Katsu Japanese Cuisine: User Reviews

Katsu is strictly for those whose palate can appreciate fine balance. Here, the freshest ingredients are prepared with subtlety and precision. Try the crab salad, and you will find nothing but the freshest king crab, artfully dissected and returned to the claw, with some thin crescents of peeled and seeded cucumber, and a touch of seaweed, all barely seasoned and dressed, and all the better for it. Try the braised eel fillets as an appetizer (unagi kabayaki) and the sweet, rich, meaty flavor will leave you wondering what pond scum you've been served elsewhere. Even a simple maki roll will blow your mind, none of that over-sauced nonsense is available here. e.g., try the traditional ume-shiso maki - made with intensely sour salt-preserved plums, the mint-related herb shiso (beefheart leaf in European cooking) and a little fresh octopus to add snap. For a mind-expanding seafood experience, I suggest Chef Katsu's Ultimate Sushi and Sashimi platter. This has been different each time I've had it, but it always features spectacular high-quality seafood such as giant clam, giant scallop, Scottish salmon, Spanish or Japanese mackerel, amazing fatty tuna, premium hamachi, occasionally fresh bonito! I have been here a dozen times or more, and have never tried even tried an entree... though I saw a group eating something like shabu-shabu which looked good. I mean, what can you say about a place with 4 different Japanese vodkas on the menu? This place is not fancy or stuffy, but wonderfully understated. You can dress up, or go casual and watch baseball at the sushi bar, enjoying just a quick beer or their surprising decent wines... Chef Katsu and his lovely wife will treat you like royalty either way. The service is also under-stated, in that I have not once been rudely interrupted, as is par for the course elsewhere. Instead, I noticed my dirty plates disappearing without even noticing the bussman. And whenever I looked up, wanting to find a server, someone was actually looking my way, and came right over. To me, that is all I could want. Parking is easy, and even the bathrooms are lovely. I'd say their off-the-beaten path location and very high prices are the only negative points an honest reviewer could dream up. I admit, it is a shame you'd have to be wealthy to eat here often. But really, I suspect the majority of negative reviewers must either be jealous competitors in disguise, or ignorant individuals who don't appreciate fine Japanese cuisine when it leaps out of the water and bites off their silly American noses.

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Let's be real. The fish here is of excellent quality. Probably the best in town. Everything is beautifully prepared with great attention to detail. If you are going to dine here, bring lots of money. It is not unjustifiable, great fish is expensive, and this is the best fish in town. On the flipside the service is poor. There is an attitude here. Very unwelcoming if you aren't prepared to spend lots of money. Also, do not go late, we did and were treated very poorly. The wine list is poor, and could use more creative energy. So in summary, if you don't mind spending a lot of money and want the best fish in town, I would encourage you to go here. But lets also be real, a great meal can severely be tainted by an attitude that starts at the top and trickles down. A great restaurant is humble, and wants to share its enthusiasm of its product with the customer. A great restaurant is appreciative of each and every customer and dollar spent. I really do call it like I see it as I am in the biz, and I hope dearly this place check its attitude at the door and gets excited to share what could be one of the best restaurants in Chicago.

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We have been going to Katsu for about 10 years now!!! We felt like it was our Japanese secret! For the 10 years we've been going to Katsu, the SERVICE, FOOD, and attention to DETAIL has and is consistently BRILLIANT! No question, the food is Delicious!!! The staff is friendly, the restaurant is always impeccable and parking is easy. The true giveaway is when we go in and the majority of the the people dining are japanese.

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You will be disappointed if you are expecting a very interesting menu. They specialize in getting a few select types of fish that are extremely fresh- the day we were there it was Blue fin from Boston and Yellow Tail from Japan. Other than those specials the sushi is good, but not stand- out. Considering ourselves experienced sushi eaters (having eaten sushi all over the world), we were disappointed that there was not a wider selection of unusual fish. Japonais has a much better selection of hard to find items. Ordering non-sushi items was continuously discouraged by the waiter- in fact the entire meal we just felt that he was constantly trying to upsell us. When we ordered our $11 appetizer, he tried to convice us to order the $22 one. When order the $21 small bottle of sake, he said we would not enjoy that and should order the $64 bottle. Items can be very expensive, it seems if you really want to appreciate Katsu, you better be ready to spend about $100 a person on their daily specials. It also felt as though to receive any respect from the staff, you had to be a regular. It was only at the very end of the evening as we left and we spoke in Japanese to the owner, did they seem even a little interested in us. They really treated us, up until that point, like chicken-teriyaki eating- amateurs. Overall although we appreciated the freshness of the blue fin, we were disappointed by the service, attitude and selection.

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I typically go to Japanese restaurants only once every two or three months. Although I am a fan of sashimi, I can't honestly say I've ever had truly outstanding sashimi - until I went to Katsu for the first time on a recent Saturday evening with a party of 6 to celebrate my son's 21st birthday. The most memorable dish was the Chef's sashimi special - perhaps a dozen or so generous-sized pieces of fish served on a 14-in round gold-trimmed glass platter. The presentation was exquisite. Several of the pieces were topped with the roe of that fish type, and sprinkled with tiny flecks of gold leaf - awesome. Undeniably fresh, there were no disappointments in the entire dish. We had the soft shell crab appetizer, presented in 4 vertical rolls, along with a whole baby crab, with a body not more than an inch in diameter. The whole table was staring at it - it looked like a miniature dungeness grab. The hostess came over and assured us it was edible. My son said it was a bit crunchy but the crab taste was definitely there. Most of the other people at our table had the various bento boxes. In particular, both the chicken and beef in these boxes were nicely grilled - tasted like they were cooked over charcoal. The other items in the boxes including the tempura were also very good, but I can't honestly say they were markedly better than similar items I've had at other restaurants. All in all, a great place for those very special occasions.

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We went on a recomondation of close friends it was a fanominal experience. Great for large mouthed extremely hungry sushi lovers. Bad part is you can't take sushi home in a doggy bag. The portions were huge way more than a mouthful. Deliciously prepared. Each plate was a work of art. As well as a nice Japanese beer and saki selection. Then while your eating the husband and wife (owners) stoped by every table to check on you enjoyment. Highly recomendations

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I did not eat any sushi here...and I was thrilled, sushi restaurants are a dime a dozen. It was so nice to have real japanese cuisine. We went to Katsu with three people and and sampled and shared a number of dishes all of which we were very pleased with...I loved the clam soup(and clams are the seafood i am most picky about..they were sooo fresh)!
I think the only thing I would have liked to see would be a slightly larger selection of traditional dishes. They quality of the food was well worth the price and the service was exellent, the chef even came out and walked around to all the tables to check on the customers and see that they were satisfied with their meals. I will definitly be going back!

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Our party of four had a terrible experience here. Food quality was mediocre and way over-priced. We were surprised to see management turn people away when tables were open - and stayed open for the remainder of the night. Did not like the attitude of the staff overall.

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On a budget I decided to treat my girl to a nice Japanese sushi night. The menu was pricey, but in the back, there were some more reasonably priced maki rolls. We ordered a few of those, some saki and plum wine. The service was perfect, they didn't nanny our table, nor were they unavailable. For 2 people we spent about 70 bucks, and my girl was impressed.

I only deducted for value, because you have to know your sushi going in there. My girl ordered some California rolls which were way overpriced, but I smiled and let it go.

Know your sushi before you come here folks, and you will have an awesome experience. But expect high prices for high quality. Wine, saki and rolls cost us 80 bucks without gratuity.

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I have a hard time understanding the complaints about price on this website....we found the sushi to be unbelievably fresh and very reasonably priced when comparing to other local sushi spots. The service was wonderful....we were offered free desserts for the "long wait" which, in reality, was not even long enough for us to complain about. Definitely a must-visit for sushi lovers. Stick to the daily specials and you won't be disappointed.

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