| rev:text
| - What do I do when I am craving yummy Japanese food, but don't feel like going all the way downtown to Nami? Katsura.
Intro. It has been almost 5-6 years since my family last went to Katsura. I briefly read other reviews and have to agree that there was a period of demise for Katsura. There was the before period when I was still in high school and going to Katsura meant getting authentic, fresh, and delicious Japanese food. Whether it was the Gindara, the chicken terriyaki, black sesame ice cream or being served by dainty and flighty Japanese waitresses dressed in Kimonos, Katsura could do no wrong. Then, I believe there was a change in ownership and the quality of the food went to the hole. There was even talk of the changed ownership demanding that the sushi bar be removed (equivalent to going to a baseball game and having the concession foods removed). I still remember that fateful day when my dad felt like eating Chicken Terriyaki and it was so unbelievably dry and tasteless, that the price, or experience, was not worth it for us to go to Katsura again.
Fast forward to yesterday. When my dad called to make reservations, the head poncho screamed hello and thought we were kidnapped as a reason for our absence. He then proceeded to tell the waitresses Guess Who's Coming to Dinner - it was a BIG family reunion of sorts. And now for the test - was the food still bad?
Food. I am glad to report, the food was delicious. We were there to celebrate a birthday so my dad ordered various appetizers including beef sashimi (tender and juicy, equivalent to eating beef tartare), a sushi boat (featuring fresh spicy tuna maki, hamachi, toro, maguro, squid with salmon roe, and raw shrimp - good to order so that everyone at the table can sample different sushi and sashimi), the usual vegetables (aka tempura), and blue tuna spicy and California hand rolls. The seafood was incredibly tasty and fresh - you do not have to worry about any "fishy" tasting foods (although ironically, what you're eating is fish but it's not supposed to taste fishy...go figure).
The selection of appetizers was just enough to let everyone at the table have a small main course. My mom and I shared an appetizer portion of the Gindara which is a juicy and tender black cod fish. Katsura also has the main course portion of the Gindara so depending on how much omega's you want to eat, you have the option of appetizer or main course serving. My dad had the tempura udon and the noodles had a bit of bounce and bite to them, just the way noodles are supposed to be.
I was anxious for Katsura. In addition to my dad and family, I am sure we were not the only customers the restaurant lost to bad food that was expensive. But redemption is here and we will be going to Katsura, I suspect, more often.
Ambiance. The restaurant is inside the Prince Hotel, although the glass corridor that connects Katsura to the hotel is currently under renovation. There is the main dining room and the teppenyaki area. My family and I have never ate at the teppenyaki area of the restaurant...we do not need to see chefs juggling eggs and pepper shakers - we will leave that for the cirque du soleil. The main dining room is spacious and elegantly decorated. There are two traditional dining rooms where guests take shoes off before entering. Great for special party dinners or families requiring a bit more privacy.
We were not disappointed with Katsura. The quality of food is absolutely there. The restaurant is more on the expensive side but value is there. When the food is brought out, you can see the attention to detail - nothing is amiss.
Welcome back Katsura.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)