Kato in Los Angeles

August 1 2018

As my time in LA was very short, we decided to go out for a family dinner.  My parents had ate at kato a couple months ago and quite enjoyed their dinner, so my dad thought it would be nice to go and try it again.

They only offer a 10 course tasting menu of $85, but they can ACCOMMODATE for any food allergies.  they still don't have a liquor license therefore there isn't any wine or drink pairing but they do have some speciality drinks such as milk teas and lemonade.

The tasting menu for today, some of the items we didn't have.

Tapioca fritter with Uni and Brown butter soy sauce.  This had to be one of our favorite dishes of the night, it was such a delicious mouthful.  crispy on the outside but soft and gooey on the inside then you have the richness and sea taste from the uni with the slight sweetness from the brown butter soy sauce.  i could have had another one or two of these.

Octopus with doubanjiang sauce and Black vinegar.  this was very tasty, we were wondering how they made the outside of the octopus so crispy, maybe they lightly breaded it with flour or corn starch.  it was a bit sour and sweet from the vinegar and maybe some added sugar.  good dish with interesting flavors and textures.

Foie Gras rice with charred scallion.  it could have had more foie gras but i also really like foie gras.  it was a very posh version of fried rice but a very good and delicious version.  however towards the bottom it became a bit oily, they could have used a bit less oil as the foie gras already has quite a lot of fat.

the first dish or the amuse bouche was Crisp Kombu, egg yolk and caviar.  This was an interesting flavor, a bit salty and rich however once you ate the kombu it had softened up in the mouth and became very sticky, sticking to the sides of your teeth and staying there.  that was not very pleasant.  

next was the amberjack fish, daikon, and charred scallions.  this was good, however we thought that the charred scallion although adding a smoky flavor overpowered the rest of the dish especially the delicate amberjack fish. 

next was the Grilled wagyu beef, cremini mushrooms, and porcini powder.  the wagyu was cooked perfectly but it could of been slightly bigger, it was a pretty small piece.  the mushrooms and porcini powder added some earthiness to the dish.  also after several dishes, we noticed that the chef liked to cover his food, maybe trying to keep the ingredients or the main element of the dish a bit of a secret.

And lastly for dessert was the Buttermilk pudding and shaved mandarin ice.  this was good but nothing super special and interesting.  UNFORTUNATELY it was kind of a let down after having such great dishes earlier.

Horse Mackerel with cucumber, Basil oil, and tomato dashi Gelee.  This was good and very refreshing and it had a bit of a kick from either chili oil or fresh CHILLIES. 

Fish paste spring roll with dried scallion, garlic jam and shiso.  this was a great idea to use fish paste in the inside of the spring roll as it really gave the spring roll more flavor in a solid form.  the spring roll was super crunchy which is always good.  the garlic jam could have had something else in it to have a bit more depth of flavor therefore elevating the overall dish.  also we understand that the lettuce is used as a carrier to eat the spring roll but it then watered down all the flavors in and around the spring roll, especially the shiso leaf.

Steamed turbot with ginger, scallion and light soy cooked in its fish bone.  this tasted the most chinese out of all the dishes, it was probably because of the broth which had ginger, scallion, and soy sauce.  the broth was super tasty, not too rich but still packed a lot of flavor.

 

what an interesting dinner with many delicious and tasty dishes.  the chef jon yao, who is only 25 years old has already gotten a lot of attention for his cooking, who has already been awarded for Food and Wine Magazine’s Best New Chef and nominated for Rising Star from the James Beard Foundation.  i can see and taste why, there is definitely an influence of both taiwanese and japanese with a big focus of fresh seafood.  the dishes are small but have only a few ingredients that generally complement each other, similar approach on how japanese food is cooked and prepared, to let the few ingredients shine through and not to overcomplicate the dish with too many elements.  the restaurant itself is quite small, so making a reservation is key however it's not a couple weeks wait like many other popular la restaurants.  i would definitely go back again to try some new dishes as they change the menu every 2-3 weeks or come back for lunch where they have some interesting sandwiches and burgers.

Kato Restaurant

11925 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025

https://www.katorestaurant.com/

dinner, los angeles, eat, august 2018Jackie Wongkato, japanese, taiwanese