Little Kiki Katsu
Stumbled upon this new cat-themed Japanese restaurant & was immediately drawn to it, so of course I had to check it out ASAP! It’s seriously still so bewildering to me how much I love cats now.. never in a million years would I have ever thought I’d own a cat & become a cat person, but I absolutely get why people are so obsessed with cats now. They’re so smart, clean, loyal, silly, random, & just have so much love to give once you find the right one for you. I’ve never felt so much love from a little fur baby before, but Sashimi really makes me feel incredibly important, & like I’m her mama / best friend every single day. Sometimes, I’m like damn girl, why you following me all day?! Haha, but honestly, I really don’t know what I’d do without her at this point & she just makes my life feel so special.
Anywho, let’s get back to discussing the restaurant! During our visit, we got the Assorted Pickled Vegetables, the Miso Eggplant Appetizer, the Jidori Chicken Katsu, the A5 Wagyu Gyu-Katsu, & the Mango Mochi Ice Cream. The Assorted Pickled Vegetables is super worth it since they give you a lot of different types of veggies like celery, radish, & cauliflower. Also, although not a veggie, they even give you pickled cantaloupe which is quite unique. The miso eggplant is absolutely a must get as well & they char it to perfection! The flavor was unreal.
The Jidori Chicken was good too, but was definitely not the show stopper of the bunch & didn’t have any standout qualities. The A5 Wagyu, however, totally impressed us & really reminded us of being back in Japan. It was so tender & juicy & the panko crust was so light & crispy. It was super fun to sear it on the little grill too like in Japan! We were definitely sad when we finished all of it & tbh, we would have preferred getting two of those instead of the Jidori chicken.
Overall, the restaurant is cute, small, & intimate. The food is good, but it’s certainly pricey for the portions. I get it though.. it’s a business after all that needs to profit, but this place unfortunately requires you to pay a pretty penny. However, I love Japanese restaurants so much & spending my hard earned money on them is always worth it to me. For many years, I’ve been on the hunt to go to all the Japanese restaurants I could find in San Diego, so I really enjoy seeing completely new ones pop up!
Eating out at a restaurant is personally my version of “traveling” while at home & it’s one of my favorite experiences. I know I can cook it at home & it can get pricey, but from time to time, I just really enjoy the service experience, the thought they put into decorating their restaurant, & I especially appreciate the time & craft they put into their menus to make the customer experience special. It’s truly an art form & there’s so much thought put into running a restaurant that we often overlook!
Also, recently, I learned that the iconic maneki-neko is actually a cultural symbol believed to bring wealth & good luck to businesses & homes.. so hopefully, Little Kiki Katsu & its whole cat theme will continue to bring in more business & success for years to come :)
