Japanese Spaghetti Curry

We found a restaurant in San Diego called Curry House. From the name of the establishment, I expected their theme to be either Thai or Indian. When Delia suggested trying them out, the coupon she showed me said it was a Japanese restaurant specializing in curry that they will serve over rice, pilaf or spaghetti. I couldn't resist. I Googled them and took a look at their menu. I recommended to the group that we try it out. Delia and I met Don and Anita at the restaurant and Cathy joined us about twenty minutes later.

Like all restaurants, the first thing they asked was what we wanted to drink. Everybody but me wanted hot tea. Consulting the menu, I discovered that they serve draft Kirin beer by the pitcher, so I suggested we get a pitcher. Everybody decided they wanted the beer. I recall many hot afternoons sipping Kirin from a liter bottle in a variety of Japanese cities, usually in a railroad station.

Don wanted an appetizer. At first he was going to order a bunch of bowls of edimame, the boiled soy beans that they served with a sprinkling of sea salt. The ladies prevailed on him to vary the selection by adding a bowl of popcorn shrimp and calimari, cooked tempura style.

Delia had some questions about the foods, so the cook, a Salvadoran, came out to discuss them with her ... and everybody switched to Spanish. This so pleased the cook that he sent us a couple more free appetizers, one a little round empanada and the other an invention of his own that wasn't on the menu.

The dinner menu could roughly be divided in three parts: the curries, the spaghetti plates and the specials. What they had in common was the principal ingredient: beef, chicken, vegetable, seafood or Katsu (a cutlet of ground beef, ground chicken or ground pork). The curry sauce was the same for all of them but came in three heat levels they called medium, hot and very hot. I would have called them mild, medium and slightly hot, but there was a bottle of chili sesame oil on the table for those who prefer to kick it up a notch. There were a couple of oddball curries, too, such as the wiener and spinach curry, the tempura-style fried shrimp and onion ring curry and the teriyaki beef steak curry.

The basic curries were served on large platters with salad at one end, the principal ingredient in the center and the curry sauce at the other end. Special curries were served in giant bowls with a heap of rice (or spaghetti or pilaf) in the middle, an omelet on top of the rice and the principal ingredient atop the egg, all surrounded with a bunch of vegetables and the curry sauce. The spaghetti plates came in Japanese style or Italian style, each available with beef, pork or chicken. The Italian style included either a vegetable base, meatballs or a seafood marinara while the Japanese style plates had chili shrimp and spinach, cod roe and whitefish or seafood tofu. The specials included spicy omelet rice, chicken ginger curry (very hot only), ground chicken with tofu or the principal ingredient of your choice grilled on a stone plate at the table. These meals came with a choice of soup or salad, the soups being either miso or corn potage. I had the corn potage, which was basically unspiced creamed corn, and wished I had gotten the house salad like Cathy did.

When the beer ran out, everybody else switched to hot tea and I switched to iced tea, which was an intense green color. Both had enough caffeine to keep Delia and I awake most of the night while Cathy fell asleep with no problems.

I alone had dessert, a cup of coffee gelatin topped with whipped cream. I've had Japanese coffee gelatin before, but this one surprised me, being of higher quality and a more distinct, espresso flavor.

I definitely enjoyed myself. Delia was upset with the food but not with the excellent service. The rest mostly agreed with me.

In addition to the San Diego restaurant, there are eight more Curry House locations in or near Los Angeles.

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