Katsuya Brentwood Awards

Katsuya Brentwood Restaurant Review:

About the restaurant: After making a name for himself with his Katsu-ya restaurants in Studio City and Encino, master sushi chef Katsuya Uechi collaborated to create Katsuya Brentwood by sbe. There are now several branches including Hollywood, Dubai and South Beach. The Brentwood location was the first to combine Uechi's inventive modern Japanese cuisine with a sultry setting created by designer Philippe Starck. The restaurant’s design is dominated by huge backlit images of a geisha's face --- a pair of sly eyes taking in the scene or glossy red lips pouting from above. Guests sit on white leather couches or at seductively illuminated sushi and robata bars. The main dining area can get noisy, so request the side room if you'd like a little more privacy. It's a smaller space but it has its own bar.

strong>About the food & drinks: Specialties include spicy tuna atop crispy rice, yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño, albacore with crispy onions, and rock shrimp tossed in a creamy, spicy sauce. Tasty morsels --- everything from maitake mushrooms to Wagyu beef and Jidori chicken breast --- are grilled behind the robata bar. At dinner, guests also have the choice of selecting a prix-fixe menu or omakase (chef's choice). For dessert, indulge in the "chocolate lover" cake or the "liquid nitrogen snowball cheesecake." Cocktails are sweet, sexy and exotic, like the entire Katsuya scene. A variety of saké and shochu options are also available.