At a brunch last year, a number of attendees highly recommended that we check out Katsuno, a Japanese restaurant in Forest Hills, Queens. When looking up the Katsuno menu and reviews after this initial recommendation, I was pleasantly surprised to find vegetarian options at the restaurant (the initial recommendation we received focused on the meat and fish dishes).
Although the staff wasn't fully prepared for my vegetarian questions/requests when we visited Katsuno in December, they were very friendly and I was able to cobble together a strong meal from many parts of the menu.
We started with the cucumber moroni miso, a cucumber slice dish with an unrefined miso (and maybe rice?) topping that was sweet/salty/rich and added a lot of flavor. I generally liked the dish, but wasn't as wowed by it as others at our table because I think the texture of the topping was a little too gummy and sticky for my liking.
We also ordered the agedashi tofu, which after some back-and-forths with the waitress, the kitchen was able to make without bonito/fish products. The tofu was very well-prepared and nicely salty.
My two "main courses" were cobbled together from two smaller dishes on the menu - the vegetable tempura and an avocado-cucumber roll. Both were good, but fairly simple dishes, so I don't think showcased what the Katsuno kitchen could do.
We concluded our meal with the green tea tiramisu, which my husband loved but I thought was slightly chalky and not fully put together (maybe it was frozen or refrigerated before serving?). I imagine when we go back to Katsuno again, we'll probably try it again though because despite my criticisms, it was still pretty interesting.
103-01 Metropolitan Avenue
Forest Hills, Queens
15-minute walk or short cab from the E/F/M/R subway trains at Forest Hills-71st Avenue or the Forest Hills LIRR stop
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