Katana Ya — Restaurant in San Francisco

Over the past few years, I've consistently found myself at this Japanese restaurant late at night because it's:

(a) Open late until 1 a.m.

(b) Centrally located near Union Square

(c) A great alternative to greasy, late night fare

I've had a good amount of their soba, udon, and ramen noodle bowls -- from miso to spicy, and enjoyed them all.

Their rolls are also quite good, as is their sashimi. I've had such a selection, that I couldn't name them all here without making this a page-long review!

One thing that I've especially enjoyed are their donburi bowls. It's a Japanese staple, but for some reason, it's difficult to find restaurants that serve a VARIETY of donburi.

For those who don't know, donburi is basically a bowl of rice with a topping (eel, tofu, roe, etc.)

I would have given them a better rating, however, when I ate here recently, they served really low quality Unagi (Fresh Water Eel), the worst that I have ever had.

(I eat A LOT of unagi, more than the average white girl!) Fun fact: Eel is eaten in Russian Cuisine! : )

Usually, the eel is delicate and easy to eat. This one was thick, gummy, full of bones, and smelled fishy -- impossible to cut through with chopsticks. Even the eel skin on the back was THICK and disgusting!

I actually questioned whether it was eel, it was THAT BAD! Completely inedible! : (

When I called the waiter over, he dismissed me. Finally I got the owner's attention -- an hour later. He apologized for the poor quality and offered to take it off the bill and bring me something else.

Sad really, as it used to be my favorite thing on the menu. I hope that was just a one-time fluke!

Recommended:

Hiyayakko (~$4) -- Cold Tofu with Soy Sauce, Ginger, Scallion and Dry Fish Flakes.

*I get this every time because they make an amazing rendition of it here. The perfect amount of dry fish flakes, scallions, with a good balance of soy sauce and ginger. The tofu also has a great consistency.

Tofu Donburi ($4.50) -- Great texture in the tofu, with a drizzle of house sauce and a pinch of seaweed served over rice

Soba and Udon Soups (~$10)

Chirashi ($19) -- A large variety of Mixed Sashimi over White Rice -- it's a bit more expensive than other menu items, but my friend wanted to splurge

Rolls -- any of them are good...

Went for dinner on NYE with my wife & regretted it immensely.

Atmosphere: (3/10) Busy and crowded. We waited a little over half an hour, but it wasn't bad considering it was NYE. Decor and ambiance was not particularly impressive, and seemed quite dated

Waitstaff: (1/10) Horrible. Our waitress was utterly rude and practically through our menus down at us. Had to wait over 10 minutes to get an order in, (which I understand if busy, but she passed our table several times and I had to wave to get her attention) No smile, no checking in after our food came. We waited another 15-20 minutes just trying to get the check and get out afterwards. I'd like to stress that as someone who has been in the food service industry for over 10 years, no matter what kind of bad day / night you're having - you should never take it out on the customers.

Food (2/10) We had some nigri, which was the only saving grace of the place. The cuts were decent and the rice was well proportioned and made properly. We both had ramen and gyoza as well. The gyoza was particularly rubbery and not really gyoza, more of a chinese dumpling. We had the miso ramen which was actually dirty bathwater with miso paste. The noodles were underdone, and the chashu was over cooked. The egg was just boiled. While it can technically be called 'ramen' it could not have been further away from the concept.

Overall: (2/10) I wouldn't go back if someone paid me to. Coming from Japan, it is a sad excuse for a restaurant. I should have known better upon seeing their menu which was all over the place and had no particular...

Ultimately, I came here because of it's proximity to my hotel but also because there was a big line at Mensho Tokyo just a couple blocks up.

With that disrespect out the way, I'm grateful that I "wound up" here.

Katana has all the elements you're looking for at a ramen spot. They've got sushi as well, of which I can't comment because I just didn't try anything else. I'm a ramen guy :)

Mellow setting. The staff is swift. Quick delivery - got my pot of gold in under 5 mins. That pot of gold...

ORDER THE "KATANA RAMEN." Like I said, this was my first time, I'm a ramen guy and the Katana is like the house special, which doesn't always mean the best. In this case, I can't imagine any other bowl touching this one. Here's what it comes with

2 pieces porkbelly 2 pieces fried chx 2 friendly sized dumplings egg, corn, noodles, wakame

...and I chose a spicy miso broth.

I like a lot of broth but I also like a lot of the fixin's - I'm a hungry guy. Katana absolutely nails the portion and they do so with a deep, wide bowl that holds a LOT of broth and PLENTY of fixin's — and kept my broth mysteriously hot through the 20 minutes I sat there eating. The fried chicken, first of, I've never thought of having fried chx in ramen. It's friggin delicious. And those dumplings — big, with pork filling and a thick, doughy wrap. Pork belly was, how pork belly always is in ramen at this point. No complaints. I actually held the egg and corn. I don't like my ramen with those - I rather more noodles and broth.

World, this might be my favorite bowl of ramen in recent memory....