Katana Asian Cuisine

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#12 of 97 Restaurants in Santa TeresaChinese, Japanese, $$ - $$$

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Katana Asian Cuisine

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About

Katana is inspired by different Asian cultures, striving to transform traditional Asian food in new, fascinating ways.

Features

CUISINES

Chinese, Japanese, Bar, Sushi, Vietnamese

Meal types

Dinner, Drinks

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

FEATURES

Accepts Credit Cards

Delivery

Dog Friendly

Free Wifi

Full Bar

Gift Cards Available

Highchairs Available

Non-smoking restaurants

Outdoor Seating

Parking Available

Reservations

Seating

Serves Alcohol

Street Parking

Table Service

Takeout

Wheelchair Accessible

Wine and Beer

Location

600 Meter North of the Main Crossroads, Santa Teresa 601111 Costa Rica

Parking Available, Street Parking

Does this restaurant allow dogs or considered pet friendly?

Yes

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Hours

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Closed now

• Opens at 5:30 PM

Sunday

5:30 PM - 10:30 PM

Monday

5:30 PM - 10:30 PM

Tuesday

5:30 PM - 10:30 PM

Wednesday

5:30 PM - 10:30 PM

Thursday

5:30 PM - 10:30 PM

Friday

5:30 PM - 10:30 PM

Saturday

5:30 PM - 10:30 PM

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4.5

821 reviews

Excellent

615

Good

109

Average

Poor

Terrible

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Yes

Miner

Stockholm11 contributions

Very happy

Mar 2025 • friends

Super cozy place with very helpful and service oriented staff. The food was very good too! A sushi is a little too little food for one person so also take something more delicious from their menu!

Automatically translated

Written March 16, 2025

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

1978

Cotswolds61 contributions

Nice food, improved by presence of very sweet ginger cat!

Nov 2024 • couples

We ate here twice in the 5 days we were in Mal Pais. The decor is excellent. Cocktails the best we had in Costa Rica. However, by far the best element as two devoted animal lovers, in Costa Rica to enjoy the fabulous wildlife was having the sweet ginger cat not shooed away by staff. Bizarrely we saw no other stray cats in the whole of our travels and this little girl was skinny and hungry. Most of the staff let her be. One chef gave her a whack but on the whole, it felt like she had adopted the beautiful restaurant as her safe space. If they would just take her to the vet, get her wormed and her poor skin condition sorted out, then she would be the very beautiful ‘Kat’ of Katana … I can’t understate she was the sweetest most gentle cat, 🐈! I would have shipped her 6k miles home myself if I could have . Thank you for not being a mean restaurant and serving good food and drinks too. Showing kindness to strays goes a long way, especially in such a beautiful and stylish environment. That’s real class.

Written November 20, 2024

Harriet P

15 contributions

Fabulous vibe, delicious food

Feb 2025 • couples

Booked last minute and so pleased we did! Very popular restaurant with a lively vibe. We are in our 50s and don’t feel too old!! Food well priced and delicious Generous portions so don’t over order; our waiter advised that we were about to order too much. He was absolutely right! So pleased we went

Written March 1, 2025

Fabien R

1 contribution

Where NOT to go in Costa Rica

Aug 2024 • family

Everything... except what you are looking for when you come to Santa Teresa, on holiday, in Costa Rica! For that?!? Dubai, Tel Aviv, Mikonos, not Costa Rica!! A very well made, elegant and comfortable place that ticks all the boxes of Dubai standards. The food is correct and if you are surprised to pay very expensive, far too expensive, we probably explain it by the place that announces the color of arrival and the rich trap side again that does not hide. Until then, we pay what we decide to buy and we like or dislike, the deal is transparent. On the other hand, the service is dramatically lame! In the midst of an excellent holiday in Costa Rica, far from everything and welcomed everywhere with so much attention and care to be welcoming, here we are teleported by the magic of a service worthy of the worst C...s traps of the so-called “trendy world” in a restaurant for Wall Street traders who will have once taken the time to go out for lunch, or the worst of the “prominent” restaurants in Paris during Fashion Week. Attitude, attitude, attitude! Talent, know-how, elegance!?! Nothing, not even crazy rates. I was talked to like a dog. I paid 350€ for 2 adults and a 4 year old child for Deliveroo to deliver me for 100€. I was talked to like a dog, I bark... to warn all those like us who have been misinformed by the Guide du Routard and can go elsewhere.

Automatically translated

Written August 5, 2024

Alice K

9 contributions

Asian fusion - a new take, but not better

Apr 2024 • couples

We were really excited about this dinner. It was supposed to be our special date night out and the food just disappointed. After reading glowing reviews and from the looks of the place from the outside, we had our hopes up about the quality. But sadly, “Asian fusion” is not an elevated, more experimental version of Asian food, as advertised. Most of the dishes had ideas taken from popular Asian dishes, but they were executed poorly and the taste was not there. We order the Vietnamese spring rolls and the skin was a thicker, more spongy layer of rice noodle than the usual thin rice paper. Then we got the pork belly bao, which was neither pork belly nor inside a bao. It was more a sandwhich overstuffed with pulled pork. Then we got the BuBu shrimp which you think will be like shrimp tempura, but the breading looked like styrofoam pellets and tasted just as chewy. The finale was the duck which unfortunately we were too late to cancel, but we wanted to give it a chance. It sounds like it’s going to be “Peking style” but was a loose interpretation of it. Again, a pulled duck type of meat served in a bowl with huge leaves of lettuce and a spongy tortilla wrapper, that was kind of soggy. It might have been the same meat as the pork bao, you couldn’t really tell the difference. The service, the ambiance was great though. But too bad, the food did not match up with the elegant atmosphere or friendly staff. Maybe the things we ordered was a miss, but thought I’d give an honest review. The food in Santa Theresa has been really top quality so far, but this place was a let down.

Written April 30, 2024

Cornelia Z

Buchs3 contributions

Non-authentic Asian cuisine

Jan 2024 • couples

Unfortunately, the food was only just OK, but not Asian. It's an insult to any Asian to describe this as authentic Asian cuisine. It's a shame, I expected a lot more. The green curry was a real disaster, if anything then a vegetable curry dish from the USA or at best India, but not what I expected. When I wanted to order it with chicken, unfortunately it only came with tofu or shrimp. Excuse me? At the end, the waitress asked twice what was wrong and when I complained she still didn't change the price, but took it offended and didn't even apologize. If it's Asian, then it certainly wasn't here.

Written January 12, 2024

Ben Hoffmann

Rheinfelden44 contributions

No authentic food

Mar 2024 • couples

Good location and very friendly service. The appetizers were good (papaya chips, Vietnamese Spring rolls and the dumplings). Unfortunately the main dishes were a disaster (green curry, Pad Thai) because of the bad taste. I took the shrimps additional to my Pad Thai for $ 9‘700 and got 3 shrimps 😡) We didn’t tested the sushi (maybe this is could be a good option). Ad the end we paid $ 235 dollars !

Written March 15, 2024

Keren R

24 contributions

Amazing food. Weird service.

Nov 2022 • couples

Very delicious food. They’ve just reopen after rainy season temporarily vacation. It was chaotic at the beginning. We arrived for our 7pm reservation and they were still cleaning, putting tables y lights. However they quickly direct us to our table. The Pad Thai was delicious, one of the best I’ve eaten. The risotto was something else. For me it was delicious, a bit sour and creamy, great flavor and the shrimp were yummy. For my partner didn’t taste like risotto and he had mixed feelings about it. The smoked shrimp roll was good but didn’t tasted smoked at all. The dessert was really good, perfect balance between the bitter from the dark chocolate, the sweet and salty from caramel and the ice cream. The service was good, our waiter was very kind and helpful. The dishes were served quickly and we didn’t have to wait much. However everything felt rushed. As if they wanted us to leave soon. This was our first time there and we were looking carefully the menu and in less than 6 min they came 3 times to ask us if we were ready to order even when last time we told we needed more time. Also It felt like if they were looking and waiting til we put our sticks down to go and remove everything from the table. I mean we ordered an entry, two main courses and one dessert and by one hour we were leaving. They also rush us with the bill. As if they have the table booked soon and they needed it free.

Written November 13, 2022

CatherineBH

San Diego1228 contributions

Very good Japanese restaurant in Costa Rica

Jul 2022 • family

We celebrated my daughter’s birthday while visiting Santa Teresa in July. The ambiance was great. It’s good that we had reservation on a Saturday night since it got busy. Our server was attentive at first but got too busy later. The restaurant offered a variety of food. The food and drinks are pricey & cost us around $25/person. We had 2 children with us.

Written August 28, 2022

Eli and Natalie

1 contribution

Katana must not be missed

Feb 2023 • family

This is our third visit to Santa Teresa and Katana has been a highlight each time. A beautiful space staffed with beautiful people serving expertly prepared Asian and Japanese themed fusion cuisine. Signature cocktails are also amazing. Our server, Kevin accommodated our every request and the manager, Oscar, made sure we were happy with every dish, engaging us in honestly caring discourse. Our 7 year old son was treated as we were: a valued patron. If you make it to this amazing little town, Katana can’t be missed. The Pura Vida ethos is personified here and you can taste it and feel it in everything they do. Thank you Santa T, thank you Costa Rica. Yo te amo. With love, Eli, Natalie and Cairo

Written February 6, 2023

Kilian M

Lucerne247 contributions

Good food, service a little bit to European xD

Mar 2021 • none

We ate some weeks ago at Katana and enjoyed the food as well as the general restaurant vibe. As a lot places in Santa Teresa the Restaurant is a little bit to European. There fore you have to handle higher than average prices and mostly European employees which means sometimes a more professional but comparing to ticos more reserved and distanced serving of the dishes. On the other hand the owner himself asked at every table if everything was right, which we really appreciated!

Written March 21, 2021

Antonio M

2 contributions

Worst experience ever

Jul 2021 • couples

I haven’t felt so frustrated as this in such a long long time. My partner and I walked in about at 8:15pm, there’s a curfew in Santa at9 pm. As we walked in we kindly told The hostess that we wanted a quick bite and that we knew what we wanted because we did abs because we’ve been there before many times. The hostess said he would bring the manager. I have worked in great hospitality places (Zuma, Ivy, Hakkasan, Soho house, Cipriani). When the manager came through he was so arrogant and after asking him kindly to take us a take away order he (and I swear) asked me and my partner to seat (he pointed) to the bench outside the restaurant and said, “I’ll bring you menús but seat here abs don’t move” are you kidding me! When I other people who are paying the same as I am inside enjoying the same rights. I told you that this wasn’t right abs he said that is we wanted food that this would be the only way and walked out. We finally enter, the service was good but the chef were absolutely disgusting. I was checking who was cooking my food and the chef was touching his head and nose and then the food. I the complained to the manager and he didn’t do anything about it, Not even apologised and was even rude and said “I WONT SERVE YOU” I love Santa Teresa but there is many more options then katana.

Written July 21, 2021

ASTCR

Dear friend We understand your frustration of not being able to dine in our restaurant without reservation almost at closing time, but we choose to respect the restrictions of CR and unable to serve new customers at this late hour. Shaming and making up stories is your choice. Pura vida Katana management

Written July 24, 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Anne R

9 contributions

Restaurant

Jul 2021 • family

Some of the best food I have ever eaten. I woke up the next morning craving the cauliflower salad. We had pad Thai. Ribs. Butter chicken , steamed dumplings, pot stickers, risotto, All amazing. They have some pretty strict rules to work around like closing by 9 and of course this type of food is not cheap but so worth it, Reservations a must. Do take credit cards.

Written August 1, 2021

Therese

2 contributions

Katana knocks it out of the park

Jan 2023 • none

My husband and I stayed in Santa Teresa for a month and went to Katana 7x times – it's that good!! The food and service are phenomenal. The restaurant manager Oscar is so attentive and makes you feel like you're the only guest in the restaurant. We felt like friends at the end of our trip. Highly recommend the wasabi margarita, tuna tataki, chicken bao bun, and any of the sushi rolls. If you don't like your meal here, I will gladly pay for it.

Written January 23, 2023

BannedDE

6540 contributions

Excellent food, ABSURD prices

Jun 2021 • none

Truly gourmet quality food, no doubt about that. Each dish we've had has been top notch. The place is always packed, so obviously the prices are not scaring customers away. But ALL of Santa Teresa is the most overpriced place I've ever been. Tokyo, Singapore, Paris and New York are all better value. Restaurants on resort islands in the Maldives are better priced, even for a captive customer base. Katana is not out of line with other restaurants here, and the area has the best culinary offerings in the entire country, but just horrendously overpriced for everything.

Written June 3, 2021

ASTCR

Dear customer, We are happy to hear that you enjoyed our food. Unfortunately CR is not a cheap country, as you have noticed while shopping in a local grocery store. Hope to see you again in the future!!! Pura vida Katana management

Written July 24, 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.