DTLA: Drinks and Sushi at Katsuya
Jade’s Addiction
After checking out a game at Staples Center, we stopped into Katsuya at LA Live for a snack and a couple of drinks. I hadn’t been to a Katsuya before knowing it’s a mini chain. However, I was lured in due to proximity and also the idea they are known for baked crab rolls.
My friend started with a drink on the menu, the Jade’s Addiction. It’s perfect with food considering its fizzy properties but has a kick of mezcal.
Jade’s Addiction – El Silencio Mezcal, lime, serrano chili, aromatic bitters, champagne
shishito peppers
I can’t help but order shishito peppers everywhere. Katsuya gives you plenty and we happily snacked on these for the duration of our post-game snacky meal. I did wish there was bonito flakes but the peppers were flavorful enough. And I managed to avoid the super-spicy ones.
yellowtail with jalepeno
If you don’t want to go through the whole menu, Katsuya conveniently lists their specialties so we got three from the list including the yellowtail sashimi with sliced jalepeno peppers. The sauce is good enough that you don’t need additional soy sauce.
spicy tuna crispy rice
I’m a big fan of crispy rice so we got an order of spicy tuna on crispy rice. The tuna itself wasn’t too spicy but the addition of jalepeno peppers revs it up.
Manhattan
After going through the cocktail list I just wanted a Manhattan. I didn’t ask for any particular whiskey but the bartender surprised me with Blanton’s which is one of my favorite bourbons.
Katsuya has to step up its cherry game though. No more neon red cherries, please! I will also take my Manhattan with a citrus twist, too.
crab roll in soy paper
And the long awaited baked crab rolls? Well, it turns out not all Katsuya locations does these rolls the same way. The LA Live one seems to favor the imitation crab just a bit more than the others. It’s supposed to be both imitation crab and real crab. Maybe next time we’ll just request all real crab.
Or we’ll make a trek over to KazuNori for my favorite crab rolls.
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