Hurry Curry of Tokyo: Off Colorado

This is one of those archived posts that I should have uploaded last month about Hurry Curry of Tokyo - a little south of Colorado on Fair Oaks Ave in Pasadena. Ummm.... I wasn't really impressed.

But the Sake and Sochu cocktail drink menu did catch my attention. They seem to put heavy emphasis on the drink menu. This is a Curry joint with a Happy Hour. I suppose it is a differentiator, but too bad I didn't come in for drinks.

I ordered their Chicken Cutlet Curry - which they claim is their most popular. The meal starts out with a standard non-exciting salad.

The main dish? I'm not too keen on their plating. A huge plate with a fried chicken cutlet and a huge mound of rice. The cutlet was fried a little too long and dry. My impression was that the curry was not as sweet as other Curry joints. I liked that. But the dry chicken didn't make for a great experience.

Perhaps a side view will provide some more perspective. And points off for no condiments (fukujinzuke, rakkyo...etc.) - unless you ask?

I didn't post this earlier because I wanted to go check out the Hurry Curry joint on Sawtelle to see if there was any difference. After all, I was taking a field trip to the West Side to check out the film, Cavite, at the Nuart. (Great indie flick by the way. A thriller made for $7k and filmed mostly in the Philippines!) Getting back to the chow, the experience on the West Side was pretty similar - except the chicken was a little bit better and it was more crowded. I would have been better off going to Blue Marlin or Sawtelle Kitchen.

My personal conclusions:
- Hurry Curry is not a destination site for me. I may go again if I'm in the area doing something else and need some Japanese food and drinks.
- If you find yourself on the East Side with a hankering for Japanese Curry, go indie with a mom and pop joint - try Ducks on Las Tunas in San Gabriel - their tonkatsu and chicken cutlet is better. Of course when I go to Ducks, I'm known to switch my mind and get their donburi.

Hurry Curry of Tokyo
Happy Hour 3pm-6pm
37 Fair Oaks Ave Pasadena CA 91105 (626) 792-8474
hurrycurryoftokyo.com