Lion Curry Cafe

February 20, 2012February 20, 2012 jjwalsh 4250 Views Curry rice

Opened in 2007, this small blue-walled and antique wood themed cafe is a charming, retro delight serving delicious plates of curry and rice.

The young couple that run the place are friendly and down to earth. On the menu, there are many wonderful farm fresh ingredients on offer.

Lion Curry Cafe is very simple, the staff seem to like to keep things simple and no-fuss. As a customer, you feel more like a neighbor that has popped in for a bite to eat than a stranger.

In fact, the design made me feel like I had been invited into a hobbit’s home as there are many old pieces of twisted wood throughout the cafe, bright colors contrasting one another and small cute decorations. There is a beautiful old piece of wood that holds up the counter and another twisted piece that makes the handle for the door- these add a nice, natural touches to this place. The blue molded walls, colorful lampshades and the small accents like the tissue boxes hanging on the wall are also charming.

If you have never tried the Japanese staple dish of curry and rice- the savory and not so spicy Japanese style curry can be described as a kind of combination of an indian curry and rich gravy and it is served alongside a generous amount of white rice. Pickled, sweet (red) radish is a popular condiment of this dish.

At Lion curry cafe, the standard beef curry on offer is available with a variety of toppings. The main curry base can be adapted to suit your tastes from mild to hot and all the curries are made with a combination of over 30 spices and herbs. As the main curry is made with beef, there are not usually any non-meat curries available here for vegetarians. They did, however, serve a beautiful tofu salad with the lunch set that does not have meat in it.

On the menu, Beef curry is the most basic and starts at a very reasonable 550 yen. The “Lion curry” is their most extravagant and includes beef, vegetables, mushrooms and seafood for 1,500.

Add extra toppings like meat, butter, cheese, garlic, tofu, veggies and more for an extra 50-100 yen.