Katana
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Phone: (323) 650-8585
- Price:
- $$$
- Cross Street:
- La Cienega Boulevard
- Specialties:
- Outdoor Bar
- Best of Citysearch:
- Japanese Food 2006
- Hours:
- Sun 6pm-12pm, Mon-Wed 5:30pm-12am, Thu-Fri 5:30pm-1am, Sat 6pm-1am
Message from Katana
Every Sunday Night-DJ Thomas Golubic, 6pm-11:30pm
- Japanese Beer Garden Sundays
- Private Dining Room
- Patio Overlooking Sunset Strip
Paid advertisement by Katana.
Editorial Review for Katana – by Jane Tunks
The Scene
The team behind Balboa and Sushi Roku has put its muscle into this stylish Japanese restaurant and lounge. The decor verges on "Blade Runner" territory, with ultramodern touches such as steel I-beams substituting for traditional teak rafters, and security grills standing in for Japanese lattice. A swanky patio overlooks the Strip.
The Food
The encyclopedic Japanese comfort-food menu can be overwhelming. Get your bearings over fragrant red miso soup, then turn your attention to the specialty of the house, robata. The traditional Japanese skewers are roasted over an open flame, infusing the meat, fish or vegetables with a smoky essence. Served in dainty portions, the choices range from chicken breast to a more ambitious sea bass marinated in ponzu. Other inspired dishes include giant scallops and shiitake mushrooms loaded with minced chicken. The chefs also turn out gems like the lobster roll loaded with broiled meat and the buttery toro roll.
Editorial content is independent of paid advertisers. Any expenses are paid for by Citysearch.
Insider Tips
Where to SitNo reservation? Seating at the sushi and robata bars is available on a first come, first served basis, but the grill end is smoky--head for the sushi side.
Happy HourVisit weekdays between 5:30pm and 7pm for $5 select sushi rolls and skewers. Happy hour prices only apply in the bar area.
Know Before You GoWaiters deliver your skewers whenever they happen to be ready, so order all at once or a few at a time.
What to DrinkAsk for sake tips--Katana has one of the largest selections in town--and one of the only certified sake sommeliers. Redsun is a house beer created to complement sushi.
User Reviews for Katana
09/18/2008 Posted by AngelenoFoodie
Check out the review of this and many other happy hours at: happiest hours(dot)blog spot(dot)com - no spaces between words, but City Search won't allow it any other way. First, the important stuff - the atmosphere here is great, and for a Tuesday night, it was a decent crowd. Young professionals, friendly bartender, good decor. The downside is that for two people having drinks and food, the total was $74 (after tax and a hefty - as always - tip.) The upside is that there was PLENTY of meter parking on Sunset at 5:30 mid-week. Plenty. Drinks on the HH menu include sake, wine, well drinks and a Katana Fusion (vodka and fruit juice) for $5. There used to be beer as well, but they no longer stock the happy hour beer and haven't replaced it with another selection. My companion wanted a beer, so we paid menu prices for two of those ($6 each), plus we had two Katana Fusions, which are mighty tasty. The awesome bartenders topped me off with club soda after that and generously kept my glass full, gratis. Thanks, guys! Let me start by saying the food was outstanding. Among the best I've had on the Happy Hour gauntlet. Everything is $5 a plate and was so good it was easy to not realize how small the portions were until -- eight plates later and we weren't full. That might not seem like much, but your favorite foodie here has the appetite of a budgie and usually can't split five plates with my fellow revelers, much less eight. Now, eight orders of sushi are also going to be pretty small, but if it's Happy Hour, or "Red Sun" hour, prices should be reduced, and these seemed like standard $5 appies from a regular bar/sushi menu.
07/06/2008 Posted by mhb1954
Four of us went for dinner, promptly seated, decent table, very dark inside. The place was slow but it quickly filled up. The service was generally good until they got busy. We liked some of the food a lot, and hated some of it a lot... we sent back a raw tuna that was fishy smelling and then later, we had a shrimp tempura roll that was completely inedible. I mean, it just tasted like over fried pork rind! It look a long time to get that sorted out, and by the time we were done, we wanted out. Not planning a return. I've had better sushi in less pretentious places. Most of the staff seem congenial, but many of the hostesses look a bit overly Beverly Hilled.
Pros: Nice atmosphere for the most part
Cons: A little too snobish and "Hollywood Scene" for me, nothing, "real," or down to earth about it.
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