We eat an Italian-inspired lobster curry…at a cheap curry chain!

It felt like eating like a king. 

You may have heard of the Chinese food-inspired chain Gyoza no Osho, whose name translates to “King of Gyoza”. But did you know there’s a King of Curry too? Yes, Curry no Osama (“King of Curry”) may be a small, forgotten, curry chain, but as of this year, it’s been around for fifty years.

In fact, to celebrate, the chain is offering a super special limited edition curry for each month of the year. April’s is limited to just 10 dishes per day and our Japanese-language reporter Mr. Sato–who is also celebrating his 50th birthday this year–got to try it!

This month is the first of Curry no Osama’s special 50th Anniversary curries, and it’s available now through April 30. It’s called the “Lobster Spice Curry” (2,800 yen [US$21.02]) and comes with–you guessed it–lobster!

If you’ve never been to a Curry no Osama before, you might think that, because it’s offering something so fancy, they’re something of a high-class curry shop, but that’s not true. They offer curry for the people too, like Gorogoro Chicken Curry (with nice large cubes of chicken for 650 yen), and Pork Curry (700 yen). But that just makes this special curry all the more appealing, since they made it so luxurious.

Curry no Osama operates on a vending machine ticket system, but when Mr. Sato went to select the special curry on the machine, he couldn’t find it. Apparently, for this one dish you have to place your order with a staff member. Additionally, unlike Curry no Osama’s other fare, it takes about 15 minutes to prepare, so after ordering, Mr. Sato sat down to wait.

When it finally arrived, he was blown away!

It actually looked really fancy! Like something you’d get at a ritsy curry restaurant, not your neighborhood chain.

The curry is an homage to the legendary Spiny Lobster Tomato Stew Sauce from popular Tokyo Italian restaurant Alporto, but based on Curry no Osama’s spice curry. It was served in a gravy boat, which amped up its fancy level.

Of course, the addition of a whole half of a lobster helped too. Mr. Sato had to try it before dousing it with curry. He picked up his fork and was about to start digging out the meat when the staff interrupted him.

“Please use these,” they said, offering a sheller, a crab fork, and a pair of plastic gloves.

Thinking, “I came here to eat curry but I feel like I’m eating crab legs,” Mr. Sato picked up his weapons and plunged into battle against the lobster. It was a struggle, but he eventually managed to extract all the tasty edible bits.

He was rewarded for his hard work with plump and tender lobster meat that was faintly sweet. “I don’t know how I ended up having such a splurge of a lunch,” Mr. Sato mused, “But I’m all for it.”

Finally, after spending all that time extracting the lobster meat, it was time to eat the curry. It had a very strong tomato-y flavor that almost tasted like pasta sauce. Since it was based on Italian food, Mr. Sato figured it would probably be delicious with pasta too.

It was a surprisingly luxurious lunch that was tremendously tasty and satisfying. Next month’s special curry is going to be something completely different…and Mr. Sato can’t wait to see what it is! Until then, he’ll keep himself busy searching for Japan’s biggest melon bread.

Restaurant Information
Curry no Osama Nishi-Shinjuku Branch / カレーの王様 西新宿店
Address: Tokyo-to Shinjuku-ku Nishi-Shinjuku 6-4-1 Shinjuku Island Atrium B1F
東京都新宿区西新宿6丁目4-1 新宿アイランドアトリウム館B1F
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Closed on weekends and holidays

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