A hidden away restaurant with no apparent signage, a three month wait to dine in which is now currently at seven months to get a table, KatsuYa is an experience which I have been looking forward to since first seeing a post about it last December and I was lucky to grab the last March spots when I booked. With no website, no geo tag and no google reviews, it was an enigma, and that's how Chef Katsu likes to keep it. Even the address is only provided close to the reservation and I loved the secrecy of it all.
The restaurant isn't apparent at all from the street and was only able to find it by locating the small signage and the infamous block bears off on the side. If you haven't gone before, please do allow ample time to find the restaurant and arrive early.
Once you do find it though, you are instantly transported to what is probably the kitchen of my dreams. With a bright wooden tone, open shelves and everything in perfect order, this is what my kitchen would look like in my ideal world. We sat at the benchtop. Usually it seats six people but tonight there was only four.
Chef Katsu introduced himself and showed us his treasure show places, revealing to us the array of seafood and beef we would have the pleasure of consuming this evening. All the fish either came from the chilly waters of Melbourne or were flown in from Japan. The beef was pure blood wagyu that even came with a certification of it's birth and lineage.
Readers would know by now, the kitchen bench is my favourite seat in the whole house and we were treated to dinner and a most spectacular show that evening. Chef Katsu is extremely passionate about Japanese cuisine and it definitely shows from his cooking.
Our first dish came out very quickly after we arrived. This was the red coral trout with ponzu, bottarga and lime zest. The slices were generous, the coral trout was firm but also sweet and this was deliciously accentuated by the tart ponzu and lime. The bottarga added umami as well.
The next dish was the super photogenic Hokkaido scallops with four types of caviar. From left to right is sturgeon, smoked salmon pearls, gin cured pearls and shoyu cured pearls. Again the scallops were unbelievably delicious with a very sweet taste to it. Each of the caviar had a distinctive taste to it and my favourite would have to be the unique shoyu cured pearls.
This was a huge piece of bottarga wrapped in tender calamari topped with fresh salmon pearls and chives. I've never had such a big piece of bottarga before, having only previously enjoyed it as shavings on a dish. The flavours were intense and the texture was firm but chewy, it was a huge umami hit and I loved it. The calamari was also wonderfully tender and encased the cured roe well.
After the last intense dish, the next up was a delicate spanner crab steamed egg. The egg had a flawless silky texture with absolutely no bubbles (unlike the ones I make) and it was topped with deshelled spanner crab in a thickened dashi broth, topped with shaved bottarga for extra umami. It was warm and wholesome, I loved every mouthful.
The next fish we had was the dry aged yellowtail, flown in from from Japan, served with hand made sun dried seaweed. Chef Katsu lightly seared the yellowtail first and it had a distinct texture to it. I really liked the hand made seaweed, it was a lot thicker than the machine made variety and had a far stronger seaweed taste to it.
Shortly after, our places were set for the sashimi course. We were given delicious sweet soy sauce from Japan and some freshly grated wasabi.
First cut of sashimi was the Scorpion Fish. It was firm and sweet, the texture was very similar to lobster sashimi with a very light and clean taste to it that was enhanced by the sweet soy sauce.
The second cut was the imperadore. It had a far softer texture and a delicate flavour to it.
The crowd favourite for the night in terms of fish was definitely going to be the dry aged otoro from Japan. It was so good that it took Dr L's breath away as he ate it. Being dry aged meant the flavours were more intense, the flesh was more firm but as it was of course otoro, it still had it's signature buttery taste that I love.
After the sashimi courses, we moved onto wagyu and some cooked dishes. Chef Katsu knows the proper ordering of Japanese courses and I really appreciated this attention to detail. The first wagyu course he served was lightly poached slices with a thick dashi soup with sturgeon roe and bottarga. The wagyu was silky smooth and since it was poached, it wasn't too heavy at all. The soup was delicious and Chef Katsu had said he took three hours preparing the dashi, I could definitely appreciate it in the taste.
The dashi broth was also used in this dish, comprised of sashimi grade paradise prawns, red coral fish and a shiitake mushroom, garnished with salmon pearl. The prawns were unbelievably fresh with a firm texture as was the fish. The flavours were very complementary with the deeply umami broth.
Dr L's favourite course of the night was the seared wagyu topped with uni. He liked it so much, he almost ate mine whilst I was still taking this photo as he had already eaten his. Each morsel was seared to a delicate crisp on the outside whilst preserving the moist juicy flavour inside. It was topped with rich creamy uni from Japan and chives for taste. This would have to be my second favourite after the toro.
Speaking of toro, Chef Katsu prepared one of the most decadent pieces of sushi I've had in my life. This was comprised of hand made nori sheets, red vinegar seasoned sushi rice and not only toro but also lightly seared wagyu. It was an intense flavour hit and the fillings just melted in my mouth. Toro and Wagyu is definitely a winning combination.
Warming us up, the next dish was a seafood porridge with egg and bottarga. It was wholesome and the rice was cooked beautifully, enriched with the flavours of seafood. It was light but really filled us up.
Rounding off the savoury dishes was some calamari in dashi. The calamari was as tender as ever and the dashi was strong and deep. It's better than any other miso soup I've had.
Dessert was fresh rockmelon with honey from Tasmania along with a macaron imported from France. The melon was perfectly ripened and extra sweet because of the honey. The macaron was also fresh and crisp, a perfect dessert to finish off the best meal I've ever had in Australia.
Words can hardly describe the amazing experience I've had at KatsuYa and I cannot wait to come back in a few months. At the rate that bookings are going, I'll have to get in quick for some slots next year too!
Price Range: Roughly $200pp
Taste: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Environment: 10/10
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