2020 Shimokitazawa curry festival ( 下北沢カレーフェス)

 Hi again!  I'm back!  Now, if you are regular readers of this blog you will know that I no longer live in Japan.  I moved back to Australia last year.  Since then, I have been wondering what to do with this blog.  At first, I thought I would just continue it but write about places and events in Melbourne, where I live now.  Covid-19 stopped that from happening (as it has stopped many things from happening....).  Some of you may know that Melbourne is the most locked-down city in the world.  We even had a curfew that ran from 8pm to 5am and travel was absolutely banned, so continuing to write about places here was not an option.

I recently realised that one of my favourite events in one of my favourite neighbourhoods in Tokyo was coming soon, very, very soon!  I thought to myself, why not continue to write about Japan from afar?  I still love Japan very much and it is a place that is dear to my heart. This could now become an event blog, notifying people of when different events or festivals that I have been to or know about are coming up.  One of the most frustrating things for me (and maybe you too), writing the blog in the past, was that I was always writing about events that had already finished.  Now I can write about them as they are approaching so that you can attend now rather than having to wait a year for them to come around again!

So, what is the event that is coming up?  Well the title of this post probably gave it away.... That's right, the annual Shimokitazawa curry festival!!  Now, I have written about this event before (you can find posts about the 2018 edition here and here and in 2015, where I ate my way through 10 curries in 10 days, here.) as it is a great example of how Japanese people celebrate food.

This year's curry fes runs from the 1st to the 18th of October and you can find the official website here. The website is in Japanese only but if you are using google chrome you should be able to translate it into English (remembering that Japanese is a language that doesn't translate directly very accurately, but you will get the idea).  Traditionally with the curry festival, you went to the individual café / restaurant / bar etc that are making their own unique curry dish, which is also the case this year too.  However, this year they will also have a designated outdoor eating and drinking space where you can eat your take-out curries!

So, the deal is, when you arrive at Shimokitazawa, head out of the station and you will be able to pick up a map listing all of the participating places and where they are located in Shimokitazawa.  The map is in Japanese only so if you cannot read Japanese or don't have a Japanese friend accompanying you, you will need to do your homework first on the website which for me, was almost as much fun as actually eating all of the curries!!  They also run a stamp rally during the festival in which you can win different prizes based on how many places you eat at.

How many different curries are there?  I'm happy you asked!  This year there are 114 different cafés / restaurants / bars participating!  That's right, 114!  I know!!  How are you going to choose!!  That's why it is so much fun planning it all.

Here are a few of the dishes that I have tried in years past.

This one from my good friend's bar, Bar Loaded (also participating this year).

46ma shiro kuma café (cannot see them listed for this year).

This one is from the great little craft beer bar Ushitora (they are also participating this year with the same curry).

This next one was from a cool old school rock bar that is no longer open, Back Page.

Next up, an offering from Publion (still open, but don't appear to be participating this year.  Good bar for imported beers and football / soccer).

A unique offering from the now closed Ms Claudia.

This next place is also, unfortunately closed, Matsu to Eda.

Another unique one from &Roll café (still open but appear not to be participating this year).

This next one was a nice, healthy one from Café Lancul (still open but not participating this year).

Another of the craft beer bars in Shimokitazawa, Kazenori Merry.  They are also participating this year but with a different dish.

Next, a dish from the hamburg restaurant Torokeru Otona no Hamburg (which is participating this year with the same dish).

Finally, a beautiful curry from Mikazuki curry Samurai.  They are also participating again this year but the curry that I tried and photographed was from their regular menu rather than their curry fes special.

That is the unique thing about each of the dishes on offer at the curry fes.  They are all unique dishes for the curry festival.  You cannot eat these from the participating places at any other time during the year.  If you want tasting notes on all of the above curries, you will have to check out the links at the top of this post.

Now, looking at this year's offerings, I am especially interested in Bar Loaded's chicken nanban curry (again. Number 1 on the map. It just tastes so good! The curry itself is cooked for 6 hours!), Shimokitazawa Bar Seven's chicken curry (number 17 on the map), the mapo curry from Isshin (number 53 on the map.  This one I always wanted to try but never did), the beef and keema curry medley from Curry and curry bread shop Tenmaya (number 74 on the map.  I love keema curries!) and, finally, the Sri Lankan curry on offer from the ageless Okinawan bar, Never Never Land (number 21 on the map).

So, please go along and enjoy the curry festival.  I am sure that all of the businesses participating will be happy to have you there.  As with a lot of businesses, I am sure that they have had a difficult time with the coronavirus.  If you go to Bar Loaded, tell Kazu (my friend and the bar owner) that Jason says Hi.  Also, if you go, please leave a message below telling me where you went and how the curry tasted!

Thanks for reading and see you next time!

2018 Shimokitazawa curry fes the second visit (下北沢カレーフェス).

It was inevitable that I made a second trip back to Shimokitazawa for round 2 of the curry fes so off I went again.  Now I recently moved and now it is over an hour from home to Shimokitazawa (oh the lengths I will go to for curry!!).

First up was a specialist Hamburg steak restaurant called Torokeru Otona Hamburg.which translated into English is Melting Hamburg for Adults.....

Now I have been to this restaurant before for the Shimokitazawa Geki Kara fes (See write up here) and it is a little pricey, but the food is good.

After a short wait, the food arrived.

I started with a taste of the curry.  Now that wasn't a hint of cumin at all, that was a slap in the face of cumin!!  Very nice!

Now I have a strange way of eating food.  Usually I will eat all of the vegetables first working up to and finishing with my favourite vegetable.  This used to really frustrate my father who always tried to cram a bit of everything on to his fork with each mouthful.  So, I started with the carrot then the potato and finishing with the broccoli (in my opinion, the King or Queen of vegetables!).  Next came the fun part, piercing the yolk of the egg

and then pouring the curry over the top!

The hamburg steak was literally fall apart tender, at time breaking up and falling off of the fork, but just delicious!  Like I said, pricey, but delicious.  All up, including bread and a soft drink, 2,200 yen.

Finishing up, I walked around the neighbourhood to digest a little before moving on to the next place.  Now, I have been coming to Shimokitazawa regularly for over 9 years and I never get tired of wandering around the area.

Feeling ready for my next plate I wandered over to my next curry adventure, Mikazuki Curry Samurai which is a relatively new curry restaurant on the restaurant scene in Shimokitazawa.  

It has a sister restaurant also in Shimokitazawa called Rojiura Curry Samurai which I have not yet been to but will be trying after experiencing Mikazuki's curry!!  I had to wait about 30 minutes and it left me wondering if the wait would be worth it (I don't like waiting for food....).  Entering the restaurant there was a strong aroma of cumin (positive sign). I ordered the lamb curry which was not their curry fes offering, so you can order this one any time!  After a further 10 minutes wait it finally arrived.  This had better be worth it, I thought to myself.

I had ordered the lamb curry with a soft boiled egg and extra broccoli and extra spicy.  At first bite I was left a little underwhelmed with the spice level.  The lamb was very tender and the vegies added a nice contrast in texture, some extra crunch!  The broccoli had been deep fried with garlic.  Suddenly the spiciness started building and there was a hint of a numbing element to the curry too.  By the time I had finished the plate, my taste buds were dancing!  I will always say that Bar Loaded's chicken nanban curry is my favourite (see first blog post about the curry fes for this one), but in this curry I had found a close second favourite.  Definitely do yourself a favour and head to Mikazuki curry samurai and check out their curries!

Thanks again for reading.  I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you enjoyed the curry fes if you were able to get along.  Please leave a comment below and sign up to receive email updates when I upload a post from the right side of the screen.  Also, feel free to share by Facebook and Twitter from the dropdown box at the top left side of the page.

Cheers and see you next time! 

2018 Shimokitazawa curry fes the first visit (下北沢カレーフェス).

Yesterday I jumped on the train with an empty stomach and headed off to Shimokitazawa to sample some of the curries on offer.  When you get to Shimokitazawa exit the station and start walking.  Pretty soon you'll see plenty of participating places.  Just pick up a map from out in front or\f whichever participating restaurant / bar / cafe and start enjoying!

I met up with good friend and long time resident of Shimokitazawa (in fact, some refer to him as the Mayor of Shimokitazawa. Honestly, you walk into nearly any restaurant or bar in the area with Charlie and the staff look up and say "Oh, hi Charlie!").  The first place we visited was not one that I had planned on.  It is a craft beer bar that we entered just for a beer and we found out that they were participating in the curry festival.  The name of the place is Kazenori Merry, number 56 on the map.

Here is their Facebook page.  The staff are very friendly and speak good English.  They have 20 beers on tap, mostly Japanese and American.

I ordered myself a beer, a very hoppy IPA, in fact you could smell the aroma of the hops coming out of the glass before even picking the glass up!

Pretty soon the curry arrived.

The staff explained that it was a mutton curry and they had used thyme to flavour it,  Sitting on top there is some coriander and Indian pickled cabbage. It had a nice slightly bitter taste to it and I would rate it as medium spicy.  The staff mentioned that the curry will change every couple of days as they make a new batch.  A very nice way to start Curry Fes!

Charlie then left me and headed of to a nearby wine bar called Hagare.  Here is a link to their facebook page.  This place is recommended too as glasses of wine are only 300 yen!  

The good thing about a lot of the participating restaurants is that they offer full and mini servings of their curries so you can sample a few different curries.  I went off in search of my next choice, 他力本願寺カレー 瀬口家 (Tari Khon Gangi Curry Segutique).  There was a line so I had to wait a little.  In all of my excitement I forgot to take a photo, but it is number 36 on the map, near the koban (police box) and the friendly police officers here will help you find it.

The interior of the store is pretty funky!

They even provide instructions on how they recommend you eat the curry!

I hate to admit it, but in my haste to get the first few spoonfuls into my mouth, I forgot to take a photo again but here is one from the curry fes website.

(source: https://curryfes.pw/)

One half was a red keema and the other was a black keema with cashew nuts on top.  The red keema had a nice tomatoey taste to it and the black had no standout flavour, but was no less tastey again, not too spicy.  Finishing up I went and joined Charlie for a couple of glasses of red wine.

Then I headed off to my final curry of the night at my friend Kazu's bar, Bar Loaded, number 1 on the map.

Kazu's curry is a chicken nanban curry and he has a number of options.

I got the curry with the spicy salsa topping.

Now Kazu cooks his chicken curry for 6 hours so it has a deep, rich flavour!  Definitely comfort food!

Fully satisfied I jumped back on the train and headed home.  I am certainly planning to go to some more places next weekend!

Thanks again for reading.  Please feel free to leave a message below and sign up on the right side of the screen to receive emails when I upload a new post.  I have just noticed that at the top of the screen you can share the blog with Facebook and Twitter so please feel free to share with others who may like to read the blog too by using this feature.

See you next time!

No ramen no life - Tokyo ramen show

I have a very good friend who I used to work with called Jorge.  He, like me, is a ramen lover.  Jorge, however, takes it to a whole nother level.  After Jorge left Japan, he moved to Brussels, Belgium.  One day he woke up craving ramen and before the day was out he was on a flight to Tokyo for a bowl of his favourite miso ramen!!  Possibly one of the most expensive bowls of ramen ever!  Jorge recently sent me a message on Facebook letting me know that the Tokyo ramen show was on.  In the midst of packing and moving apartment, a trip to the Tokyo ramen show was decided.

A few years ago I developed a New Year's routine.  I would go to my local shrine for the typical New Year's shrine visit (hatsumode) followed by a trip across town to my favourite miso ramen shop, Kururi.  Suddenly in late 2015, disaster struck.  Kururi closed.  After the tears and the wailing and gnashing of teeth had subsided (I don't know if gnashing of teeth is a sign of sadness and disappointment, but I was grieving)  I set about trying to find my new favourite miso ramen place.  I decided to extend this quest to the Tokyo ramen show.

The Tokyo ramen show is held each year at Komazawa Olympic Park so I set off towards Komazawa Daigaku station.  After a quick 10 minute walk from the station I arrived at the ramen show.  It was early evening so there were not too many people around.

Pulling out my English shop information map I plotted my first miso ramen raid.

Seeing that miso was the theme of the night, I picked out Musashi miso ramen as my first bowl of the night.

As I said, no lines, perfect!!  I grabbed my bowl and headed off to a table to tuck into my first bowl of the night.  It looked beautiful!

The charsui pork was fall apart tender, delicious.  The egg was seasoned nicely, probably the best part of the bowl.  The bowl was topped with a burnt garlic oil which initially added a punch of flavour to the bowl, but all too soon the flavour diluted into the rest of the soup.  The soup was okay, but no wow factor and the noodles tasted a bit cheap (I was to discover that all of the ramen noodles tasted the same, maybe the same provider).

Having finished my first bowl I decided to head for a walk around the park to get the digestion process started.  About 30 minutes later I was back for my second bowl.  Seeking another bowl of miso I lined up at Kanazawa Mentatsu Kenrokukai.

The crowds were now starting to appear.  After a 10 minute wait, I started getting nearer and the smells were getting stronger and stronger.

Finally I was there!

Just in time too as now the crowds were really swelling!

I sat down at another table to start slurping on my second bowl.

The winner in this bowl was the pork.  

Seasoned beautifully and cooked in black pepper, I could have eaten a whole bowl of it and gone back for seconds!    The soup in this bowl was also good, a stronger miso flavour, very smooth and mild with a lingering salty aftertaste.  Nice!

After my second bowl, I needed an extended break before attempting a third bowl so I took another walk around the park and washed everything down with a chu-hi.

Tempting fate, I went back for my third bowl.  Again, sticking with the miso theme I went for a bowl at Ramen Gimparou Sapporo.

The menma (bamboo shoots) on this one were great, soft and tender and the sesame seeds added a nice elements to it.  The charsui was pretty standard but the soup in this bowl was the winner, delightfully creamy!  Unfortunately I was not able to finish this bowl off.  The soup disappeared but the noodles were left remaining.  Three bowls proved to be too much.....

So, did I find my New Year's miso ramen replacement.  It is with great sadness that I report, no, none of the bowls I ate matched up to the great Kururi.  The search continues.

Thanks again for reading.  I hope you enjoyed it Jorge, and I look forward to slurping a bowl with you again sometime in the future.

Please leave me a message below, if you have a favourite miso ramen place around the Tokyo area, please tell me about it and I will check it out and report back here!  See you next time.