LA Sushi Blog

Katsu-ya Studio City

11680 Ventura Blvd

Studio City, CA

818 - 985 - 6976 - Reservations strongly recommended!!

http://sushikatsu-ya.com/

Rating:

Overall rating: Just OK

Pricing - Moderately high

Katsu-ya is probably one of the most popular sushi chains in LA. Katsu-ya’s Studio City and Encino locations are small and humble. All of their locations are always busy, and constantly booked up. We made 8pm reservations and weren’t seated until 8:30 pm.  They did give us complementary edamame while we waited.  The Katsu-ya Studio City location is known for their unique specials, which are imaginative, and very eye appealing. Our server was very friendly and informative about the specials. The sushi at Katsu-ya is not bad, but we were slightly disappointed overall.

Baked Crab Roll - Good

Overall a good roll, good taste. Served with real crab as well as imitation crab - which we will admit, was a bummer.

Red Snapper - Good

Good light taste and not overly fishy, had a hint of lime and a nice strong kick of wasabi and yuzu pepper paste.

Albacore Belly - Good

Good portions of albacore served with ponzu, chives and chili paste. The fish was a bit chewy & somewhat bland. It was over garnished with ponzu, leaving the rice soaked in sauce.

Super Toro - Awesome

Served with 1 piece only. This was a great piece of toro with a creamy texture, subtle taste and amazing finish. Best dish of the night.

Salmon Tasting- Awesome

This was a fun and interesting presentation with 4 different types of salmon. Highlights were the red king, and the salmon served with caviar.

Herb Crusted Tuna With Special Mustard Sauce - Don’t order it

We had high hopes for this dish because it reads amazing. This was basically slices of tuna topped with some type of salad dressing. No herbs, no crust, no special sauce.

Japanese Mackerel – Good

We can’t really rate this one, as this was the first time one of us didn’t like it.  It was served with pickled cucumber and was very fishy in taste.  If you don’t like fishy – don’t order it.

Overall Impression:  Katsu-ya was good but don’t go there if what you want is nice and simple sushi.  They’re known for their eclectic menu items and fusion inspired menu (we tried the fois gras and seared scallops).  They use a bit more rice than we’re used to in their sushi and we noticed that they sliced their fish on the thin side.  Enjoy Katsu-ya for what it is – guaranteed good and interesting food.