Katsuno

The tiniest of signs mark this restaurant front on Metropolitan Avenue in Forest Hills.  If you weren’t looking for it – and sometimes, even if you are – you might walk right past it. 

Quiet and unassuming, we wandered in one hot and muggy day (ok, that’s a half-truth; we did wander in, but we were also looking for the place).

The menu makes brief reference to its sister restaurant, Restaurant Seo, on the front of the menu… or that’s what I think the above is.  In any case, having discovered this place thanks to Serious Eats’ write-up, I knew exactly what I wanted to order. 

We started off with the salmon & uni salad, whose menu description makes sure to mention the inclusion of uni in the salad.  Really bright and fresh, we enjoyed this salad greatly – lots of flavor going on, and super yummy salmon.  The uni was good in its little edible endive scoop, but even better eaten with a bit of everything else on the plate.  My dining companion, not a fan of uni, ate one scoop and let me have the rest.  Love.  (The price has gone up, of course, since that review was posted; I believe this was $15 or 20?  I know that’s a huge difference, sorry!) 

Because I’m bossy and like to pick everyone’s dishes, if someone suggests something I haven’t mentioned, I immediately agree to it.  Kara age, or Japanese-style fried chicken, moist, juicy, boneless bits of chicken that had a distinct soy flavor to them, with a lovely crunchy coating.  This dish arrived piping hot, but one or two of the pieces had raw flour on the outside, or it tasted like that.  Yum! 

The real reason I’d wanted to take the walk over here was this: the inaniwa noodles, which were not on the menu and had to be requested.  I’m not really an ‘off menu’ kind of girl, but our server – who appeared to be the owner, I believe – was happy when I asked about them. 

Served in a cold broth, these noodles were perfect and amazing on this hot day.  The chew to each bite, to each strand, even, was incredible.  Crafted lovingly and taking on the flavor of the broth, they were just… in a word… wonderful.  I happily nommed through the bowl, although next time, I would remove more of the ume than I did this time (which is to say, I didn’t remove any), since I still don’t appreciate ume as much as I could.  Everything else, though: perfection in my bowl.  (The price on this had gone up a little bit as well.) 

With no prompting on my part, my dining companion chose the duck soba. 

I did try a bite, and found the soba cooked perfectly, and the duck very tender.  I appreciated that it wasn’t cooked fully – love medium-rare duck! (and most things) – I would definitely order this for myself at some point in the very near future… or maybe after I’ve explored the entire menu! 

Yvo says: Although it isn’t quite right outside the train station, it’s not a bad walk from the express stop in Forest Hills.  I totally recommend anyone who is so inclined to go visit – I need to go back and see if I can catch them when they have monkfish liver, mmm!  Our server – who I’m nearly positive was also the owner – was extremely pleasant and attentive, and even greeted someone who entered warmly, like an old friend, which makes me want to go so much she recognizes me, too! (Funny enough, after they greeted each other, the person who’d entered said my name – it turned out to be someone with whom I’d attended high school!)  Prices were reasonable for what we ordered. 
highly recommended