Katsuya, Studio City

Continuing from yesterday's sushi post, we'll cross the Pacific from Kai in Manila to Katsuya in Studio City. I've been to the beautifully designed [by Philppe Starck] Katsuya's in Brentwood and Hollywood and also the sushi bar Izakaya, all under the Katsu-ya Group. Now to add another location on my list is Studio City. I went for lunch and let me tell you, don't let appearances fool you. The restaurant is located in the corner of a strip mall along Ventura Blvd, and it doesn't ooze off any sort of "happening" vibe whatsoever. However, the restaurant is busy busy busy. The smart ones made reservations and the rest, well... they had to wait. A packed restaurant can only mean 2 things: cheap food or good food. I can attest that the latter of the two is true - everything we ordered was great. I would recommend ordering off the Specials Menu; all the goof stuff is on it! My favorites are the yellowtail hamachi with jalapeno and the spicy tuna on crispy rice. Chef Katsuya Uechi is on a (sushi) roll!