Katsuya grabbed the culinary headlines when it opened for bringing the brand of Master sushi chef Katsuya Uechi to the SLS South Beach from California. Now, with a stylishly revamped interior design, it is staking out its place for “experiential dining” and a menu of rare Wagyu cuts enjoyed by Japanese emperors, along with Miami inspired sushi rolls and an elevated happy hour. The result are some standout dishes, one in particular worthy of my Fabulous Friday and a reason in itself for a dinner at Katsuya.
First a word about the interior design reimagined by Avenue Interior Design. It’s elegantly simple, as the Japanese would like it, with ivory walls, light wood furniture and tall louvered windows filtering the sunlight from the pool deck.The focal point of the dining room are soaring ceiling art deco persimmon chandeliers that draw your attention upwards to the upside down parasols. One bar overlooks the sushi kitchen, offering counter seating, and another is for their new happy hour.
The menu is divided into cold and raw starters, Katsuya classics, Hot and Tempura, Katsuya signatures, robatayki with their specialty steak cuts and presentations, Miyazaki Wagu culinary experiences, robata and yakitori specialties, raw bar, specialty rolls, sushi combinations, tamaki or cut makimono roll and desserts.
Tableside and other visually striking presentations are a large part of the experience. The highlight we experienced was Hirohito’s tableside Wagyu tartare named after the Emperor of Japan. The twist on a French classic and, for my taste, surpasses it, features Miyazaki’s award wining A5 Wagyu beef combined with Asian inspired ingredients. It’s served with a framed certificate of authenticity detailing everything from the name of the steer along with the paternal and maternal names to the feedlot cooperative and feeder cattle origin . A Wagyu sommelier tells the fascinating story of what makes the beef special including — get this, cattle being taken to the hot springs and treated to music at night ($48). If tartar isn’t your thing, you can also enjoy the 6 ounce A5 Wagyu picanha cut ($59). So rare in production, only .5% makes its way to the US and then only to New York, Los Angeles and now Miami .
Fish lovers never fear, fish doesn’t take a back seat to meat here. They feature domestic fish and fatty Nodouro and other seasonal varieties flown in from Tokyo’s famous Tsukijmi fish market. In the omakase style chef’s selection diners can choose whether they want the domestic or Japanese sashimi or nigiri. ($55 to $95 for 8 to 12 pieces plus a roll). The seafood counterpart to the tartare presentation is Yasufuku’s Aburi-Style Miyazaki Nigiri prepared tableside with 24-karat gold flakes,
We enjoyed a special menu of their signature items, starting with delicious crispy rice assortment that included classic spicy tuna with serrano pepper and another with avocado and the serrano pepper. They were crispy on top, chewy and with a welcome zip from the pepper. ($25 for 4 pieces). Next up was a favorite, the plump baked fresh crab and spicy mayo handroll wrapped with soy paper, preferable to the seaweed wrap as it allows the flavor of the crab to stand out ($22). We followed that up with a Miami style langosta roll. A traditional California roll was topped with Maine lobster and cilantro serrano aioli (price $29).
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Next was the piece de resistance I mentioned earlier, the tableside Wagyu tartare. After all this, I had to let my belt out a notch for the next courses, salmon robata topped with mandarin miso crunch, tomato dashi and yummy brown beech mushrooms ($42) followed by the A5 picanha that was beefy, very tender and perfectly charred. A lychee ginger sorbet, happily soon to be on the menu, was the ideal palate cleanser before dessert. It was both creamy, flavorful and refined.
Desserts were riffs on American favorites – brioche donuts with a coconut glaze in a passion fruit coulis ($14) and chocolate mousse cake topped with marshmallow fluff (each $14).
There’s a menu of signature cocktails ($20). Wine (a 4-5 ounce pour) starts at ($18) a glass and bottles at ($100) .
Valet parking is available for ($46) and there’s a municipal parking garage a little over two blocks away.
The new Katsuya South Beach Social Hour is available 6:00-8:00 PM at the sushi bar, cocktail bar, and upstairs in the hidden Dragon Lounge, a special venue for group celebrations and intimate dinners. Drinks are all half priced for the happy hour so signature cocktails become $10 and glasses of wine are $9! The Katsuya’s Social Hourfood offers a mix of cold and hot bites, from Salmon Lemon Roll ($7), Spicy Tuna Roll ($8) to Short Rib Bao Buns ($11), Asparagus Fries ($8) and Baked Dynamite Oysters ($15)
Katsuya South Beach, 1701 Collins Avenue, South Beach, FL 33139
Want to go to the SLS South Beach and make a day of it? They offer a day pass to the pool and the beach. For more information, click here for my blogpost.
