Katori Japanese Yakiniku Restaurant Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Melbourne

This place has a couple of things that could allow it to be something good, the sashimi was fresh, and the interior (while not to my liking) has a sense of style and freshness into it. But all that doesn't mean a thing when you have overall service that is absolute trash.

Firstly on entering, I'm just left standing at the counter for an awkward amount of time, while the kitchen manager who has noticed us, is constantly dinging a bell to try and grab the attention of one of the floor staff to attend to us.

Next, the waiter who served us is definitely the worst-performing individual in the hospitality industry I have interacted with in the last few years (this includes fast-food as well). Firstly, he did not know the menu at all, was unsure what on the menu was available, and was very dismissive of questions about the menu. Secondly, he struggled to note our order correctly, even though I was pointing at the specific items on the menu for him to copy down, and then when he went through the order to check back, I also pointed through those items on the menu with him again - this is important for later. Sure, his english skills may have not been the best, but pointing at the menu items while I'm saying them hopefully would have negated that issue, but no - I guess that didn't work because items that we didn't order came out, which of course we sent back.

The absolute worst part that I will never forget, and the reason I will never step foot in this place ever again, is that this waiter must have decided that we should have just accepted whatever random item he decided to put down for us, and towards the end of our meal, decided it was acceptable to interrupt us and accost us to tell us that we ordered that incorrect item, and that he noted down what we said correctly, and that it was our fault that the wrong item came out, and that it had ruined his night. I guess literally pointing out each item on the menu during the ordering process - including when he checked the order - wasn't enough for this man. No acceptance of responsibility at all, and the absolute gall to attempt to blame the customer for his mistake. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. Out of all the staff there, only one member was good, the rest were subpar - with our waiter being so low he's reached the Earth's inner core. If a zero, or a negative score could be marked down, I would put it down, because this vastly outweighed any positive for the food or the atmosphere.

Aside from this, the food comes out in a strange order, I've noticed from other reviews that this is quite common. It ruins the flow of the meal, and the flawed order affects how well you enjoy each component. In addition, compared with other places in the eastern suburbs, the quality of the food is not up to scratch, and is overpriced for what you get. While the sashimi was ok, their beef, rolled sushi, and main rice dishes leave a lot to be desired.

Other reviews here have named other superior eateries you can go to instead for better food at a similar or lower price point. Do yourself a favour, and go to any of those instead. Unless you enjoy having your night ruined by poor staff, and enjoy being left feeling bitter at the price you've had to pay for a...

We really wanted to like Katori - the aesthetic and design of the place is so attractive, but unfortunately the appeal stops there. The service was lacklustre and food overpriced. I’m so sorry :(

Once seated, no one explained the menu to us (not the worst thing) and after 15-20 minutes of waiting and trying to make eye contact with any of the staff, we managed to flag down a waitress.

Unsure if it was her first day or not, but there was a lack of confidence in taking just our basic orders: a chawanmushi, wagyu tacos - and when asked what was in the maki roll, she had to go off and a second waitress came to answer the question, then left us. This is all fine - but the first waitress never returned - when we were only halfway through our order! An odd transition when we would have thought one of them would have finished taking our order.

I had to get up and call the waitress back (since it’s quite difficult to grab any of their attention in the first place) and then order the wagyu platter and a serve of rice.

We were then almost immediately served our single bowl of rice, before any dishes that would supplement rice were served - which was odd.

The wagyu tacos arrived and whilst tasty certainly are not $34 worthy given their size.

The seafood chawanmushi was also tasty. Confusingly we still had this bowl of rice sitting here growing cold.

The next dish was our maki rolls, also tasty. As you can tell, the rice had no place yet in the meal.

Then we sat and waited for 20-25 minutes for our wagyu platter. It got to a point where after trying to flag down waitresses again, one finally noticed us and we asked if the meal was coming.

They went off to check on it, came back with sauces and apologised politely, then we waited another 5 minutes at which the wagyu came out but the coals were only brought a couple of minutes AFTER. We ordered another serve of rice - of which we had to ask ten minutes (part way into cooking our beef) if the rice was coming at all.

The meat was decent, odd that there was no salt in the side sauce dish. Recommend the light soy sauce provided.

Also, we weren’t given any instructions on what or how to cook - and had to flag down a waitress to ask if any of the parts were to oil the grill - which yes, there was a fatty piece for just that - but no one had offered to cook or explain anything to us in the first place.

It was strange because they cooked for everyone else but we just seemed to be forgotten the entire time. We observed the male manager also asking if people needed guidance in cooking too - so just must have drawn the short straw.

Overall, a really, really poor experience. You’re better off at Zero Mode or BBQ-K next door probably. Less expensive and likely better experience.

Sorry Katori - we really did want to enjoy our time here but we spent way too much time trying to get some stock standard hospitality. Especially at your premium prices it would do you well to lift the level of...

Booked Katori for Valentine's Day with my wife because we had a pleasant experience the last time we were there. Got a call 2 days prior saying that they only served a set menu on the day ($348 for 2pax) and no ala carte was available. Opted to keep the reservation as prior experience was good.

Got there on the day and was seated. Got served NZ scampi tartar & scampi miso soup ( poorly put together tartar with prawn head soup on the side - very underwhelming ). Next was snow crab Katsu (crab in salad sauce on potato cake ) and conger eel tempura ( had to ask 4 times at 2 different wait staff just to get an overly fried piece of batter tasting nothing like eel ). Following that was Wagyu tamari sushi which was alright. Each of the things I just listed we got one piece each and the tartar to share.

Now the main is 200g of M9 Wagyu short rib + M9 Wagyu fried rice ( abit too salty and sweet )+ Katori Valentine's Salad ( leaves / cherry tomato / little turnip things ). Ended off with Dassai Ice Cream ( with the lid from the container left in to remind you that no additional effort was put into making dessert aside from plating it )

The reason I listed the whole menu is to emphasise that everyone ate from a set menu so this should be advantageous to make timely. Service was slow, size of servings was ridiculous, drinks came after the 3rd entree, my meat was sitting on my table 15 minutes before the coals were placed in, coals were already overheated that even the manager had to check why the fire was so violent and both me and my wife left still feeling hungry. Paid $390 in total. Staff asked why we didn't finish the eel ( which was served last - it's an entree mind you) and I told her that pretty much nothing was to expectation nor was it pleasant or enjoyable in any way. She offered to take off the drinks but I asked her not to because they might as well get every penny from me as it will be a cold day in hell before I go back there.

Went from praising them as one of our most memorable meals in Melbourne to already having my Macca's order in mind midway through the meal. Disappointing and fairly worried for anyone else considering to dine at this establishment.

photos of all the food aside from the soup Judge for...