Katana is crap. All reviews here say so, except the one most likely posted by staff. You need to know that the food is average. Its a small place. Table booking means nothing - they make you wait. The service is terrible (I was up every five minutes to find a waitress in the kitchen). The price is right but you get what you pay for. A very frustrating experience! Try Bambou or Hakkasan.

I attended Katana @ The International for my partner's birthday celebration on a Saturday evening. We were a group of 12 people. We spent a few hours in the bar and then headed up for dinner. As it was a birthday I brought a cake with me to have at the end of the evening as a surprise.

I spoke to the waitress who was fine about it. However half way through the evening she was sent by her manager to tell me that we would be charged £3 per head to be allowed to eat the cake that we brought ourselves! The manager at Katana @ The International was very defensive and would not even consider the possibility of allowing us to have the cake in the restaurant. He said that he was not willing to discuss it. We were outraged as we had spent £350+ over the course of the evening and he would not allow us to have the cake there without being charged.

Food wise, some people's meals were very nice, others weren’t, so a mixed bag.

I'm lactose intolerant and wanted to ask Katana @ The International if their dishes were suitable and, as the request was complex, I decided to email them, including the date and time that I would like a table should they be able to cater for me...and I recieved no response!



I emailed Katana @ The International again, asking them to, even if the answer was no, be polite enough to let me know their response yet still no response. Guess who's going hungry!

Err...Katana is a make of motorbike. And as far as I know, motorbike’s can’t cook, what with them being inanimate objects and all. Maybe Katana @ The International have found a particularly gifted one?

I had read great reviews about this place both on the top table website and London Eating so had high expectations. We arrived a little early and they were able to seat us as the restaurant was very quiet (Saturday night 7pm) we were sat at one table amongst fellow diners only to be moved to the other side of the restaurant to a "Quieter" table - some not so subtle covert operations going on there! We were sat right outside of the kitchen, next to the cappuccino maker...made for great conversation killer! We ordered and prepared for the feast! The food was great but was dramatically overshadowed by the horrendously poor service. As we emptied each plate it was cleared from the table, as my friend finished her meal they took her plate away straight away putting me under pressure to finish mine. There was not one point during the whole meal where we were asked if everything was to our liking, nor were we offered any more drinks or desert.

Once I had finished my main (eating painfully slow with chopsticks) after 35 minutes in the restaurant the waiter came over, asked us to lift up our drinks and proceeded to take the table cloth away from the table - if that’s not a sign that they want you to leave I don’t know what is! They threw the bill down onto the table and when my friend delayed paying to nip to the bathroom the waiter questioned "what is going on here" with a knock on the table! We did not tip and I will not be booking there again and cannot recommend this to anyone unless you like a side of rudeness with your dim sum!

Katana at The International is well worth a visit - the food is good and the atmosphere relaxed enough for you to actually enjoy yourself! We shall be returning as soon as we can!