Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 992
Reviewed: 1/17/2008
Rating: 8
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My first vist to the Curry House was nearly 10 years ago at the Little Tokyo location in downtown Los Angeles. It had been years since I've eaten here and recall enjoying every visit. Ne00 had told me they were opening up the Curry House in his building and was excited to give it a try.
I'm not sure if you can call Curry House a mom and pop shop as they are owned by House Foods America Corporation. You've probably bought one of the dozens of products they sell, particularly the Curry Sauce with vegetables. I have one of these packages in my cupboards waiting to be cooked.
For my first trip I ordered the pork katsu and followed it up with chicken katsu. Both times I ordered hot green tea, salad option, and steamed white rice.
salad - just your ordinary tossed mixed greens and a sweet sesame dressing? no complaints, no praise, it's a side item.
curry sauce - dark brown color, much sweeter than other japanese curries I've had. I don't know the sweetness but it was almost like an apple or raisin flavoring. I ordered spicy and would guage the heat to be non-existant. If someone knows why other restaurants serve curry with potatoes, carrots, and beef and why this one doesn't? Is it a regional thing? I'd like to know. Another million dollar question would be, does the restaurant serve packaged stuff or made from scratch? For MSG sensitive folks, there is MSG in the curry and is mentioned on the menu list of ingredients.
tonkatsu (pork cutlet) - deep fried pork goodness, hot out the fryer and cooked just right, nice sized portion, moist meat, outer batter was a light panko crust. Sitting on top of a bed of rice with a pond of curry on the side. I don't know if they do this for style points but you gotta wonder why the 2 pieces of corn and sliver of mushroom?
chicken katsu (chicken) - very much like the pork but in the chicken format. I think they use thigh meat. If I had to choose between the pork or chicken, the pork by just a snout.
Service was prompt and friendly. Prices are competitive with other Japanese restaurants in the area. If it's your first visit, I'd start with pork katsu. My next visit, I'm going to try the spaghetti dish. I was able to sample Terry's vegetarian spaghetti and with a fork twirl, I was able to detect firm pasta and a unique sauce quite different than your traditional Italian sauce.
Overall, Curry House holds up to my previous visits and easily earns a solid 8.
If you're curious on how it does against other Japanese restaurants and their curry.
Reviewer: wchane
Total Reviews: 141
Reviewed: 1/27/2008
Rating: 8
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This may be the most talked about curry joint in socal, but to be bluntly frank I was disappointed.
First - I did not know House Brands owned this restaurant, the same company that imports those curry bullion cubes, so while I was chowing down I swore this tasted like 'college curry' Those bricks go a LONG way.
Second - There is nothing really wrong with this restaurant aside from the cramped parking spots (whoever designed that structure was an idiot) and the long walk to get to the actual front door.
Once inside you're treated with a professional service staff - seated asap, water brought and you're never kept waiting. The menu is minimalistic and a bit overpriced in my opinion, however the food is prepared to as perfect as this stuff gets. My katsu was perfectly breaded and fried - moist, tender, and not pounded paper thin - it still looked like pork.
So, the entire time I was in there I swore that I made curry that tasted just like this...only I used cubes of condensed stuff and I expected them to make it fresh. When I walked back to my car I discovered a huge box of 'calgee' - the SAME curry brand that one is able to pick up at ANY reputable asian market. So understandably I was a bit spited. I was soon told the connection, so that was my own ignorance.
This being said, we attempted to dine here again this past Saturday only to find a line that filled up the waiting area and flowed out into the common area. We passed, but if there's no hassle we will be dining here again.
so, it all boils down to a 7.5 - 8 imo
Another consideration that I was turned to was Hattori Ya in Palo Alto. Theirs is considerably better, however Hotaru is still my favorite, along with their potato corquettes...if only they were closer.
Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 165
Reviewed: 2/15/2008
Rating: 8
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This review is long over due. I ate here back in Feb, plus I live in the same building so I had to give this place a try for being the first shop to open in the complex. The owner was nice enough to give out two coupons to everyone in the building for a buy one curry dish, get one free coupon.
I didn’t realize how popular this restaurant was until a group of friends strolled in expecting to get a table at 7pm on a Friday night. No such luck, we waited around for at least 30 min before a table for four freed up. Reservation is recommended for this place, especially if you have some event after dinner.
There was a wide selection of curry and non curry dishes in the menu. I liked how several choices of carbs were given, white rice, brown rice, or spaghetti along with the curry dish. The prices are a bit high with the cheapest curry dish pricing in at $12 and up. Most of the curry items include a choice of soup (miso or corn chowder) or salad.
Most people in the group orders the curry items except for one, who decides to order some Italian spaghetti dish. Least to say he wasn’t too pleased with his choice, but the again why would anyone order spaghetti in a Japanese Curry restaurant? I went with the basic pork cutlet curry with brown rice and miso soup. I remember the soup being tasty and plenty of compliments from my friends about the corn chowder being tasty as well.
The portion sizes are plenty large. I typically shy away from brown rice as it’s rare to find brown rice that’s fluffy and taste as good as white, but Curry House served up some good fluffy brown rice. The curry sauce over the rice helped as well.
Service was good with our teas and water being refilled without us asking. We were able to use both of our coupons and were shocked that they charged us for the cheaper items while deducting the expensive items from our bill. If anything, most restaurants deduct the cheapest item ordered.
I would come back…I’m always in the area and smell the curry on a daily basis.
“Perfectly cooked and presented. Delicious comfort food, but kind of pricey considering you can buy the same packaged stuff for much less. Seems like others like it too though, there is always a wait!”
