. Dinner reservations were made for 7. Half the party arrived and ordered while boyfriend and I battled traffic. When we finally made it at 7:30, the table was almost totally bare! Only 2 rolls and half the drink orders had been served. The waitress came by, saw that there were two new people at the table, and didn't even ask if we wanted drinks. At some point, we flagged her down and got drinks . . . but then water glasses sat empty on our table for an additional 20 minutes. Multiple items never made it to the table at all and even though we let the waitress know, I'm not 100% sure they were taken off the bill.
Found the food kinda bleh anyway . . . I probably would have been in a better mood if the service was smoother. The place was busy, I guess, but not INSANE. Really, there isn't an excuse for such bad kitchen management. And c'mon, for the prices?! I've had better service at a dive :P
I'll stick to my favorite hole-in-the-wall sushi.
Gasp at my two stars if you must, but I was disappointed, to say the least. I went in for happy hour. I ordered the Albacore with Crispy Onion and the Creamy Rock Shrimp Tempura. The Albacore was a full size serving and the Tempura was a half size happy hour serving.
These two dishes have always been my favorite to order when I go to the original Katsuya in Studio City, so I was psyched that they had them here. Unfortunately, they were nothing but bad impressions. The "full size" Albacore dish was TINY and didn't even have that delicious sauce that usually comes on it in Studio City. It was pretty flavorless. The tempura was too jalepeno-ey. It's supposed to be sweet and spicy, not taste like jalepeno tempura. Blah!!
Other than that, the bar tender was very cute and nice, but he kept yelling out the Katsuya greeting at whoever walked in (a corporate policy) and it was very disturbing since I was the only one at the bar.
The drinks are pretty good, though they seem like they take forever to make so if it's a busy night, you might have to wait a bit for your cocktail. I had some sort of peachy champagne thing. It was yummy, but overpriced, as most cocktails downtown are.
Food and drinks aside, the inside of the place had that new-car-smell of brand new white leather couches. This would probably be a good place to take out of towners (who haven't tasted good sushi and won't know the difference).
Trendy, good drinks, good service. Good looking people.
Food is OK, I prefer more authentic Japanese food but not bad. The eggplant dish is too salty. Crispy tuna is good but a little overpriced.
Get the chef's choice if you go -you can taste a little of everything and you will be full. The price isn't bad for the chef's choice.
Some friends took me to LA hotspot Katsuya while I was visiting, and it was definitely the highlight of my trip.
Atmosphere: Beautiful
Service: Our waitress was extremely kind and attentive.
Food: Amazing! The Katsuya signatures were very innovative and delicious. I especially liked the albacore with crispy onion. As in, I liked it so much I ordered two more after devouring the first order. The drinks were also delicious.
I highly highly recommend.
Went here with the girls for our friend's birthday. Atmosphere is cool, big pictures of abtract eyes on the wall and stuff, red banners over the sushi chef area, sleek modern interior.
Food is what you would expect from a trendy Sushi Place. Big Plates, small portions,$$$ very artistic presentations and overall-good taste. Service could be better...
Best dish I had was the roll with lobster on top, also the yellow tail with jalapenos. Cool place to hang out especially bc of the LA Live area outside, go on a weekday night and its very lively.
(food described are uploaded)
Was at Anime Expo at the LA convention center and found out LA Live was just around the corner... My first time there :) Saw that they had Katsuya.... never been but heard great things about it.
Went up to see the menu and the greeter says, "Oh, AX attendants get 10% off their orders". SOLD!!!!
our waiter Eric was super friendly, nice and helpful. He suggested the spicy tuna on crunchy rice, which we got, which we LOVED. the rice was crunchy on the outside and super soft in the inside.... had the japanese "rice over the grill" taste that i love. mmm.... $16
he recommended the miso marinated black cod $22, and that was pretty amazingly soft... and we also ordered the kobe tobanyaki $32 which came with wasabi ponzu sauce and wild yummy mushrooms.
the portions were small but i wasnt overly stuffed and felt very good at the end. i was thinking about ordering a couple of rolls and dessert but stopped myself (DIET ARGH). next time poor belly next time...
I will be returning again soon since it's pretty darn close... they have a menu online so check it out :)
I came here the day before the opening.
The servers were quick, friendly and very eager. In fact, I found it in-your-face eager. Some of the servers did try hard to be unobtrusive but their excitement was palpable.
The drinks were delicious. My compliments to the bar manager.
Kikusui Junmai Ginjo in carafe was chilled so low it went down easily like water. Typically, Junmai Ginjo poured straight from the bottle is very fragrant, however, by pouring it into the carafe, the fragrance calms down and makes it easier for non-sake drinker like myself to enjoy the drink more. On additional note, Kikusui JG is jizake, premium artisan sake, so there will be no hang over the next day.
Hakkisan Junmai Ginjo, another jizake, was served straight from the bottle. The flavor is a little bit on the dry side with a hint of spice as it goes down. It smells clean like green apple.
We've also had Japanese ji-beer or regional beer, kiwi martini, white wine and my favorite drink of the night: watermelon and cucumber mojito. Don't let the deceptively mellow flavor fool you. It's still a mojito and whatever rum they used, it's very potent.
As for the food, I'll skip raving about the dishes I found to be very good and good as I'm sure many yelpers would do so.
Very good: Crab & Mozzarella Cheese Tempura, Spicy Albacore Sashimi with Crispy Onions
Good: Kobe Filet with Foie Gras, Crispy Chicken Salad and Seafood Salad, Uni Sushi
Needs improvement:
(1) Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna. The crispy rice was tough as if it was prepared hours ahead and kept in a warmer. Similar dish is offered at Izakaya by Katsuya. This location should definitely find out the secret from them.
(2) Almond Crusted Scallops. This dish is a joke. It's basically a small-sized scallops plumped up with almonds. The exterior is tough to bite into and eating this dish is like subjecting yourself to a full mouth workout. It's such a shame since the scallops had a very nice flavor to it.
(3) Aji sushi. Please choose either wasabi or grated ginger, don't use bot as it kills the flavor of Aji. Also please change the citrus mixture or use less on your sauce.
(4) Baked Crab Cut roll. I understand real crab doesn't look appetizing by itself when used on rolls and it would be ridiculously costly if it's not mixed with imitation crab, however, all I could taste was the imitation crab and for that $15 is an extravagance I cannot afford. Even at half the price that I paid that night, I felt the taste did not justify the cost.
(5) Edamame. What kind of edamame are you serving? Which renowned region is it from? Is it USDA and OCIA certified organic? Was it grown in a special condition? Are you donating the profits to the charity? Please, I need to understand why you've set the price so high.
As with any restaurants, there are always rooms for improvements. More so if the restaurant is new. I have no doubt Katsuya will be able to sort out the kinks and deliver first class dining experience.
On the last note, I think LA is doing a good job in revitalizing the downtown area and having Katsuya would definitely bring in the desired hip and upscale crowd.
Lobster dynamite was amazing, so tasty..
crab & mozzarella cheese tempura was great, also kobe ribeye was tender and juicy. their sushi was fresh and good quialty. Great food to enjoy with sake! They had my favorite sake, Onikoroshi!
I feel like going back every week!
I was walking around LA Live tonight and was pleasantly surprised to see that Katsuya was open! Decided to check out the decor of the new spot. The super friendly hostess informed me that it was the first night of their 'mock training' and therefore the entire menu was 50% off.. ridiculous! Needless to say, I was ecstastic.
First of all, the place looks amazing. It's like a classier version of Geisha House. We've been to Katsuya in Brentwood and Hollywood, but the new downtown location wins hands down.
Secondly, the food actually TASTES better than the other locations. Found out from the manager that Katsuya himself spent months training the cooking staff. I went crazy on the menu: shishito pepperes, ceviche, spicy tuna crispy rice, rock shrimp, albacore sashimi + crispy onion, lobster dynamite, kobe + foie, miso cod... each tasting more delicious than the next. Katsuya also serves some kickass drinks. Must try the Watermelon Cucumber Mojito... seriously one of the best drinks I've ever had. Vitamin A and Burning Mandarin (supposedly award-winning) were yummy as well.
Being a Koi fan myself, I have to admit that I wasn't initially super excited that a Katsuya was opening across the street from me. But after tonight, I've been converted... Katsuya is better than Koi. I had an amazing dinner and thought the staff did a great job, especially for the first night. Perhaps just a tad bit too eager to clear off the plates. Can't wait to come back and try their happy hour.
Surprisingly good....
starters
yellowtail jalapeno
tuna tartare on burnt rice
seared ahi tuna with avocado and tomatoes
rolls
katsuya roll- salmon, tuna, hamachi all rolled together with cucumber on the outsude
shrimp tempura roll
sunrise roll- eel/avocado roll
everything we ordered was good. Sashimi tasted fresh, average portions and full of flavor. really didn't need soy sauce or wasabi on anything cause they pair the dishes with sauces already.
place was nice and big, looks like all the other katsuya's...
another great addition to all the other good restaurants already in downtown.
pricey but worthwhile... definitely try the tuna tartare and the mexican yellowtail dish, awesome...
the moment i stepped into katsuya, my entire night went downhill. i went in pretty hungry, and after sharing two main courses and two appetizers with my boyfriend, we were both still starving. i realize that it's supposed to be tapas-style or whatever, but for the price, portion and bad taste, it was really NOT worth it.
i ordered the miso cod and the spicy tuna with sticky rice (both of which was on the "chef specialty" list. i can't even imagine what the food is like when it didn't make it to the specialty list). the miso cod was burnt on the outside and pretty raw on the inside. you'd think the chef would know how to set the temperature on the fish (instead of having a black exterior and a disgusting gooey interior) the miso sauce was bitter too. at these prices i'd much rather had gone to matsuhisa, where for $6 more i get THE BEST miso cod EVER.
the spicy tuna with sticky rice was utterly THE WORST thing i've ever had. when it arrived my boyfriend and i looked at each other and said "i hope this isn't what i ordered" it looked and tasted really stale (i'm pretty sure it was left out for hours before being served to us) and the tuna quality was not fit to be served at a restaurant with such prices.
i got a nabeyaki udon at the end because i was still starving, and for some reason that took half an hour. which was weird. when it came, the soup was unbelievably salty, and not in a very flavorful way. it just tasted like very salty hot water, even though it was supposed to be chicken soup.
i really hated the food, and the really douchy crowd and rude waiter did not improve the experience. if i wanted pretentious and douchy, i would have just gone to the katsuya in hollywood where the food is (only slightly) more edible, and at least people are pretty. thanks for ruining my night, katsuya.
Food is really good actually. Everything we ordered was good and the service was great, though the servers were a little over eager - but I really can't complain. We also went during Happy Hour so pricing was totally reasonable.
Its LA Live - so the fact that a 'real' atmosphere is lacking is no surprise. They try to make up with it with some "fancy" interior design by Starck (famous architect) but it is just huge pictures of lips and weird stuff. If you must eat at LA Live (and I recommend you instead try all of the cool restaurants that are within three or five blocks of the place) - this is a good place to do it.
INTRODUCTON
I came here last night with my fiance for a dinner before the King's game.
As born and raised in Japan, I do like authentic Japanese food, but I also enjoy the "Americanized" Japanese food as well only when they make it well. I had a great expectation in Katsuya as we come to King's game throughout the season, and eating inside the Staples Center was no fun.
We could get a table on the outside patio since it was all full inside. I eventually found out that it was a better choice since inside was so loud.
SERVICE WAS HORRIBLE THROUGHOUT
It took almost 10 minutes for the waiter to get to our table after we were seated. Yes, we absolutely felt that sad negligence.
Anyway, as soon as the waiter came, I ordered a tonkatsu for my fiance, a miso cod for myself, a halibut wrapped crab and avocado as a starter to share. I also added a glass of iced tea, 2 bowls of white rice as well as 2 miso soup to go with our main dish.
10 minutes later, the first thing arrived was the miso cod by itself. As I was hungry, I started to eat it, and by the time the miso soup and the rice arrived, my fish was gone, so I canceled my soup and rice. Instead, I ordered a spicy tuna roll and a shrimp tempura roll. It took another 10 minutes for the tonkatsu to be served to my fiance. Again, without the soup and rice, so I told the waiter to bring them right away. He goes, "I thought you canceled it". I had to explain to this clueless waiter that I canceled mine and not his. It took another 5 minutes to get the soup and rice. By the time they arrived, the tonkatsu was now cold as the outside tempurature was cooling down.
We were pretty darn disappointed by then with this new "fancy" restaurant.
I did not even bother to ask for the starter and the iced tea, but surely expected them to be off the bill.
As we had to head to our game, we asked for the bill, and here it came with the iced tea and the halibut roll on.
It just felt so miserable asking them to make the correction. My man was speechless.
FOOD TASTED SO SO, NOTHING REMARKABLE
THE BILL WAS WRONG
one tonkatsu, one cod, one rice, one miso soup, one spicy tuna roll, one shrimp tempura roll, the bill was $75. What a wasteful dinner... We are the kind of people who don't mind paying $300 for a good quality Japanese food as long as its worth it.
CONCLUSION
We'll just never go back there. Our experience eating the pub food at Rock n Fish next door was so much more delightful.
At least Kings beating the Penguins mended our feelings though!
The food was wonderful. It was everything I could have asked for in Sushi. Wasabi, Ginger, Vegetarian Options, Clean comfortable pleasant atmosphere. I'm a fan.
However the rudeness and snobbishness of our waitress was SO off the charts that I couldn't believe it. Here I am, an LA native no less...so you would think I would have experienced this level of rudeness before. Not so much. This was the WORST I've ever been treated. Even worse than Kabuki. The service is just bad there, but this waitress treated us with contempt UP UNTIL the point that it was time to pay and she wanted to explain to us why it is she deserved the gratuity that was already calculated on there. I was already not in the mood to deal with anymore bullshit so our table DID NOT go against the gratuity. But MY GOD....will I certainly think twice before coming here again with a large group of friends.
Absolutely Top Shelf in every respect!! The greeters and servers were very friendly, the decor is wonderful and the plush large leather booths are very inviting and comfortable.
The Beer was nice and cold, the sushi was super fresh. We started with the shishido peppers, spicy tuna rice cakes and then sampled the kampachi and salmon sushi. The yellowtail with jalepenos and albacore with crispy onions were awesome. The yellowtail in a creamy garlic butter sauce was divine.
The only item we would not reorder is the almond coated scallops, a little heavy on the almonds for our liking but it was tasty and something different. The bbq eel was good too!
Will be returning in the very near future. Prices are very reasonable, the parking is convenient and you get a $5 validation at the restaurant. The vibe at LA Live is also a bonus.
Great location and experience. Horrible value. If you want some decent (and actually moderately priced) sushi this is a good experience. However, if you want to have a few drinks... best ought to drink up before getting here. SUPER overpriced alcohol. Servers were on point and personable. I must give them that.
I may or may not go back b/c it's a terrible value. But definitely worth checking out once as it's located in the newer LA Live scene.
I just had unbelievable bad experience at this Downtown Katsuya. My friend booked special birthday reservation dinner for my family. Usually if you tell them beforehand, restaurant will do something special for birthday person especially if they are one of the high end restaurant. Unfortunately this place doesn't care at all if it is your birthday or anniversary, vip or what... If you don't tell the waiter to put "CANDLE" on dessert you order on the spot (you MUST order your own dessert), they don't do anything for you.... I was so SHOCKED that when hostess told me that they don't do anything special unless YOU tell them to do so... what is the sense of making special reservation which was supposed to be secret and big surprise for birthday person right? Female manager had the same attitude... Service & customer service is REALLY BAD at this restaurant! They need to improve service & train well on management!
Has anyone ever paid $50 for two bottles of beer? I have now. The Hotochino beer (I probably spelt it wrong) is a Japanese white ale that is actually quite tasty, but, at $25 per bottle, it can really make it an expensive night. I had a dinner bento that was below average. My cousin had the Kobe steak that was not "Kobe" steak. His wife had the sushi dinner that was below average as well. We should have known better. If you want good sushi, don't go to a trendy place with hip decor.
YIPEE~ fun fun fun place to be~ Great energy, yummy food, and the drinks? Two words - UHHH MAAAZIINNNNG!!!
I was there with my girlfriend during the soft opening. Even though all the tables were reserved in advance, we had the best time eating, drinking, and hanging out at the bar (look for Adam who's the sweetest bartender, or Ashley, she def. knows what she's doing. Her drinks were yuuuum~ mm~mmy!) The restaurant is beautifully decorated with all-white dinning table sets and couches, posh wall paintings, and modern sushi bar in the center of the restaurant. Boutiquey, hip, and trendy.
The following were ordered and consumed by two girls (heehee, so what we like to drink )...
1. A large bottle of house sake - one of the BEST cold sake I've tasted! I think these were made by Katsuya themselves, or specially made for them because the label says Katsuya/sbe... crisp, clean tasting with just enough "wine" flavor at the end.
2. Albacore Sashimi w/ crispy onion - Wonderfully soft with just the right amount of ponzu.
3. Kobe Beef with foie gras - OMFG good! Must order or your will regret it. The foie gras were standardly good, but the kobe beef were insanely good (sooooo perfectly cooked, not a second more, not a second less!), It was like biting into the softest beef imaginable with all its juices intact. The only downside is that at $30 per order, you get 3 tiny pieces which equal to about 40 seconds of heaven.
4. At this point, we ran outta our sake so we started ordering their special cocktail drinks off the drink menu - Shiso Sexy x1, Bellini x1, Katsuya fresh x1, Kiwi Envy x1, and Burning Mandarin x4. They were all yummy, but i think my favorites are Kiwi Envy and Burning Mandarin!
5. And we ended the meal with an order of their rock shrimp spicy tuna roll, which was the least favorite item of the night, just very average tasting and very Panda-esque...
Overall I give Katsuya LA Live 4 stars. It's more of a fun and show/ seen and be seen type of restaurant versus somewhere you would go and pig out. I think it'd probably make a great choice for hot dates or to take clients out because of the awesome energy and decent food. I would totally come back for another girls night out =D
Having heard a lot about Katsuya, I was looking forward to dining here for a long time We went on saturday night and it wasn't too busy. Nevertheless it too the server forever to bring us water. Our server was a bit rude. On asking for a couple of minutes to decide on the drinks , he dissapeared for more then 20 minutes and then informed us he wanted to give us enough time and used it to do more imp things. Hmmph.
Anyway we got some hot sake which was medicore. For the apps we got the shisito peppers and a variety of sushi. The quality of sushi too was extremely medicore. Couldn't barely taste the fish.
For the main course we got the Stripped Bass which was delicoius. Four of us shared that with some rice and seaweed salad. And it was a good size for people who have already stuffed themselves with medicore sushi.
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