Restaurant KATSURA — Restaurant in Prague

It has been almost half a year since our last visit in Japan that my wife and I are really craving an authentic Japanese dining experience. I can say that this restaurant is a great find. Kudos to my wife's research.

All of our orders matched the local beer that they served, which has a taste similar to that of Kirin. Their tempura is at par with the high-quality train station tempura that we frequently visit in Hakata station. They were able to handle their shihamo very well that it tasted so great - we had to order twice. My wife dealt with most of the sashimi, commenting that the salmon (somehow) did not taste so well relative to how the maguro tasted. The yakitori tasted fine but can improve by maybe using fresher meat and infusing more with the Japanese sauce trinity (sake, soy sauce, mirin). I am grateful for the restaurant for being able to serve the broiled tuna jaw. It brought back a lot of great memories, and surely, we will come back for more. Lastly, the Kuro Goma is well served, and I feel that the ice cream was made by the restaurant.

But there is one thing that failed and should improve or maybe just be removed from the menu - the tonkotsu ramen. The broth tasted like an instant tonkotsu ramen, or maybe they just don't have the proper bone parts or failed to perform a rolling boil.. The chashu are too small for the bowl size and did not taste fresh. The Ajitsuke tamago may pass.. but will need more time with its marinade. There is not enough power on their tare if there is any.. no hint of it at all. I did not taste a good amount of pork fat and garlic. I think there is negi and menma but was not able to catch their taste or maybe there is none at all. Lastly, the noodles were too soft and were sticking to each other - really a failed technique there.

Even with the very bad review of the failed ramen, a 4-star is still suitable due to the taste and technique manifested on the other dishes. Maybe a 5-star rating Japanese restaurant without the ramen.

P.S. Your complimentary potato salad tasted very authentic. I hope I can make...

We visited Katsura on a Friday evening around 20:00 and were initially surprised to find the restaurant completely empty. Usually, a lack of patrons at this peak dining time is not a good sign, but we optimistically hoped we had discovered a hidden gem.

Our starters arrived promptly, and while the kimchi, edamame, jellyfish salad, and takoyaki were decent, they didn’t leave any lasting impression.

The sashimi platter came next and while it appeared visually appealing, the quality was disappointingly average. Particularly troubling were the scallops, which had an unpleasant underlying odor, clearly indicating they were far from fresh and likely close to being discarded.

When our sushi arrived, our experience took another downturn. The nigiri sushi was poorly executed, with each piece falling apart upon picking it up, making it difficult and messy to eat. Considering the overall quality and the care put into preparation, we felt the sushi was notably overpriced.

On a positive note, the restaurant does offer an extensive selection of sake, with appealing choices ranging from mid-range to premium selections. However, a solid sake selection alone isn't enough to redeem an otherwise disappointing dining experience. We did ask for the scallops to be taken off the receipt at the end, and they...

Dined here about a week ago for my birthday, my first since moving here in Prague.

Restaurant strengths: Grilled food - shishamo, hamachi kama yaki. Tempura. Goma ice cream. Tuna sashimi. Draft beer!! I love the ambience, the cleanliness, the service.

We devoured the hamachi kama yaki to the bone, and ordered another serving of shishamo, it was that 🤩 I think this restaurant is very good with handling raw ingredients and making those ingredients shine, as expected of a Japanese restaurant.

I'll give the salmon sashimi at 4.5/5 for the texture. For some reason it wasn't like that in Japan... Still delicious. Far cry from other "sushi" in Prague.

Weakness: Tonkotsu ramen. Broth was bland, lacked body. Noodles were very soft, and even when I ordered yawa-men in Hakata when I was sick, I don't remember the noodles sticking together like that. I wish they just left it out of the menu, it was really disappointing... I think they'd also be disappointed if the chefs or even their servers sampled that particular bowl 😢

If I hadn't ordered the tonkotsu ramen, I 'd give this restaurant a 5/5.

I'd still say this is the best Japanese restaurant in Prague for me. I will still definitely go back. The menu is extensive, I look forward to trying the other grilled dishes and...