Katsuya

On Friday I went to lunch at Katsuya in Hollywood. Katsuya is located on the corner of Vine and Hollywood Blvd. just across the street from that fire that happened a couple of days before. There was plenty of street parking at meters but they also offer valet if you are so inclined.

As I walked into the restaurant I immediately felt under-dressed. The glass doors led to an upscale and trendy lobby. To my left was a lounge area with couches and a middle section of high tables for drinks. That section appeared to be closed at lunch. Straight in front of me was an extensive bar. To the right was a large room with a sushi bar station in a center square surrounded by seating at the bar. In little alcoves around the room were a handful of tables. My friend told me that the only way to get a table, even at lunch, was to call ahead.

We sat at the sushi bar right in front of a sushi chef. Immediately our waitress came around offering us hot wet towels. I ordered an unusual drink to start, a Pink Basil Rising. It was a citrusy drink with basil and while I ordered it virgin, it is possible to add alcohol. It was delicious. Incredibly refreshing with a strong sting but I'm not sure I would pay the eight bucks it cost to get it again.

We ordered some edamame to start. Each time we filled the shell bowl someone would come by and empty it. The service was outstanding in that way throughout our whole meal. They were very attentive with removing plates and refilling water. There was a little stone on which to set your used chopsticks when your plates were removed.

I ordered the Sushi Lunch which was served with salad and miso soup. Unlike other sushi restaurants, the salad comes with a choice of dressing and it is not that delicious orange one. The dressing was still good, but it wasn't what I expected. After the soup and salad and the edamame and my drink I was pretty much full. But sushi doesn't last very well the next day, so I kept on going.

I was disappointed by my sushi combination when it came. It was all the same standards--a couple of tunas, a salmon and shrimp. I know there are other kinds of sushi out there but they never ever come with the combination--which I think is a mistake. I don't want to have the same thing every time but I don't know how to order something different. I thought that this place would definitely lean toward different based on its classiness, but it didn't. My friend ordered the bowl of eel and said it was delicious. If I returned to Katsuya, I think I would try to order something a little more unusual.

My favorite part of the lunch was watching the sushi chef in front of us. We talked about the different things he was making such as the seaweed wrapped cucumber and rice sushi that looked to be the most boring $7 ever spent. Then he started to make cucumber skin rolls. I was impressed by how he wielded the sharp butchers knife cutting thin slices the full length of a cucumber. The knife went around and around and you could hardly tell that he was being watched while he concentrated.

Once we asked for the check the good service diminished. It took ten minutes to get our cards back and by then I knew this was going to have adverse affects on my parking meter. I'd go to Katsuya again, but I didn't find it to be too different from every other sushi restaurant in town.





Katsuya
6300 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
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