namara masara

Reconnected with Namara Masara.

We tried them during the pandemic, then they went out of business, not sure exactly when

And while I was walking around the neighborhood recently, I noticed they were now operating from a house.

So, Satoshi and I went to check them out

They share a space with a beauty salon 

This time around the owner explained what this spicy condiment was.

Satoshi said it wasn't too spicy and enjoyed the flavor of the katsuobushi that was also used

Satoshi didn't remember that he had tried their salmon ikura curry during the pandemic.

Lucky we have this blog to remember what we tried.

This time around he tried the pork nankotsu (cartilage) curry, he said he enjoyed this...1190 yen (tax included)

Kat tried the no water chicken curry, this is cooked with just veggies, spices and chicken and uses the liquid from the veggies....1145 yen (tax included)

Delicious

We're glad we reconnected with this shop and look forward to trying their keema curry...we'll be back

Namara Masara

1-14-7 Higashiyaguchi

Ota, Tokyo

Open daily: 11:00-22:00

osaka madras curry

Not sure how I found out about Osaka Madras Curry but I had it bookmarked to try

Apparently this is owned by actor, Kitamura Kazuki

This shop is teeny, only 8 seats

The character in the turban resembles the actor
 

Buy your ticket...EXCEPT it doesn't take new bills! so we needed to ask the guy working there to change it for us

He mentioned that they plan to change the machine soon since the older bills are harder to come by these days

Kat ordered the small curry (200 grams rice) with cheese 1120 yen (tax included)

Each serving comes with a raw egg, this reminded me of a curry I had in Osaka at Namba Jiyuken, with blog friend Dennis, many moons ago.

The curry starts of a little sweet and then the spices creep up on you.

It reminded me of the curry we had at Joto Curry

The cheese had lots of pull! love!

Satoshi went with the small curry with katsu 1340 yen (tax included)

He said he enjoyed this

If you need to make your curry spicier, use their can of spices on the table (with the yellow label)

This shop is run by one person, so be prepared to wait

I'm glad we got to try this place and will be back whenever I am in the area

Osaka Madras Curry

3-14-8 Akasaka

Minato, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays

Hours: 11:00-14:45 (lunch), 16:00-20:45 (dinner)

*cash only

hangetsu

Ran an errand today in Ginza

Lunch was at Hangetsu (love their blue building)

The sign says "spicy curry" no joke!

My mouth was on fire afterwards
 

The curry of the day was curry leaf pork and the chicken curry was sakura chicken...both were medium spicy

I ordered the 2 curry, less rice...1300 yen (tax included)

left side is pork, right is chicken

down the center are various veggies, pickles...I did remove those chili pepper "strings"

The chicken curry was the first thing I tasted and it was kinda sour, not sure what country's cuisine this was

The curries were super spicy and kind of killed my tastebuds...even if they said medium

Not sure what made the chicken "sakura" but the chicken and pork were super tender

Dunno if I'd go back, but I'm glad I got to try this place

Hangetsu

6-4-15 Ginza

Chuo, Tokyo

Open daily: 11:00-22:00

*cash or paypay 

curry vamos

Curry Vamos opened on 10/13

Apparently this is the 2nd shop from Toranomon's Ganji, a popular shop in that area

Buy your meal ticket at the entrance.

Satoshi chose the Vamos Curry...1200 (tax included)

His meal came with a salad, roasted chicken, rice, pickles and the curry.

Kat chose the Plain curry (less rice) 750 yen (tax included)

This came with pickles, rice and the curry.

We also purchased a "help"...50 yen (tax included)

"Help" is a little dish of yogurt, which is supposed to help lessen the heat

You can also purchase toppings like cheese, egg, keema curry but we didn't try these.

The curry is more soupy and was so spicy it felt like it was burning my throat.

not fun

Satoshi shared his chicken with me...that was spicy too.

I had some curry leftover but didn't want to leave it, so I "made" myself finish it.

We both agreed that we probably won't be back, it was just too spicy to enjoy

We wish them well.

Curry Vamos

6-28-3 Nishikamata

Ota, Tokyo

Cash only, Operating times vary check social media for exact times

fish

Satoshi has another tour coming up and wanted to check out the Tokyo station area.

Lunch was at Fish, an Indian curry shop that I marked the last time we were around here.

Choose your main curry from the eight that they have (7 different kinds plus 1 daily special).

2 curry combo, choose a main curry then choose between keema or mixed bean 

3 curry combo, choose a main curry then add their keema and mixed bean

Choose the amount of rice

Add toppings (prices vary depending on what you choose)

Satoshi chose their shrimp curry and added their keema. He had their regular portion of rice and didn’t add any toppings...1550 yen (tax included)

He said he enjoyed this.

Kat had their fish curry and added their mixed bean. She had their small portion of rice and didn’t add any toppings...1400 yen (tax included)

The fish was cooked perfectly, HUGE! crisp and light!

There was also a scoop of mashed potato, pickled onions and pickled daikon, half a boiled egg and a papadum (no need to add on toppings!)

My first experience with papadum wasn't too good but this version was delicious, light and crisp.

close up of the mixed bean curry...

loved the tile too!

and the lighting!

would definitely come back here...I'll be back.

Fish

Marunouchi Oazo B1F

Chiyoda, Tokyo

Hours: 11:00-21:00

Closed when Marunouchi Oazo is

caraway

Have had Caraway on my "to try list" for some time now

They have been in business since 1974 and serve different curries and hashed beef (hayashi rice) if curry isn't your thing.

The lines are always krazy long but we went at about 16:00-ish and only had to wait about 20 minutes or so for a table.

Love the retro interior

There are 4 types of condiments...chutney, takuan, another type of tsukemono and fukujinzuke

Satoshi chose their beef curry and their regular portion of rice (550 grams!) 930 yen (tax included)

Kat chose their chicken curry and their small portion of rice (300 grams!) 800 yen (tax included)

Both meals came with a small salad

First off, their portions are huge! especially the rice and their prices are super reasonable

300 grams of rice for me is about 3 servings!

Their curry is super flavorful and has a slow burn.

I tried some of Satoshi's and it was super beefy!

I also gave some of my curry to Satoshi since he had so much rice.

The vinaigrette on the salad was super puckery and help change things up.

Since the other pickles looked like tsukemono that I’ve seen/tried before, I only tried the chutney, which I think was mango chutney.

I overheard a person who I think was a regular customer and she ordered the child's portion...will definitely do that next time.

Another thing I thought was cool was they sell their curry frozen so you can eat their curry at home (and without having to stand in line), would definitely want to try this too.

I'm glad we got to try this, would like to try their other curries too.

We'll be back.

Caraway

2-12-20 Komachi

Kamakura, Kanagawa

Closed Mondays

Hours: 11:30-19:30

*cash only

mura curry ta

Yesterday, we tried a new (to us) shop Mura curry ta, which serves soup curry.

(Soup curry is a popular type of curry usually found in Hokkaido.)

You can choose the spiciness, the type of soup and your toppings.

I ordered the chicken thigh with 14 veggies...1780 yen (tax included)

The basic amount of veggies has 6 veggies: potato, carrot, broccoli, pumpkin, eggplant and tomato

The tomato is a whole tomato (canned)

The next level of veggies adds 4 veggies: red/yellow bell pepper, mizuna, cabbage, bell pepper

And the next level of veggies adds another 4 veggies: sweet potato, baby corn, renkon, spinach

The sweet potato and kabocha were "tempura" style, the batter was light and was nicely salted

The chicken thigh was huge! and had sunk to the bottom, the skin was crisped

The soup I chose was their rich chicken soup, spiciness level 2 (out of 10)*

*if you choose higher levels of spiciness they charge extra

I would've appreciated a "flatter" style bowl, so that I could cut my veggies and chicken before eating and ended up using my rice bowl to do that.

Overall, it was flavorful, and all the veggies were delicious.

Satoshi chose the seafood special...1800 yen (tax included)

I'm not too sure what types of things he had in his bowl, but from the photo, it looked like he had the "basic" 6 veggies plus seafood...I saw a mussel, scallop, prawn and nori

Satoshi also helped Kat finish her curry...

We enjoyed this and wouldn't mind trying other variations on their menu...we'll be back.

Mura curry ta (UPDATE: 11/2025 moved)

7-5-2 Nishikamata

Ota, Tokyo

Closed: Mondays

Hours: 11:30-14:30 (lunch), 17:30-21:00 (dinner)

*cash only or digital payment

oxymoron

Tried Oxymoron's Ethnic Soboro Curry the other night.

We tried Oxymoron when we were in Osaka, their main shop is in Kamakura and they also have one in Tokyo.

And we've tried their caponata , spice cereal and caramel custard recipes from their recipe books.

The Tokyo department store they are located in is renovating, so they are only selling takeout these days.

The fish sauce and the greens are chinese parsley, shiso, green onion and mizuna made this fragrant

Just heat up the rice and soboro (minced meat) and sprinkle the greens, squeeze the lemon and enjoy!

Would get this again, and look forward to eating at the restaurant when the renovations are over.

matsuya curry

Matsuya Curry has been around in Kamata since 1963

It closed in 1993 and then was reopened in 1996 as Kamata Matsuya Curry.

The kanji (chinese characters) were similar to the beef bowl Matsuya, so they changed their kanji.

Buy your ticket from the machine, I ordered the Matsuya curry which was a pork curry...600 yen (tax included)

Give your ticket to the waitstaff, they'll ask you how much rice you'd like.

I ordered my curry with less rice.  

If you choose less rice (200 grams), they will either give you soup, an egg or 50 yen back.  

I chose to receive 50 yen back.

The fukujinzuke that they use is from Shuetsu, you may or may not remember that Shuetsu was apparently the first to make fukujinzuke in Japan.

The other condiments, if you need to make your curry spicier

Each order is made after you buy your ticket, so be prepared to wait, they have lots of manga and magazines...

Satoshi ordered the katsu curry...900 yen (tax included)

He had the normal amount of rice (250 grams)

we enjoyed this and look forward to trying other items on their menu.

Matsuya Curry

7-5-4 Nishi Kamata

Ota, Tokyo

Hours: 11:00-23:00 *earlier if they run out of rice

*cash or Suica only

8604

Last Saturday after an errand we went to Kanda to have lunch at Topca

This shop serves all sorts of Indian and European styles curries. 

I chose their Keema...mouth.on.fire.

Wished that onion on top was pickled and not raw

Even if my mouth was on fire, I enjoyed this
 

Satoshi went with the Katsu and European curry

He enjoyed this.

We'll be back to try other items on their menu.

After lunch, we went around the block to wait for a table at Takemura, which has been in business since 1930!

Thank goodness for the shade from the building, the wait was over an hour!

I ordered their ice shiruko, this was perfect for the heat and humidity

Satoshi ordered the cream cold shiruko, his was more "soupy" and also came with some salty Japanese pepper 

I want to try their fried manju next, we'll be back.

Topca

1-11 Kanda Sudacho

Chiyoda, Tokyo

Open weekdays: 11:00-15:30 (lunch), 17:30-22:30 (dinner)

Weekends & Holidays: 11:30-18:00

Takemura

1-19 Kanda Sudacho

Chiyoda, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays, Mondays & Holidays

Hours: 11:00-20:00

*cash only

cattlea

Apparently Cattlea was the first bakery to create curry pan.

Since the bakery is located in a part of Tokyo that we don't always visit, I was happy to stumble upon their curry pan at the Nihonbashi Takashimaya

It was still warm when I bought it and it kinda got smooshed in my bag.

We ate this the next morning after I put it into the oven then the toaster.

This was filled to the gills with a slightly spicy curry, we loved this.

They also had a spicy version, we tried the original

I'm glad we got to try this and hope to visit the bakery to see what other items they sell.

Cattlea

1-6-10 Morishita

Koto, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays & Mondays

Hours: 7:30-18:30

spice cafe

Finally got to check out Spice Cafe.

I've had their recipe book since 2016 and have tried making their crispy spice oil and their aaloo masala

This cafe has been in business since 2003 and has been on Michelin's Bib Gourmand list twice.

Just look for the house with the jungle around it...

This time of year there are lots of mosquitos

But I love how you step into another world

On this day, there were 8 different curries to choose from: rasam (south India moong dal (mung bean) curry), lamb keema, shrimp (sri lankan curry), sambal (vegetarian curry), garlic chicken, coconut, pork vindaloo and dry curry

You can order 1 (1300 yen (tax included) or 2 (1600 yen (tax included)

This also comes with a small dessert and coffee or tea afterwards.

I chose the lamb keema, it came with dal mash, aaloo masala (mashed potatoes), not sure what type of minced greens this was and some marinated cabbage.

A lot of what was served is in their recipe book.

You can also have more rice and sides if you wish.

The lamb keema was super flavorful, lots of spices and not spicy.

Loved the sides too.

The dessert was a caramel mousse, the caramel drizzle was a little bitter, but I loved this too.

And the iced coffee hit the spot

I'm glad I got to try this place, next time I will try to bring Satoshi so we can try more curries...I'll be back

Spice Cafe

1-6-10 Bunka

Sumida, Tokyo

Closed: Mondays & Tuesdays

Hours: 11:30-15:00 (lunch), 18:00-22:30 (dinner)

*cash only