I have never been a fan of Japanese curry dishes. Somehow it just did not seem right to me because I always associated Japanese dishes with fresh raw foods like sushi or sashimi, and maybe grilled meats and of course ramen. Basically, I just thought Japanese curry is weird… especially since I had a pretty awful Japanese curry dish a few years back. So I stuck to having curry with what I thought were decidedly curry worthy dishes, i.e. Thai or Indian food.
When we got the invite to try out a Japanese curry restaurant, I was more than a little skeptical. I got a little squeamish at the thought of eating all that brown curry thing with rice and deep fried stuff. But, again, since my curiosity always gets the better of me, and plus it was an opportunity to get together with all the TSN ladies, I hauled my ass all the way to Megamall in the height of evening rush-hour traffic.
S, P, Shen, D and Atekupungsingsing
Ok, so first off, it actually smelled appetizing the moment I got in Eri Curry, which is located at the 3rd Floor Mega Atrium of Megamall. Then Sheng, the fabulous and beautiful PR consultant for Eri was good enough to give the girls and I a brief background on the history of Japanese curry — which is also conveniently printed in its menu. Turns out, although curry did originate from India, it was actually the British who brought it to Japan in the 19th Century. Since then, the Japanese have reinvented the curry and came up with their own milder and thicker sauce version. So Japanese curry can be better described as “Japanese adobo”, since it’s like a staple food in most Japanese households because of the ease of preparation and the amount of time that it could keep.
some appetizers 🙂
The “process” of enjoying your very own Eri Curry concoction came with an assurance of just how beneficial curry is to your body. Japanese curry uses several different spices: Turmeric, coriander, cumin and cinnamon — all with specific health benefits as stated in their easy-to-read menu.
So the first step to having your Eri Curry dish is to choose your curry plate. You can have meats from katsus to sausages or even seafood, or you can go veggie with eggplants and spinach. There’s a wide range of choices.
Second, choose your rice quantity — o yeah! I think we all had the most fun doing this. Kanin kung kanin mehn… I ordered the Regular rice — all 300 grams of it! Pero syempre, meron at merong pasikat. Papa N just had to order the Large one at 400 grams. Growing boy, what can we say?
The third step, is deciding on the level of SPICINESS. You can go 1 flame, 2 flames or 3 flames. Depends on how brave you are. I’m kind of weak when it comes to spicy, so I went with “Just Right”.
And the final step, you can further customize your curry by choosing to add your favorite topping!
I ended up having a katsu and mushrooms curry with eggplant toppings (because eggplants are awesome) with regular rice and spiced just right.
And they serve it to you with cheese under the curry so the taste is savory, and spicy and attacks all your taste-buds in flavors that just taste like your warm at home. It is comfort Japanese food done right. D had the Thin Sliced Beef Curry with Mushroom, Bacon, Spinach and Corn toppings.
P had the Katsu Curry with Thin Sliced Beef toppings.
Of course, we could not have left without also having dessert. We had the towering Rainbow Kakigori complete with red beans on top.
Thank you very much to Eri Curry for hosting our dinner. Nothing is really better than bonding over good comfort food. We will definitely be back for another heart-warming and filling meal.
Arigato!!
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