Katsuya Restaurant opened its doors in San Diego at the beginning of 2012. Located inside the Andaz Hotel and with an area of 6,000 ft2, its concept was under the care of renowned designer Philippe Starck. The décor is the highlight of the restaurant. Fortune Cats greet you as soon as you walk into Katsuya, whose modern and minimalist design gives it a touch of sophistication.

The menu was created by Chef Katsuya Uechi. The place offers traditional Japanese dishes like sashimi, sushi and an assortment of specialty rolls; a variety of Japanese cuisine tailored to America's palates.

The restaurant is an import from the city of Los Angeles, CA. It's the seventh venue for the sbe Entertainment Group who plan to open the next Katsuya in South Beach this month.

I've had the opportunity of visiting many of their restaurants before they opened the San Diego location. In one occasion, my brother invited me after visiting the Staples Center following a basketball game; we shared a delicious dinner, their service was excellent. But I will never forget my first visit to Katsuya Hollywood. A couple of friends and I made a reservation for dinner and only after two hours of waiting that involved talking to managers and having a few drinks, we were seated. That is when I understood how people talked about the trendiest places having mediocre service. We enjoyed our meal despite the wait. When we asked for the check, much to our surprise, dinner was on the house since the restaurant assumed the responsibility of not respecting our reservations. It's that kind of courtesy and attention to their customers to mend their mistake that kept me coming back.

Katsuya San Diego is the perfect place to see and be seen, to go out with friends; it's a stylish place. The atmosphere and decoration make it stand out. The food is good as well. If you visit the restaurant on a weekend, you'll find a great ambience and a busy night life. The bar/lounge is also a great place to meet with a bunch of friends; here the diverse craft drinks are the focus. During my first visits the bartender recommended me the famous Burning Mandarin; made of Absolute Mandarin Vodka, crushed Serrano chilies, freshly squeezed lemon and orange juice with a dash of cranberry. There's also the popular Katsuya Fresh prepared with cucumber, lemon, sake and vodka served in a martini glass. They have an extensive Sake menu, too.

In my most recent visit I had the pleasure of tasting the Katsuya's Tasting Menu. This showcases the dishes the Chef is famous for. I had the pleasure of being in the company of my sister and brother in law for dinner. We started with edamame and Shishito Peppers while we waited for our order to arrive. Our first course was Ceviche Katsuya, a mixture of sashimi in citrus ponzu¸ it was one of my favorite dishes. The fish was fresh and marinated to perfection; delicious.

As a second course we enjoyed the famous Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna which, as its name implies, it's tuna prepared in a creamy spicy sauce on a piece of fried rice. This dish is one of Katsuya's best. In my opinion, the creamy sauce is quite bland but it's one of the favorite dishes by customers. Another popular choice is the Creamy Rock Shrimp, a presentation of tempura shrimp tossed in spicy creamy sauce. Popular, but not of my preferred ones; the sauce lacks flavor and I've had this dish better executed in other places.

Our third installment was an arrangement of salmon and tuna sushi and the Baked Crab Handroll which is a crab roll lightly seasoned in a Chef's signature sauce wrapped in soy paper. The roll was way too creamy, though, and the crab's taste was too strong.

One of the highlights of our dinner was our fourth course; a skewer of Kobe flank steak paired with one of chicken meatballs served with maitake mushrooms prepared robata style, meaning they're charbroiled over a traditional Japanese grill. There's a huge variety of vegetables, seafood, poultry and meat made robata style in the menu. You can even make your own combinations; the price-quality ratio is adequate.

Lastly, we were presented with a dessert trio; we were served a small arrangement of Crème brûlée, green tea ice cream and strawberry shortcake; a perfect combination to end a pleasant meal.

This venue is definitely the perfect place to mingle and if you want to keep the party going, you can also go dancing thanks to its prime location inside Andaz Hotel in the heart of San Diego. If you wish to visit the restaurant and enjoy a quiet dinner I recommend you go from Sunday to Thursday since it's rather boisterous during the weekend.

Katsuya has a lot of great offers and promotions throughout the week. Tuesdays there's a sampling menu for $35 dlls. with the option of wine pairing; Sundays (for all parents and families out there) a kid under 12 eats for free with the purchase of an adult dish. Every day of the week has a different promotion; if you are interested in them I recommend you visit their web page.

Recommendations: Katsuya Roll, Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeño, Katsuya Ceviche, Miso Marinated Black Cod, Kobe Skirt Steak Robata, Stripped Baze.

The rating is defined by the quality of food and the service received in relation to the price.

Visit Katsuya's official website.

On Google Maps, here.

jccota@gmail.com

Translation : Karen Balderas Licea