Cafe Kati

It’s CLOSED, chef-​owner Kirk Webber left the business due to illness. A rotisserie will take over this cute restaurant.
I’d describe the cuisine as Asian fusion in steroids. I mean there was nothing small or demure about the entrée portions. No chance of leaving hungry here. Every main course I’ve tried was overloaded with many different things. Even the signature sushi roll was oversize.
And I remember dining here when chef Jennifer Carroll (top chef contestant) was in the kitchen, it was her quirky smile that stuck in my head.

I really enjoyed our dinner at Café Kati.
The food was very well executed (my hangar steak was perfectly rare with a great sear on the outside) and equally well presented. The diversity of flavors went well beyond your typical Asian-​Fusion. The wine list had some great California wines, including some smaller producers that you wouldn’t typically see on a two page list. The staff was very friendly and attentive.
The food was slightly slow, though not so much that it bothered me. Also, the restaurant was a bit chilly when we were there.

Great little spot tucked away on Sutter street serving up excellent Asian-​Fusion.
We had a late dinner reservation and despite being the final reservation of the night we were greeted warmly and received great service throughout our entire meal.
The dragon roll appetizer (full and half orders available) looked great and came filled with salmon. They have plenty of vegetarian/​vegan options as well as seafood and meat entrees. I ordered the seasonal vegetable plate which was large and loaded with a roasted acorn squash center piece. Curry soup, asparagus, roasted brussel sprouts, zucchini, and salad rounded our my enormously delicious dinner. Wish I had saved room for dessert.
We had the Malbec which was not good, and I would probably go for a cab or pinot noir the next time around.
Great food and service.

The cajun fried hen was just so so — how can you possibly mess up FRIED food anyway? But it took at least 30 minutes to come out. I wish they’d have warned us!
The caesar salad dressing, however, was fantastic. One of the best.

Fantastic place for dinner when you’re looking for an intimate-but-don’t-be-afraid-to-be-lively place with unique menu items. The crab rangoons were perfect without having an overflow of cream cheese squirting out of it at first nibble. While the other more fusion dishes were great in their fusion-​ness, especially the scallops dish, I found it interesting that my goat cheese-​stuffed meatballs with fettuccine and a tomato-​based sauce were ethereally splendid; some of the best meatballs I’ve ever had. But I do have a weakness for melted goat cheese…
Service was excellent, attentive but not overly so, with great recommendations. Overall just good people skills, especially when she saw I was internally conflicted, and deciphered that I just needed someone to decide for me. Bravo.

Took my fiancée to Café Kati for Valentine’s Day and what a mistake that was… I had been there in years passed and *thought* I had remembered a great meal, but here in part was our experience: Friendly welcoming and we were walked to a table in the back room — to find the light bulb over our table was burnt out. We ordered the peanut crusted prawns to start. Boring and bland with odd tasting sprouts. The the waiter didn’t give us new utensils, just tossed our used knives and chopsticks slopply on the table. Poor form, old chap. My fiancée ordered the scallop risotto, «so so» and overpriced at around $ 24. My pasta and meatball with goat cheese dish was fine, but again, pricey for a decent, but not «wow» plate. We were out of there in 40 minutes with a bill over $ 110 for a simple appetizer, two mains and one bottle of wine.
Bottomline? Overpriced and average food. Maybe they’re just giving up with their upcoming closure. No loss in my book.

Once again another amazing meal at Café Kati :) this time for Valentines Day!
They aren’t usually open on Mondays, so it was nice of them to open up shop for Valentines Day.
The boyfriend and I ordered the chipotle braised pork sliders as an appetizer. They were perfect and I love that they added avocado. For dinner, we ordered three entrees — raviolis with ricotta & herbs, the miso glazed black bass, and the hangar steak with potatoes & veggies. The miso glazed black bass and the hangar steak were definitely my favorite dishes out of the three and were just as delicious as I remembered. The raviolis were good but I was expecting a little more. Plus, since we ordered three entrees instead of two, the raviolis were a bit of an overkill.
Unfortunately, we had to skip out on dessert because we were so full but we had an amazing dinner! The service, the date-​night ambiance and the food, of course, definitely keep you coming back.

Café Kati is closing in a couple months and I wanted to go back again for old times sake. Hadn’t been here in a couple of years but nothing has changed, was still wowed by their dishes.
First off, I have to give massive kudos to «Shanny» (so sorry if I spelled your name wrong) our waitress and I think the waitress for the entire restaurant. This woman was amazing. When we showed up, there were only a few people but it quickly filled up and she handled everyone beautifully! Service was a bit slow but considering how many tables she was working and her wonderful attitude, you didn’t mind and could only be impressed. Thank you «Shanny,» if you read this!
Things to skip… the tower of Caeser and their Dragon Roll. Yes, I’m aware it’s their signature dish and it’s good but it doesn’t really fair well with the rest of the menu layout. The Tower is your basic Caeser in art form. I personally think it sucks to eat because you have to mess it all up, the novelty of it wears off quickly.
The entrée dishes are creative and every time I go I always want to know how they did something in particular. The chef does a great mix of texture, flavors and techniques that I haven’t seen. No easy task because he layers his ingredients and that can easily go overboard if you add one too many. Case in point, I had the «Forbidden Rice crusted Tilapia» dish, the uniqueness of this dish is that the rice was crusted on the Tilapia, never seen this and not sure how he did it but it was fantastic and the Tilapia was perfectly cooked. This was layered on top of a mix of green beans, bok choy and cabbage salad. A nice complement to the nuttiness of the rice but didn’t overpower the fish.
My date had the braised pork with a corn cake and pico de galla… equally fantastic and the pork wasn’t overcooked or mushy in it’s sauce which often happens.
Long review and I’ve probably already lost you but I love chefs that are adventurous and Kirk Webber is no exception.

My friend and I went to Café Kati on Friday evening because a guest at my hotel (I’m a Concierge) had asked for it for a Valentines dinner. I knew that if this was a place that they «always» go back to everytime that they are in SF, then it must be worth checking out… and I was NOT disappointed! What a cute place. Perfect for a casual «Date night» or just for a «catching up with friends» night.
The restaurant is small, only about 10 tables’s, in fact it reminded me of some of some of the NYC restaurants that I used to go to.
The menu is very «East meets West». They start you off with some delicious biscuits with honey butter that would make any Southerner very happy.
We had the Spicy Spanish Fries which were very much like «patatas bravas», one of their Signature rolls, the Towering Ceasar Salad, and the Meatballs stuffed with goat cheese, and topped off by the traditional sundae with Caramalized banana’s. YUMM!
Good portions and everything was delicious. What a nice surprise for a «impromtu» dinner.
I will definitely be back!

Café Kati is hovering between 3 and 4 stars — I’m rounding down because of the prices, although it’s been a long time since I lived out here so my expectations may be off.
Most of our dishes were very good, with only the Towering Caesar Salad as a disappointment. Oddly enough, it’s the one adventurous dish because of its presentation. Others were fairly typical fare for an Asian fusion restaurant.
I especially liked the table biscuits and the hardworking staff.
Café Kati was slow to fill up on a recent Saturday night. Given its off-​Divisadero location, I would think this place will struggle. So do Café Kati a favor and give it a try. You should come away satisfied, even if you don’t necessarily go back.

So friend and I went here for a late dinner the other night.
The place gets an A+ for romantic setting, especially the window seats.
They also get an A+ for serving up Sean Minor 2008 Carneros Pinot. Memorably delicious grapes that I had never tried before but look forward to trying again.
Another A+ for the friendly and VERY efficient service and one more for the superbly and decadently delicious flourless chocolate orbit cake with chocolate sauce and vanilla bean ice cream. My only recommendation on this dessert is to lose all the fruit decorations on the plate. Fruit can’t compete with chocolate and ice cream, so why waste it as a plate decoration?
Now on to the food:
We split all of the following:
1– Five spice scented fried calamari with salt & pepper served with ginger aioli. Now I’m not a fan of ginger but this aioli struck a perfect balance for me. It was prepared nicely and the flavors merged well with the wine.
2– Towering Caesar salad with Reggiano and Manchego. This one was a bit disappointing because a Caesar should ALWAYS have crispy croutons. Additionally, it leaned a bit too heavily towards anchovy for me (should only be a hint) and why have two world famous cheeses competing against each other on the same plate?
Lose the Manchego and just shave more Reggiano instead. The long ass cucumber can stay because without it, you have no tower and it fits in nicely with the crispy romaine and dressing.
3– Kati’s Signature Dragon Roll. As far as we were concerned, this one TOTALLY disappointed. I suggest losing it from the menu and leave that dish to a sushi expert instead.
4– Peanut Crusted Prawns. This was excellent BUT, what’s up with the 3 lonely shrimp? I mean really?!? This is supposed to be a main course (I think) and not an appetizer, so there should have been 6 peanut crusted critters on my plate. Maybe offer a half/​whole order option like they do with the Dragon Roll. The accompaniment was good but could have used a little less dressing. The flavors on this dish brought back great culinary memories of Thailand. Kap Kun Krap Baby!
Overall, our experience was a good one and we had a blast. Perhaps next time we will just stick to liquid grapes, calamari and definitely dessert.
I almost forgot to mention (not sure how I could almost forget but oh well). They brought us a little basket with some home made biscuits, accompanied by butter and honey. These were awesome and started off the evening with lots of fun pics.

Showed up at 6pm on a Saturday night. I wouldn’t go any later as the place gets busy, and service declines with the rising number of people. I don’t mean that you will get bad service, but the attention is thinned out. You will just be waiting.
It gets a little loud, and it’s an intimate, cozy setting.
The dragon rolls were phenomenal. I had the black cod and meatballs. The meatballs were stuffed with goat cheese. I didn’t know you could do that! The tomato sauce that accompanied the meatballs was run of the mill. Too bad. The meatballs were excellent.
The lemon tart I had was mediocre.
The pommegranate sangria was dangerous good. Why do I say dangerous? Because I have the Asian flush, and too much wine gives me a nasty headache. I had to stop myself from guzzling lots of this stuff down.
The meal started off on a great note, but as the evening wore on, it didn’t end that way. So, instead of a great boom to make the final sound, it was more like a whimper, a simple thud.
I will definitely be back, though. Who knows, maybe with time, I will bump it up to 5 stars.

Usually fushion asian is not my first choice of cuisine, mainly because i m chinese and feel that asian food should not be made any other way. yes, stubborn, i know… but since this meal was free, i came for a free meal.
i came right at 5:30p to make sure the tables are set for the work meeting. kirk, the cook and owner, was very friendly. he gave us some white wine to relax before the rest of the people came. the dining area have a front and back part. the back part is great for private parties up to 18 – 20 ppl.
here’s what we ordered for the night:
bread — the bread was right out of the oven and it was nice, hot, and moist. the bread is a little bit sweet and it comes with butter/​honey for you to spread on the bread. definitely something different and it stands out.
peanut crusted prawns, green papaya, mint & thai basil salad,
nam pla prik & sweet chili sauce — kinda like ur regular thai papaya salad at king of thai but the portion is not the same. the peanut crust prawns were really tasty. the peanuts were nice and crispy and the prawn was not overcooked/​fried at all. nice combo between the prawn and the papaya salad.
chipotle braised pork sliders — when i hear sliders, i think of mini burgers, but the bread part is bruchetta bread instead of the burger bread. the bruchetta bread was toasted, which made a crunchy sound when you bite into it. the pork was flavorful, a bit salty but the bread balanced it back out. the avocado were big slices — i like avocado so that’s a plus also.
miso glazed black bass in a dashi broth, udon noodles, shanghai bok choy, green onions, vegetable tempura & tagarashi — this was an interesting dish, i guess i didn’t read the udon part so when it came, i was a little surprised. the miso glazed black bass was very good — very smooth and flaky. that’s the best part about the black bass — flaky, smooth, and oily. (i don’t like fish that is overcooked/​dry). i tried the udon and it was ok, not mushy (overcooked) or hard (undercooked). they definitely put a lot of time into making this dish perfect.
grilled hanger steak in sesame soy marinade, spicy spanish fries,
green beans, yams, zucchini & sauteed spinach & sesame soy sauce — the hanger steak was marinated just right (maybe a little salty) but when you eat it with the beans/​vege, it balances out perfectly. the steak was cooked just right also (medium rare). the spanish fries was good also, didn’t know what it was but once i tried it, i liked it!
flourless chocolate orbit cake, chocolate sauce, vanilla bean ice cream — by dessert time, i was stuffed. i gave the chocolate cake a try and it was really rich. i’ve had better chocolate cake but this isn’t bad.
overall, this is a very cute and nice place to come when you’re in the neighborhood. there’s also the ceasar salad that i wanted to try, so maybe next time!

I have never been somewhere so rude in my entire dinning life! In particular, the owner led the way and was extremely unaccommodating.
We went their for my sisters graduation and we made the reservation over a month in advance. We arrived on time and our table was not ready as usual in SF. So we waited for about 20mins and still no table.
After an hour we confronted the owner and he started to yell and get annoyed. He told us it is not his fault the party ahead of us was still at their table and had not finished. Not only was he rude about it but he yelled and continued to yell in front of other patrons. Once witnessing this two other parties left the restaurant based on his behavior.
Unfortunately, he put a damper on a special night and it’s sad the owner of any Establishment would act like this. I guess that is why this business is only 3 stars on Unilocal… I should have listened to the other Unilocalers and never tried this place…

Golly, they still have that Towering Caesar Salad (now for $ 8.95, see photo). I haven’t been back to Café Kati since they first opened back in 1990. 1990? I think I was off fusion for quite a while, but I thought it would be an appropriate old-​school place to dine after the J-​Pop fluorescence of the newly opened New People. Unilocal had one of their mondo-​generous parties there, and I received one of their dazzling orange-​trimmed Unilocal 2525 lunch boxes. I was carrying it into the restaurant and laying it on the table, so the waitress could think…“Oh…a special-​needs customer”.
But back to that Towering Caesar Salad… that was what I remembered about this place. They actually prop up all these romaine lettuce spears, wrap them up with a thin slice of zucchini and poke a long skewer through it. I think they should light it with a torch and call it the Towering Inferno Caesar Salad. Then they should carve a little Richard Simmons out of a radish and show him being carried out by a pile of green olives shaped to look like Steve McQueen. Yeah, I do. Anyway, it’s quite a sight to see it all unravel, though I still think the miso-​based dressing is slathered on a little too much for my taste.
The rest of the meal that me and my friend Maggie had was better. First of all, we got the complimentary Buttermilk Biscuits, really tasty in a constantly-​falling-​apart kind of way (see photo). A great start. Besides the Towering Non-​Inferno, we also went for the $ 10.95 half-​order of Kati’s Signature Dragon Roll, about four big pieces filled with prawns, avocado, cucumber, smoked salmon and a wasabi vinaigrette (see photo). It’s really just a bigger version of a dragon roll you can get at any sushi bar only a lot heartier with a mild kick from the wasabi.
For the entrée, Maggie smartly ordered another appetizer, the $ 13.95 Peanut-​Crusted Prawns with a Green Papaya, Mint and Thai Basil Salad and a Sweet Chile Sauce (see photo). Crunchy but in a good way. I went the piggier route, the $ 16.95 Cajun-​Spiced Fried Cornish Hen on a mound of Smashed Potatoes and a side of Sauteed Spinach (see photo). Delicious, Asia-​fied version of down-​home comfort food with a nice panko crust to remind you that you’re still on the edge of J-​Town.
So we kept seeing big ramekins of chocolate soufflé passing by us, but it was part of the Early-​Bird Special we missed, dammit. We hardly suffered since we got the $ 8.95 Flourless Chocolate Orbit Cake, which was ladled with Chocolate Sauce and accompanied by a scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (see photo). It was really a dark chocolate lava cake, nothing that original but still really good. The waitress appears to be a veteran of the place, very helpful and savvy about the menu. She managed to thwart our disappointment over not getting the soufflé with the lava cake option in a millisecond. Good job. But now Richard Simmons is looking to get rescued by the Paul Newman carrot stick.
FOOD — 4 stars… wavers a bit, but the hits do make it into the stands
AMBIANCE — 3.5 stars… compact with amply fed bellies grazing the back of your chair as they go to and fro from the hidden restrooms
SERVICE — 4 stars… veteran waitress has seen it all but doesn’t let it get to her
TOTAL — 4 stars… served fusion before fusion got trendy and looks to be serving fusion now that it’s so five-​years-​ago

I was not too impressed by this place. It really didn’t leave a lasting impression on me at all. Went here on a Thursday night with a group total of 6 people.
We ordered: Mango Spring Rolls, Seasonal Vegetable Cous Cous, Signature Dragon Roll, and Curry-​Coconut Soup.
The Mango Spring Rolls were very impressive. The flavors and ingredients complemented one another very well to create a sweet yet salty and fresh taste.
The Seasonal Vegetable Cous Cous did not make a big impression on me. It was too much action in one plate. The mixture of the vegetables look so sloppy and I wasn’t impressed by the taste of the dish.
The Signature Dragon Roll –I don’t remember this dish very much but I don’t think it was bad.
The Curry-​Coconut Soup was a favorite amongst the entire group. I thought it was very unique but it is not something that I would order again.
The restaurant itself was very cute and the décor was very simple and «San Francisco”-ish. There was music playing (Jack Johnson) in the background that set off a cool, calm, and relaxing vibe.
Parking is on the street and could be a bit difficult depending on the night and if there is a concert at the Fillmore because the restaurant is a few blocks away from the venue.

I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy this tiny Asian fusion restaurant a few blocks off of Japantown. The place is small, maybe ten tables, and has a homestyle feel with informal and friendly staff. The waitress/​host was honest and helpful in making our choices — my mother also noted that the menu length is ideal with enough compelling choices and not overwhelming.
One highlight — as we pored over the menu, they brought hunks of jalapeño corn bread with honey butter — I think that was enough for plus-​one star. A subtle ‘kick’ from the jalapeño, very good.
We started with a ceviche taco and mango spring rolls for appetizers, both delicious. The mango spring rolls were not too sweet and flavor and texture quite nice without any protein.
My brother had a delicious steak, that we think is Korean style, with tenderness of kalbi but more refined flavor. My mother had the scallops, which were seared just right with the juiciness of the meat and grill flavor.
I had a vegetable dish with various greens and root veggies surrounding a Malaysian yellow curry dish held inside a bowl made from a large kabocha (Japanese sweet pumpkin). Absolutely delicious, again with good spicy ‘kick’. The kabocha was fantastic.
Great service, reasonably priced, and large dishes, definitely coming back!

On a Friday night the BF and I were going to see Star Trek at Sundance and needed a place to have dinner before, his friend was also joining us and he likes simple food… great. But being tired of Dosa and not wanting sushi I chose this place.
I made a reservation and we showed up, they were half full, we were seated and began to look over the menu. One thing that really bugged me was they had entrees from $ 14 – 30 which is quite annoying because you tend to think is this steak really going to be worth it or can I be OK with the fish? I mean if all the entrees are close in price it’s easy but this is not a good way to build a menu. We ended up ordering wine and the shrimp appetizer and then got the ravioli, chicken and sole for the entrees.
It took 40 minutes for the food to come out, we began to get antsy, hungry and a little concerned that we would have to scarf down the food and go to the movie. The waitress did come out once and say sorry and it would be out soon, but she didn’t really seem sincere about it and it still took 10 more minutes and by this time it was just us and another table. I can only imagine this place in peak times with dates.
The food was good, but not great and not worth the wait or the price. I think in some cases it looked better than it tasted and the presentations was nice. The chicken was deep fried, I had two large ravioli, and while they were good, if I didn’t eat the bread and appetizer I would have been hungry and I like small portions, I think most places give you way too much food.
Needless to say, we’re not coming back and we left a 10% tip which is also very rare for us. This place was cute and quaint but missed the mark with service and food.

I have not eaten here yet — this rating is for being called by Chef Kirk Webber himself a few hours before our reservations to let us know they could not offer dinner service due to a building construction accident that cut off all power in the building. I appreciated the call, as our reservations were for the beauteous birthday babe, Belle N., and we were able to change plans and let everyone know about the changes with plenty of notice.
Despite the recent spate of reviews, I am still looking forward to trying out Café Kati next time I’m in the City.

Quoted by my roommate as «her favorite restaurant in San Francisco», I was tempted to try it. As we were attending Yoshi’s Jazz Bar after, we decided location wise it was a good choice, and I told the 3 lady friends I was meeting to meet me there.
We got there exactly 8:00 on a Saturday night, and despite the fact that it was ¾ empty, it had that «Every table in the house is booked» vibe to it. There was a short line of people waiting to speak to the Maitre D’, but she was nowhere to be found. I waited almost 10 minutes before she appeared, and we were INCREDIBLY lucky, and got the corner table for 4 (as far as I could tell the last unbooked table).
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Service was mediocre. The restaurant, despite being tiny, always felt like it was underserviced. 2 waitresses should easily be able to cover that many tables, but I felt at times that no one was around.
Food: Food was excellent. I had prosciutto wrapped chicken, one girl had salmon, one girl had sea bass and someone else had a vegetarian dish, and everything was good.
So food wise, excellent, but overall I would not go back unless I had a reservation and no show to rush to afterwards.