CURRY IS DELICIOUS, JOSH

Hi everybody,

So, a little bit ago, my good friend Josh checked his inbox to find the following message:

From: Noah T***
To: Josh K***
Subject: CURRY IS DELICIOUS JOSH

"Hey Josh,

What are you up to this weekend?  Oh, yeah, uh-huh, cool, whatever I don't care because this weekend is the KANDA CURRY GRAND PRIX and we are going

http://kanda-curry.com/

CURRY IS DELICIOUS, JOSH"



And thus began our curry adventure . . .

See, Kanda, an area in Central Tokyo, is known among other things for its curry.  Jinbocho, for instance, is in the heart of Kanda.  And it is in fact in Jinbocho that, once a year, the curry shops get together to hold the Curry Grand Prix.  Which is exactly what you're all hoping it is--the best curry shops in the area get together, set up booths in an empty lot, and compete to see who has the most delicious curry.  Wanna know who won?  Spoiler:  Everybody

Just one of many rows of curry shops, I want to say there were at least 20.  Sorry I didn't realize that I didn't take many pictures of the grounds as a whole, it was raining and it's hard to take pictures while holding an umbrella

Like I said, definitely a little sprinkly.  I actually thought this was a good thing since it kept the lines short as most people hung out under the canopy.  Josh was a little sad about the rain, he's lived away from Seattle for too many years (for shame, Josh)

This is serious business, these guys even bought a portable naan oven--and I say portable in the sense that it was moved at least once, not in the sense that it looked in any way small or compact or less than a few hundred pounds (18 megajoules)

Many of the shops had sides to help sway people to their cause, most notably some outstanding grilled chicken.  Which seems kinda like cheating in a curry competition, but you didn't hear me complaining

So yes, some of you might have been confused by the naan oven and bright orange chicken.  No, Japanese curry is not usually served with naan, nor is it a crazy new trend to color one's yakitori.  However, this is an all-inclusive curry festival, meaning both Japanese- and Indian-style curries are welcome.  And that's definitely a good thing, because some of those Indian curries were absolutely fantastic.  Josh and I split our time right down the middle between both Indian and Japanese, although we got excited and forgot to take pictures half the time (I'd like to say it was a "I thought you were gonna take a picture" "I thought you were gonna take a picture!" thing, but mostly it was both of us simultaneously getting so excited to try the next curry that thought never entered into the equation at all)

Mandala Curry, both of our favorites--creamy, rich curry just barely on this side of too spicy--a bold choice given the Japanese palette

Although we agreed that, if you were going to give strong points to the grilled chicken, this one came close to the crown as well

Not to be outdone, the Japanese shops put out some fantastic offerings, including this one topped with an onsen egg (soft-boiled inside the shell)

All in all, I gotta say this was almost the best possible way I could imagine spending a Saturday (because afterwards of course we walked over to check out the used bookstores in Jinbocho)

Cheers!

Noah (and Josh!) out