As part of a trip to Japan earlier this year, I ended up eating a lot of curry, both Japanese-style and otherwise. Some were places I had scouted out, but others I just happened to find by happenstance. One such instance happened on an evening walk back to my hotel, where I got lost. While trying to find my bearings, I ended up in front of the original Hinoya Curry. A sign proudly boasted that it previously won an award for best curry in the Kanda area of Tokyo. Given that the area has some pretty stiff competition, I changed my dinner plans and went in there instead.

The decor was unpretentious and inviting. There were seats at a counter where the chef prepared curry, as well as a counter facing a wall, and a few tables for groups. The menu was full of items that sounded interesting (like the raw egg curry and the beef tendon curry), but I decided to go with what seemed to be a signature item of theirs: menchi katsu curry, or minced-meat cutlet curry. 

The sauce was rich in flavor, spiced well but not extremely spicy. It sat on the rice well, and was neither super thin nor super thick. I bet if I had just gotten a plain curry, I would’ve been pretty satisfied, but then the menchi katsu elevated it to something superb. 

First, the cutlet was enormous. While sometimes portion sizes in Japan can feel a little small even when ordering large sizes, that was not the case here. It was a middle ground between a pork or chicken katsu and a hamburg steak, and as someone who loves both and can sometimes feel conflicted over which one to get, the menchi katsu was just a wonderful thing to have, with its satisfying combination of tender meatiness and crispy breading that borders on fried fish batter.. 

Hinoya Curry has stores throughout Japan now, and they’ve also expanded overseas with locations in Malaysia, China, and even San Francisco. Next time I’m in the bay area, I might just decide to check it out again and see how the American branch stacks up.