Katsuya by Starck

After weeks of postponing and re-postponing this dinner, we finally made the time to visit Katsuya by Starck which hails from sunny Los Angeles and involves the exciting collaboration between the award winning chef Katsuya Ueichi and the renowned product designer and architect Philippe Starck. It is located in the Dubai Mall right under Friday's, with a great view of the Dubai Fountain. As you enter be prepared to be greeted by the overly enthusiastic staff yelling 'Irasshaimase!' (which is a respectful way of welcoming a guest into an establishment). Their enthusiasm is so infectious that you will find customers yelling it out as well.

I decided to make use of my Nikon that was gathering dust in my closet, and see if I could take some somewhat decent shots. I knew from experience that adjusting the settings, getting the perfect angle and trying to make use of what little lighting I had would be a tough job. What I did not take into consideration was my starving date who eyed each plate with such hunger, barely giving me seconds to snap as many pictures as possible before sinking her chopsticks into the food.  

One of the reasons I was excited to come visit this restaurant was so I could see Philippe Starck's work first hand. I spent the first fifteen minutes looking around, taking in the dimly lit space, the large Japanese lanterns and the back lit images of Samurai Warrior hats while my date impatiently glared at me willing me to turn around and start ordering. (The hazards of being friends with a designer I guess). I was slightly surprised to see that there were barely any tables occupied, from what I heard about the place I expected it to be packed. Though it was still too early to tell. 

As explained to us by our very friendly waiter, there are three themed kitchens - the sushi bar, the hot kitchen and the robata charcoal grill kitchen and in addition a cocktail bar where they create their signature drinks. Once the waiter was done with his explanation, my date hastily ordered for us pausing only momentarily to get my nod of approval, she ordered: The Mushroom Salad , Salmon Sashimi, SSC Roll, The Hollywood Roll and The Shrimp Tempura Roll. Looking back on our options, I do admit that we should have included one or two more plates that were offered from their other kitchens but unfortunately we've got a one track mind, once we see sushi on the menu we salivate and see nothing else.

Mushroom Salad

The Mushroom Salad is one of my absolute favorite salads to order, for a while there I was slightly obsessed with the one offered at Manga Sushi and did not think I could find another one that could match it. Katsuya did not disappoint at all, each layer of mushrooms was served on a bed of butter-lettuce, it was like a nesting doll, every time we thought that this was the last layer there was more waiting for us. It was delicious.

SSC Roll

The first roll that arrived at our table was the SSC Roll which was made up of sautéed shrimp with shiitake mushrooms and asparagus on a California Roll. In my opinion, it is sheer brilliance to add mushrooms to a sushi roll, definitely adds a special touch to the dish. The next roll was the Shrimp Tempura Roll which was quite nice, but needed some kind of sauce to help distinguish it from any other shrimp tempura roll. Moving on  the hero of the night  was, without a doubt, the Hollywood Roll. Comprised of shrimp tempura, spicy kanikama (crab stick), avocado, cucumber and topped with spicy albacore (tuna). It was soft and flavorsome with just the right amount of spiciness. Surprisingly, my least favorite dish was the Salmon Sashimi, which I found to be too fishy and could barely finish my first piece, though my date was not bothered at all and quite liked it.

Hollywood Roll

Shrimp Tempura Roll

As full as we were, we could not deny ourselves the joy of having dessert. Being both lovers of anything chocolate related we ordered the Double Chocolate Lava, which was presented in a metallic cup with caramel sauce on the side. The fact that I do not have a single picture of this plate should be proof enough of how fast it was consumed by the both of us. While we were taking our last spoonfuls we were visited by the restaurant's very charismatic manager. His timing couldn't have been more perfect since we were already smiling from the effects of the chocolate, we laughed, we joked and we bonded over our common love of chocolate. Getting up to leave, I looked around and noticed that the restaurant was finally buzzing with people and a line had already formed at the entrance. I was glad to see that it had lived up to its reputation.

This restaurant definitely has a lot of things going for it: its location, its friendly staff and its food variety and quality. I am always only too happy when a new Japanese restaurant opens up and this time is no exception. If you get a chance to visit don't do like we did, be adventurous and order something from the grill, something from the hot kitchen or even a cocktail from the bar.