The Lowdown
Restaurant Name: Curry Up
Cuisine: Japanese Curry
Average Price per Person: ¥850 to ¥1,500 JPY or $10 to $18 USD
Location: Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan (please refer to the map below for details)
Recommendations:Ratings (out of 5)
Taste: 4
Creativity/Authenticity: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 3.5
Bang for Buck: 2.5
Crayscale !!!
These are the standards but they do have a specials on a daily basis.
In my little work bubble I usually assume most if not all people recognize the name NIGO. Founder of the cult Japanese streetwear brand, A Bathing Ape, you could maybe sense he was getting bored with the brand he has since sold when he launched a food venture with his curry spot aptly titled CURRY UP. Orrrrr it could have been a foreshadowing of things to come.
Food and fashion are two elements of culture and society that hold a very complex relationship. Models and eating disorders have been around forever yet good food is still very much a universal thing. I’ve always been interested with the food & beverage industry’s ability to attract a wide variety of clientele under aspects of branding. Good/tasty restaurants attract certain crowd — food is so much more universal. Pick any good spot and you’ll find an eclectic mix of individuals spanning many different industries, yet when it comes to fashion, the diversity is often very segmented. It’s changed but usually you’re fans of genres since these are the clothes you’d actually purchase and wear based on taste. A brand like A Bathing Ape or any fashion brand has much less of an ability to attract those outside an interest in fashion. Everybody needs to eat, and eat they will whether you’re in finance, fashion, advertising, art… the list goes on.
I never had intentions of going to CURRY UP when I went to Japan, but simply was in the neighborhood after a meeting and my Hypebeast Japan homie Ito suggested it. I don’t ever have a hankering for that sickly sweet Japanese curry that has become a national treasure and often elect to go for its Indian variant. So imagine my surprise when the first thing to stare me in the eyes on the menu… butter chicken.
I ultimately didn’t go for the butter chicken, since I’m a bigger fan of anything beef and spicy.
You can imagine a certain level of detail and branding will accompanies this joint…
Gotta say, the side of their own Fukujinzuke (Japanese pickles used as a relish for curry) makes for a good addition over top the curry for a bit of crunch and acid.
Butter Chicken Curry (¥1,200 JPY or $15 USD). We both ordered the largest sizes.
Ito ordered this, I had a spoonful. It was pretty smooth tasting and I certainly wouldn’t have minded trading. But that’s all I have to say.
Toasted slivered almonds!
Spicy Beef Curry (¥1,200 JPY or $15 USD). I have to say the portion is pretty big, albeit you can see it’s mostly rice.
However delicious the sauce is, the chunks of rice are quite sparse to say the least. It’s mostly situated towards the divide between the rice and the sauce. Overall, the shit was spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicy. Not the spiciest thing I’ve ever eaten by a long shot, but for a commercially available, from kitchen to table without any “add your own sauces,” I give it props. The sauce is quite soupy but still tasty and there’s definitely enough to go around that huge mound of rice. Still, it feels like it should be labeled on the menu as “Spicy With Two… Maybe Three Pieces of Beef Curry.”
The spot was designed by Wonderwall, the Masamichi Katayama-founded architectural firm. Nothing to write home about really, it’s definitely not the reason you’d go to CURRY UP in the first place. As for the name, apparently it’s the doing of another friend, some guy named Pharrell Williams?
Can’t confirm, but maybe this is their mode of transportation for delivery?
View Larger Map
2-35-9 Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
p: +81.3.5775.5446
w: curryup.jp
[…] este în aceeași locație cu restaurantul lui Nigo, Curry up, iar una dintre atracțiile culinare ale cafenelei fiind un burger creat de Pharrell. Cât despre […]