Katsu's

Taking a break from studying for finals next week, we headed out for dinner with some friends last night to Katsu’s Restaurant and Bar here in Zushi. Arriving there, we were told there were no English menus and without pictures or plastic food to point at, we were left to the mercy of the one waitress with a good grasp of the English language. (Later, this waitress even went on to express her wonder and question how so many gaijin had even heard about this place that was off the beaten path for the usual foreign explorer. She was thrilled to hear that our Japanese realtor had pimped them out.)

“On our menu…,” she started to run down the list, “we have fish. We have risotto. We have pizza. We have pasta.”

With that glowing recommendation, we ordered the fish, the risotto, the pizza and the pasta.

Any other specifics we left to the choice of the waitress and her favorites.

The fish turned out to be a red snapper sashimi salad. The pizza was the traditional Japanese pizza with sauce and mozzarella on crust that resembles a wafer. The risotto was a rich and creamy gorgonzola. The pasta was a linguini with red clam sauce. And a second fish dish came to our table, grilled to perfection with Enoki mushrooms and a tasty glaze adding to the fresh flavor. All of which were portioned for the four of us to share and all were truly excellent.

Topped with several Asahi beers, we finished our meal and braced ourselves. You see… ordering like this means you have no idea what the final bill will be. At 18000 Yen (about $80 a couple), this was a pricey meal. Totally worth it, but not a place we will be eating at so casually in the future.