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A few years ago, Japanese restaurants were a relative luxury in Jakarta. These days, the city has more than its fair share of sushi joints and ramen shops located almost everywhere, so much so that it’s getting harder to tell one apart from another.

Some flaunt lavish decorations without quality food to back it up, while others take on more modest interiors with outstanding offerings.

Katsura Restaurant, on the other hand, is a welcome mix of both. Willy Anthony, marketing and public relations manager at the restaurant on the fourth floor of Plaza Senayan, was kind enough to give a tour.

Aside from its main dining hall, Katsura also has a number of private rooms with Japanese-style decor, while others have more modern interiors. For dinner with friends, my personal choice would be one of the all-white rooms.

Anthony led me to a private room with the look of a well-appointed meeting room save for the serene view of the restaurant’s mini garden.

Anthony explained that Katsura’s initially catered to local and Japanese businessmen looking for a comfortable place to conduct meetings over a meal. Other mall visitors would occasionally make their way inside, but the lavish atmosphere and the pricey menu meant that the restaurant only attracted limited clientele.

Recently, however, Willy said that Katsura had decided to offer more affordable set dishes that cost less than Rp 100,000 ($11), a reasonable price for office workers in the Sudirman area.

The lower price is not a reflection of the food, though. My first order was an unagi (freshwater eel) set called yakizakana go zen ynagi kabayaki , which came with various side dishes, including miso soup and Japanese pickles.

The grilled unagi melt, its delicate flavor accentuated with a thin drizzle of sauce, was succulent except for a few tiny bones. The miso, which was clear with just a hint of salt and onion, went down like water. The pickle dish provided an interesting contrast in flavor and texture by combining crunchy radishes and fleshy tomatoes in a vinegar dressing faintly infused with the salty aroma of seaweed.

I ordered an additional side dish of cawan mushi, egg custard mixed with various Japanese condiments, including soy sauce and mirin (sweet rice wine). Slices of shitake mushrooms and boiled shrimp were folded into the creamy custard, adding a subtle richness to the flavor.

I also had what Anthony said was the most popular item on the menu — beef teppanyaki prepared on a flat metal grill table side by our waitress.

The sheer smell of seared beef was mouth-watering. The tender meat had a robust taste by itself, and it by far the best teppanyaki I’ve ever had.

Not content with the unagi and teppanyaki, I decided to sample Katsura’s power lunch for my final course. And so my meal for the day was rounded off with 200 grams of choice US beef with caramelized roasted vegetables.

I told Anthony that my only reservation about the restaurant was the mini garden, which, upon closer inspection, was slightly unsanitary.

In response, Anthony assured me that, “[Katsura] highly values cleanliness as well as hygiene. We conduct weekly pest control on top of our twice-daily cleaning routine before the restaurant opens and after it closes.”

All in all, when it comes to Japanese ambience and culinary experience, Katsura has everything in spades.

Katsura Plaza Senayan Jl Asia-Afrika No.8, Gelora Bung Karno, Central Jakarta Tel: 021 5772 5226 www.katsura-restaurant.com