Katsuya — Restaurant in Toronto

I came here on a Saturday evening with a group of friends for dinner. One of my friends had suggested this place to eat since she had tried it before. It wasn't too busy when we came so we were seated quickly.

They have a lot of choices on their menu. The most noticeable difference would be the type of sauce used. You can also select the type of katsu that you desire from pork, chicken, fish and cheese. We have ordered the following:

Takoyaki One of my friend had ordered these as an appetizer. These deep-friend takoyaki (little round balls containing pieces of octopus) with special panko (breadcrumbs) were super crispy. She said that the price was fair and was worth it 👍.

Japanese Pork Loin Katsu A few of my friends ordered the traditional Japanese style katsu with Worcestershire sauce mixed with various vegetables and fruits. The Worcestershire sauce is fermented condiment made from a base of vinegar and flavoured with anchovies, molasses, tamarind, onion, garlic and other seasonings. The flavour is savoury and sweet with a distinct taste provided by the vinegar.

They said that these were delicious, crispy and tender. It also came with a suribachi and surikoji (Japanese mortar & pestle) to grind sesame seeds to a powder form. The first thing you do is to grind the sesame seeds finely. Next, you add in your desired amount of Worcestershire sauce, mix well and dip in a slice of the juicy katsu. It is an exquisite culinary experience 😋!

Garlic Chili Pork Loin Katsu 🧄🌶 One of my friend that came here previously loved the garlic chili katsu which is complemented with deep-fried fresh garlic. The amount of garlic overload on top of the katsu along with a kick of spice made it a super tasty dish. The amount of spice added was perfect for her and it wasn't too spicy.

Garlic Spicy Chicken Katsu 🧄🌶🌶🌶 I ordered the garlic spicy katsu. It is one of the spiciest katsus on their menu and it is complemented with deep-fried fresh garlic. I didn't find it too spicy but it could be for others depending on their spice tolerance.

All of their katsus were super juicy, crunchy bite of pan-fried pork/chicken cutlet and laced with subtle flavours of garlic and parsley. Each bite features a shatteringly crunch exterior which I like to call it the "Panko CRUNCH". That is going to get a 'WOW' moment 😋 and a fire 🔥.

The Panko crunch is used in Japanese katsu and it is the excellent ingredient for its crunchy and crispy coating. Panko are Japanese style breadcrumbs that are made from white bread that have no crusts. The flakes are visibility larger than Italian style breadcrumbs, for example, and you wind up with this magnificent crunchy, yet still very light texture.

If you are a fan of Japanese katsu, I would strongly recommend giving these unique combinations a try! It is absolutely delicious and makes for a satisfying meal at any time...

One female server with the black hair here ignored customer’s requirement than she said the CUSTOMER is RUDE! if you go, please don't let her ruin your day. She can ignored me, than she said I AM RUDE🫡

Our experience at Katsuya (dt) was incredibly disappointing. From the moment we entered, it seemed like the staff were more interested in ignoring us than providing any kind of decent service. Firstly, trying to get the attention of our waitress was like a futile game of charades. We gestured for what felt like an eternity before she begrudgingly acknowledged us. When we finally managed to place our order, she did so with a sour expression and without uttering a single word. It was impossible to gauge whether she even got our order right, and when we dared to double-check, her reaction was nothing short of disdainful. Throughout the meal, the service only deteriorated further. We had to practically beg for basic things like extra rice, and when it did eventually arrive, she just throw it on the table with a bad attitude. The waitress seemed more preoccupied with attending to other tables, conveniently skipping over ours when it came to checking if everything was satisfactory.

When we ask for the bill we're good at gestating and saying, I think she heard us because she paused and then quickly went back to the kitchen, and we just had to wait. When she passed us again, I spoke a little louder because I thought maybe the reason she didn't come was because she didn't hear me. She turns around, glares at me again, and says, "Why are you so RUDE... I could not believe that her service could be turned back on me, and I also said thank you when she served the food. I asked her on the spot why she said so, you can not hear the words I loudly let you hear it (I am loud because before her ordering attitude told me that she may not hear!) She repeated "You aresoo rude." Our purpose is to pay. When I took the machine to pay, I told her that you ignored us all the time and the deviation of service attitude made me feel dissatisfied. I shouted, "Can I ask for the bill?" because you made me think you didn't hear me. And then she stopped talking. She still says You are so RUDE... She had her hand on the table next to mine as the machine tipped, and I looked at her the same way and stared at me, threateningly. After paying the bill, I asked her if you still thought I was rude after listening to the reasons, and she said yes! You are rude！！！！！ Then she swung her hand in a curve to grab the machine from me.

Server should not bring their emotions to their customers, idk if she have a bad day but. Not my business 🥹

WHAT A ‘GREAT’...

We visited from Calgary with a group of six and arrived shortly after noon. Upon entering, we were informed by the waitress that an automatic gratuity of 18% would be applied to groups of five or more, which we had no issue with. However, when we asked to split the bill into two or three payments, we were told this was not allowed—the bill had to be settled in a single payment.

We were a bit surprised, as this isn’t typically the case at most restaurants, particularly those that aren’t considered high-end. While e-transferring between ourselves was an option, it would have been more convenient to simply split the bill. To make things easier for the staff, we even offered to sit separately, but the individual acting as the manager declined, citing that we had already identified ourselves as a group of six.

Finally, they agreed to let us sit separately if we still pay the gratuity. We then planned to share a few dishes, as the portions appeared quite generous, only to be told that sharing was not permitted, each person was required to order their own dish. There is no policy stated on their website or menu. It just seems like they were making rules up as they go because we were the only people eating there (there was a group of two before us that were just finishing up).

The gratuity policy and initial restriction on bill splitting were understandable, but not allowing guests to share food felt unnecessarily rigid. As a result, two members of our group chose to leave and dine elsewhere. The remaining four of us stayed due to time constraints, though only three ended up ordering. One person sat through the meal unable to try anything, and unfortunately, we couldn't finish everything due to the large portions. They lost out on that 18% gratuity and more.

The food itself was good. However, due to the inflexible and, frankly, off-putting "policies", we would not return if visiting Toronto again. Fortunately, a location has recently opened in Calgary, where they are more accommodating with bill splitting and...