That Little Mexican Place and Katsu (bit long)

Having gleaned so much valuable dining and cooking information from the forum but not having much opportunity to dine out on a regular basis, I've often felt a slight pang of guilt about not being able to contribute in-depth reviews to the board. That said, my wife and I finally made good on a much anticipated date to dine at Katsu on Saturday and were just wonderfully pleased with the whole experience. While it will be a bit played in terms of all of the review/writing Katsu has already received, here goes…

But first, a few words about That Little Mexican Place in Evanston. I had previously dined there during the week and found the lunch buffet at $8 to be a great bargain with tasty, above average carne asada tacos. Thus we found ourselves there Saturday at lunchtime. The ambience was pleasant and the staff attentive. My wife ordered the Azteca Salad, which included marinated grilled chicken breast, chopped romaine lettuce, jicama, nopalitos (I think), orange slices and a citrus cilantro dressing. She really liked the salad as all of the ingredients were very fresh and nicely contrasted each other. In particular, she noted/appreciated that the chicken breast was very juicy and had been grilled to order rather than pre-cooked as it is in so many restaurants. I had fish tacos, which were just okay. On the plus side, the tortillas were very fresh and soft with a nice mellow corn flavor. However, the fish (tilapia) was pan fried and somewhat under-seasoned. It was also overwhelmed by the fistful of shredded lettuce in each taco. A good sized dollop of salsa improved things a bit, but I was disappointed. On the other hand, I was very happy with the re-fried beans. Black beans, mashed with sautéed onions, with a nice hint of pork. They had a really solid smoky flavor to them, which I loved but couldn’t peg as being from the beans or from chipotle, and they were silky, silky smooth. Overall, our assessment was: generous portions, slightly above average quality though high on price ($9 lunch entrees), but definitely a pre-movie dining option that would trump Joy Yee, Wolfgang Puck or (god help us) Chili’s. We’ll be back again in the future – my curiosity was especially piqued by the roasted pork tacos which were not al pastor, but oven roasted. Hmm.

As for Katsu, the good vibes began with our reservation. I explained a need for an early reservation and asked how early they could seat us. They responded by asking me "how early would you like to come in?" That is a first in my dining experience - a restaurant bending its schedule to accommodate the diner. We arrived at 5:00 and were the only ones in the restaurant which made for very attentive service from all the staff. Having read so much about Katsu, we focused on the specialties, forgoing the standard nigiri and sashimi, which we felt while special, would be more of a quality comparison with other restaurants rather than a uniquely Katsu experience.

We started with two appetizers - the grilled tuna jaw and the kiss fish tempura. Ordering the yellowtail jaw must mark one as a special (read LTH) patron, because shortly after our appetizer order went in, Katsu popped out of the kitchen clearly intent on seeing who ordered the jaw, sized us up and asked us if we were Japanese. We explained our ethnicity (Korean and Filipino), told him we were first time diners, and he promptly turned and had a discourse with our waiter in Japanese of which the only English was, “Take care of them!” Totally unnecessary as the waiter had already been poring over the menu with us and explaining/ making recommendations. Katsu brought the jaw out himself, squeezed lemon over it, poured soy on the grated horseradish/radish and then explained why it was the best part of the fish and how we should eat it. Not sure if that was par at Katsu, but we’ve never had that kind of treatment anywhere before, and it just floored both of us.

The grilled yellowtail jaw was spectacular - a beautiful combination of firm steak-like and softer, buttery/rich tuna that was nicely complemented by the crispy charred skin and the grated radish with soy. The kiss fish were delicate white fish no more than 3 inches in length, butterflied, skinned, beheaded/de-boned and deep-fried in tempura. After the initial crunch of tempura it pretty much melted in our mouths.

As for the sushi, it was quite an experience. We sampled our way through the ala carte nigiri specialties. All of the sushi was impeccably fresh. I especially liked the way they cut the sushi in a longer strip that tucked under the rice. That gave us a really full fish flavor and feel w/o it being thickly cut. Favorites included the fatty toro (what I imagine Kobe steak tartare would taste like); the premium yellowtail (buttery rich) and the bluefin (just really yummy). I was less enthused with the giant sweet shrimp than my wife. The initial impression was great but as I chewed and swallowed I got a kind of odd lingering mouth feel from the raw shrimp. It didn’t have anything to do with the shrimp, just my own tastes, as my wife who is very sensitive to ‘off’ tastes really enjoyed the sweet shrimp. I was more than happy to dispose of the heads for her which were a really tasty and crunchy. As we finished our meal, Katsu came back out to ask us how we enjoyed our dinner, and we left to a chorus of “Arigato!”s. It was an exceptional experience from beginning to end, and one we’re looking forward to again very soon. Thanks to LTHforum for making us aware of Katsu and the specialties to be had there!