rev:text
| - We went to Katsuya on our stay-cation to celebrate Eric R.'s birthday. It happened to be the 50% off locals Sunday pick. We did not have reservations so we opted to sit at the cocktail bar. Our bartender/server happened to recognize me from a past job in town and that made it a very personable experience. We got there right at opening (6 PM) and ordered immediately. I had iced green tea (apparently the SLS commissions its own tea plantation for exclusive hot and iced teas) and Eric R. had hot green tea and the Katsuya fresh cucumber cocktail.
Some things we ordered we waited over an hour for, and things our neighbor at the bar got we were told the kitchen ran out of even though we ordered them at the same time (like negi toro) so that was frustrating. We tried a variety of dishes, including the seaweed sunomono, salmon sashimi appetizer with caviar, and the wagyu beef sashimi with hot oil (Nobu's was better). We sampled yellowtail, salmon, toro, scallop, and mackerel sushi. The mackerel was served with thin kelp on top of it.
I also tried a salmon skin handroll which had kaiware sprouts, gobo, and cucumber. One of my favorite dishes of the night was the mushroom bop - a hot stone pot like dolsot bimibap with arborio rice, a variety of mushrooms, a hint of parmesan, and a sauce that brought it all together so deliciously. We finished with the dessert omakase which had mochi, yuzu cheesecake, green tea creme brulee, and sorbet. Service was great though we had a rush of food then a very long wait for the rest of the stuff. With the half off and a few comps for the wait plus the $5 happy hour cocktails, we ended up right below our dining credit allotment so all we paid was tax and tip - sweet local deal and a great birthday present for Eric R.
|