One rarely associates Taiwanese cuisine with Michelin stars. Traditionally, it evokes images of bustling street food vendors and humble eateries. However, what Jonathan Yao has achieved at Kato is nothing short of revolutionary. After sharing a few reels on my Instagram, I was inundated with inquiries about my experience. My response was simple: this chef can cook! The ambiance at Kato embodies a cool Los Angeles zen. It combines warehouse vibes with stunning ash furniture and natural design elements, creating a space that is both simple and elegant. The staff are impeccable, attending to every detail with precision. From swiftly removing stray water droplets on the table to ensuring every guest has an exceptional experience, their service is unparalleled. Now, onto the food. The 10-plus dish 'experience' is a culinary odyssey, spanning 2.5 hours. Each course is a masterpiece, ingeniously reinterpreting traditional Taiwanese dishes. It's astonishing to see how high Taiwanese cuisine can be elevated. The standout dish for me was the wagyu, accompanied by beef tendon. It elicited a Ratatouille-esque effect, reminiscent of the finest beef noodle soup I've ever tasted, sans noodles and broth. It transported me back to the bowls my mother used to make. The lamb chop was also superb, perfectly cooked to perfection. If you have the time and budget, Kato is an LA hotspot that should not be missed.

Fantastic all around food and service. Can't say it really reminds me of my family's Taiwanese food. Feels like a French-Asian fusion to me. Bar tasting menu with the uni donut supplement clocked in at $275 and was perfect overall meal for me. I managed to finish solo in 1h15m and was happy they maintained my pace vs other fine dining where they synchronized plating across tables that started at the same time.

An exceptional experience starts before you even set foot in the restaurant, and this was exactly the case with Kato. I booked a spot for dinner on a recent brief visit to LA and left some requests on my reservation. Before I even had a chance to show up, I got a call from them confirming my preferences and assuring me that they would accommodate them as much as possible. The space that the team moved to from their original location is tasteful, honors the history of the neighborhood and LA overall, and reflects the philosophy of the team - aka, most attention to the food and the company, less focus on the surroundings or the background sounds. And with that, the space is light, airy, almost Nordic (reminded me of Geranium in Copenhagen), and the music is very befitting but not too loud so that you can actually have and enjoy a real conversation. The service was impeccable end to end and is comparable to what you'd experience in 2-3-star places. It looks effortless and smooth, and the team is in constant communication while keeping a watchful eye on the guests and immediately there before you even realize you need them. And - per usual - the devil is in the details, and here those details were taken care of at all times, and on top of that, the team is on the lookout for small ways to delight and surprise, which brings it up another notch: from the individual copy of the menu that was customized to reflect the exact choices for the evening to a goody bag with the most delicious brioche (which made my breakfast the morning after so much more enjoyable), to a surprise pour of wine to accompany the central dish on the menu. Now, the food is the opposite of boring or predictable. Every bite had the richness of flavor, and some of them did not shy away from a quite noticeable (but well-balanced) kick of spices. It was endearing to hear the stories and the inspirations behind each of the bites. It's futile to describe them, it's just best to go experience them. Highly recommended, and worth repeats.

Came here for the bar menu which is cheaper than the regular meal by $100. Added the wagyu supplement. Service was good at the bar. The stools were a bit high to get up as a short person. Added some drinks which were both pretty good. 1. Shiso mule 2. Mandarin Garibaldi 1. Suancai yu: very flavorful but maybe slightly too salty 2. Langcai: pretty good. I liked the bamboo more than the pig ears 3. Youtiao; I didn't like this in the past but it was pretty good. The ham was not too salty, bread was crispy and full of uni 4. Yuzi jiang: good as usual 5. Zheng yu: flavor reminds me of the steamed fish that you can get at Chinese restaurant but a bit too salty 6. Hongshao not: the wagyu was very tender. I liked the crispy piece on top 7. Boba: if you like salted caramel, you'll love this. Very good. 8. Liusha bao: salted egg yolk. It's slight salty. Reminded me of the boba dessert. Overall a good meal especially for the price. Might buy get the Wagyu next time. Might come back for the regular dinner to try some new dishes.

Finally got the chance to dine here and I was quite impressed with the food, ambiance and service. We took an Uber to avoid parking but there was a parking structure nearby. We arrived a little bit earlier than the reservation but they let us sit at the bar and order some drinks. The first drink we had was the Milk Punch and it was delicious but quite dangerous since we both couldn't taste any alcohol and drank it really fast. We added the wagyu option and the whole set menu was quite flavorful. It was a wonderful experience and we were both quite full. We even had left overs since we didn't want to force ourselves. The service was wonderful and the staff would explain each dish when it was served. It's not too loud either so it was easy to have a conversation while enjoying a nice meal. Unfortunately, some dishes were a bit too salty for both of our palettes but it was still a great experience. I would recommend that you try Kato at least once. I believe the menu changes too since we did not get to try their boba dessert. (Unfortunately, I did not take a lot of photos since I wanted to just enjoy the night.)

We went for a 7:30 reservation on a Tuesday, and I feel like it was overall a very solid omakase-style tasting menu experience. The Taiwanese inspired courses were delicious, unique, and portioned perfectly. I especially enjoyed the textures of some of the dishes. I think the aspect that makes Kato special is that the dishes are elevated but at the same time very comfortable...kind of hard to describe. The whole experience lasted well over 3 hours and we never felt rushed at all. The one complaint I have is with the vintage wine flight...the wine pairings were fine but I feel like the pours were especially stingy. We would probably not opt for it again and would probably rather just order a selection of glasses ourselves. The cocktails on the other hand were amazing. We tried the Alaska, Highball, and Lemon Drop and they were all spectacular. Overall a very solid experience...a little pricey, but I don't have any regrets.

Located in DTLA Row, parking is easy access. Upon arriving, large panel windows reveal an elegant space and open kitchen. Free parking for first two hours and the restaurant also validate parking. We arrived at 8:30, just in time of our reservation. We got seated immediately and enjoyed the corner seating. We added the Hongshao Niu (braised Wagyu Beef) to our tasting menu. Each dish came out amazing. The presentation and plate choice was beautiful. Taste was an elevated version of nostalgia and home. My surprise was the bread. It was so delicious, I'm still thinking about it. We got a glimpse of the curator of the menu, Chef Yao. Being a fan of gorgeous good food, I wanted the chance to either meet the chef/ ask for a signature on the menu as momento. When I realize the chef was no longer at the pass, I had asked the server if he was still around. Unfortunately, she had came back and told me he had left. Service was very slow, perhaps it is their service style, we finished our meal at 11:30 (three hours long). Would prefer the timing for the next dish to be timed more closely.

My wallet hurts but my stomach is full and I am happy. Came by for a birthday and had the larger preset tasting menu. Every dish was so well balanced and hit a different note. I'm so used to traditional omakases so this was a fresh take. The ambience was clean modern, dark and ambient. The server took us to the back to look at the art as well close up which was fun. Service was great and server was easy to talk to. Food: 9.6/10 Service: 9.6/10 Ambience: 9.6/10

I had heard somewhat mixed things about Kato, from some people saying it's some of the best food in LA and others saying it was all right. Though I came here with a friend who is very good friends with the staff and that may have lead to a better experience than normal, I can whole heartily say I was really impressed with my experience here. Even ignoring the affordable price point, the food at Kato is excellent. I would go as far as to say it's one of the best dining experiences LA currently has to offer. Before going into the dining experience, the one thing that COMPLETELY threw me off was the cocktail program at Kato. I had absolutely no idea the bar program was ran by someone who won the michelin guides exceptional cocktail award for 2023. As someone who travels the world for bars along with food, with a love emphasis on classic cocktails, Kato EASILY is the best bar program in all of LA. Yes, it's better than Death & Co. Yes, it's better than Thunderbird. You can fight me on it. The cocktails are pricey but they are made with high end spirits and the cocktail program here alone is worth the visit. Take it from someone who has been to Satans Whiskers in London, Bees Knees in Kyoto, Bar Nouveau in Paris etc. This cocktail program is top notch. Now for the food, it's great especially for the price. Kato offers an incredible tasting menu at an extremely affordable price point in LA. There were some dishes that were amazing, and a couple that were good; not a single dish missed though where I was disappointed. Service was incredible too, exactly what you expect from a 1*. Overall, I would certainly come back to Kato. It's a lot better than a lot of restaurants in LA. I personally enjoyed the food here way more than a lot of other places like n/naka. I would even go as far as saying it's second to only Hayato, but my opinion again might be a little bias with the higher level of service we got with my friend. Either way, I couldn't recommend this place enough and if you have any hesitation on going, just go.