Blog - Curry
Curry
Since I came to Japan I became a big curry fan! Before then I had eaten Indian curry a few times in Montréal but could never develop a taste for it. Whether it's truly that my taste has changed or that the restaurants I ate at were no good, I don't know for sure.
Anyway over the past years I've developed a strong taste for Japanese curry, and also Indian curry, and now I get a curry craving at least once a week, and can eat curry for several days in a row without getting bored of it.
My favorite Indian curry chains in Tokyo is Samrat, which comes in two varieties: the fast food (called Curry House) and the classier restaurant. Many all-night outings at Organ b. in Shibuya ended with a good curry with nan at the nearby Curry House.
Last year when we got back from our trip to Europe, I was so happy to see that a new Curry House shop had opened in Shin-Nakano, just a few corners from where we live! We went to eat there many times, and it was also great for take out.
However, just about a month ago, our local Curry House was changed into a full-fledged Samrat Restaurant. Basically they changed the layout a bit, made the place darker to make it proper to romantic dinners, and they put the prices way up!!
I went there once since, and what I used to get for about ¥800 cost me about ¥1800!! Exact same stuff, except for maybe a bit of cream and herbs on top of my curry (don't tell me this difference is worth the extra ¥1000!). Damn...
Sure they have a lunch special which is a much better deal, but it's for dinner that the place was really useful for me.
The strange thing is that the place is still open 'til 5am, and it's the dinner menu all night long. I wonder if there are many salarymen who still go there to have a late night curry even at that price. Perhaps just enough to make it more profitable than it used to be? Anyway I hope not, and I hope they will realize that the change was a mistake sooner or later.
And while on topic... I love the new free song Momus posted on his blog, Klaxon! Being the result of his recent studies of Arabic scales, it has a sort of Indian groove, and also spicy French lyrics. I like to imagine this song being on heavy rotation at Curry House!
At least I hope to see Momus perform it live next time he's in town.
Posted on May 7, 2004 at 12:22 | Tweet
|
Trackback
Comments RSS
I also like the Curry, though I never eat it in the states... I guess it's just because I'm so lazy. Which makes those little "boil this bag for 5 minutes, then enjoy your curry" things so great. 80 yen and a full curry meal? I'm not known for being one of the pickiest eaters in the world... but fuck yeah!
Posted by Brent on May 7, 2004 at 19:16
i love japanese curry .... we just had some last week here (which reminds me that we still have leftovers!)
We get tons of indian curry here in Fiji ... but the best lamb vindaloo I ever got was at a place called Shamrat in New York ...
.. reminds me of Konishi singing ... "currriiiiiied rice ... tabetai ... "
Posted by Peter on May 9, 2004 at 01:05
I was listening to "Curry Rice" just recently. In the Girl Girl Girl recordings album, this song's vocals are credited to "?". I guess he was too shy to put his name there. :)
Posted by Patrick on May 9, 2004 at 14:37