HCH Review of Katsu

This review has to begin with a disclaimer. I don't know a damn thing about sushi. I'm not proud of this. But things are what they are. I spent most of my life as a potato and meats sort of eater, so I just never had the inclination to go away from fire and beef.

That said, I enjoyed Katsu. When confronted with the menu I looked at it for a while, but eventually realized that it was meaningless to me regardless of whether I was reading the English or Japanese language parts of it. So I did what seemed the safest possible bet. I asked our very friendly waitress what she thought were the best things on the menu. She pointed out 5 different dishes. I told her to bring us all of them. I had no idea what I might have done. For all I knew I had ordered enough food to feed the whole place, or perhaps not even enough to make me remember having eaten 30 minutes later.

Luckily, because I live with a horseshoe wedged up my rear end (yes it hurts to sit sometimes, but we all have a cross to bear), it turned out to be just the right amount of food. We ended up with 2 sets of rolls (with 6 and 4 rolls respectively) and 3 nigiri dishes. The standouts were the Super White Toro rolls, and the O-Toro Gunkan. There was a lesson learned during the meal, and that lesson for me was to be sparing with the wasabi. The small amounts that were waiting underneath the nigiri sushi led to flavorful bites, with just enough heat to give the mouth a little tingling. The "it didn't look like that much but I guess it was" amount I put on top of a maki roll on the other hand left me breathing fire like a cartoon character for a good few minutes.

After the sushi we decided to give one last dish a try, as we both coveted the pumpkin tempura. A good decision on our parts. The hearty warmth of the tempura was nicely balanced by the complimentary melon we were given at the end of the meal. Sweet and sugary and full of moisture, this was an excellent ending to the dinner.

I would like to come back here and try the Omakase dinner, as I suspect my best hopes with sushi for a while will come from submitting myself to the tender mercies of those who know much better than I what the heck to eat and when to eat it. Also, I would love to try the sake menu, but figured better to wait until next time, lest we have had food and drink disasters in the same meal.

If you're a sushi expert, you really have no reason to listen to a damn thing I say here, unless you share a fondness for Japanese toys as decoration with me. In which case you will enjoy the decor. If on the other hand you're a sushi novice who has been putting off taking the plunge, I can tell you that Katsu will take good care of you. Friendly staff, expensive but certainly not painful prices, plenty of street parking, and some very fresh and tasty fish. Worked for me.

Katsu
2651 W. Peterson Ave.
Chicago, IL
(773) 784-3383

HCH rating - 4 stars