In Japan, there are many restaurants that serve curry. But there are a few that have managed to create a brand that has done well for the company and had allowed companies such as Curry House and CoCo Ichibanya but another curry restaurant that has managed to expand is Go! Go! Curry best known for its gorilla mascot.
Originally from the Ishikawa prefecture (Ishikawa is a prefecture on the Japanese island of Honshu. Sitting on the coast of the Sea of Japan, the capital city of Ishikawa prefecture is Kanazawa and Ishikawa prefecture is way East of Tokyo.), Go! Go! Curry is best known for their darker brown/black thick curry sauce. As the sauce is found in the bottom, you can eat crisp tonkatsu with the tonkatsu sauce on top with shredded cabbage on a stainless steel plate and has the reputation to be known as “Kanazawa Curry”. The rice is underneath the tonkatsu, smothered by the thick Kanazawa curry sauce.
The name “Go! Go! Curry” is derived from the Japanese #5 which is “Go” in Japanese. So, 55 is how many minutes it takes to stew the curry, 55 hours for the sauce to mature and as the ingredients become black, it forms their special sauce.
Also, the restaurant’s name was inspired by Hideki Matsui (of Yomiuri Giants and New York Yankees fame and also #55) who hails from Kanazawa and the sizes of the meals are based on baseball terms such as walk, single, double, triple, home run, grand slam and world champion.
And from what I have heard from my friends in the East Coast, Go! Go! Curry in Japan and the East Coast are very similar in taste and not very different.
Yes, I own a Hideki Matsui #55 Godzilla Yankees jersey
Currently, there are 75 Go! Go! Curry locations in Japan, 1 in Brazil, 1 in Hong Kong, 2 in Indonesia and there are 6 stores in the U.S. with a new store opening today on East 53rd Stadium in New York.
And the goal of the company is to open 555 stores in 55 countries.
As for my opinion of the curry, I love curry and I enjoy curry from various restaurants, but while I won’t say which is the best curry restaurant as there are many restaurants all over Japan and the world to explore, I will say that I enjoy Go! Go! Curry for its rich flavor.
The dark sauce and how it melds to the bottom of the tonkatsu is so delicious. And because it’s straight up Japanese comfort food and is easily accessible, it won’t cost you an arm and a leg. In fact, it’s just 700 yen.
The restaurant I went to is located in Shinjuku Higashiguchi Chuodori not far from the JR South East Exit and if you are in the mood for curry and want to try something darker, thick and flavorful, definitely give Go! Go! Curry a try!
Food pic from Go! Go! Curry USA’s Facebook site
