A note on the words: vindaloo is the Goan curry built on vinegar and garlic, which is where its sourness comes from. Chettinad names the peppery, coconut-and-spice cooking of the Chettinad region in Tamil Nadu. Nihari is a slow-simmered stew of the Indian subcontinent, usually eaten with bread. Dry curry, in Japan, means a curry cooked down until almost no sauce is left, closer to a minced-meat stir-fry than a stew. A simmered egg is a boiled egg steeped in seasoned liquid so the flavor soaks in and the yolk stays soft — the same idea as the egg on a bowl of ramen.
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Curry Shop Fennel on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hey, this is Hangover Meshi. I had something to do this day, so off to Nishi-Ogikubo! There was a period when I went around Ogikubo a lot, but I don’t know the Nishi-Ogikubo side very well. My appointment was just after noon, so I searched for somewhere to have lunch beforehand — and the place is absolutely crawling with good-looking restaurants! Nishi-Ogikubo is something else. And among them all, one place stood head and shoulders above the rest on score: Curry Shop Fennel.
There’s no way they’ll have room, I thought — and then I went and there was room after all!! Lucky!
You head up to the second floor from this cute little sign.
The place is a snug little space; if you didn’t hit a good time of day I imagine it would get very crowded. My lucky day.
Dry curry — 1,200 yen
Pork vindaloo — 1,200 yen
Butter chicken — 1,200 yen
Mutton Chettinad — 1,200 yen
Three curries, plus one limited one.
I do love a mutton curry, I thought — but a vindaloo with that sourness to it is hard to give up! It was my first visit and I don’t know whether I’ll get to come again, so I went with the basic pork vindaloo. There was a simmered egg on offer too, so I added that as a topping. You can choose how much rice you want as well, but I’ve been cutting back lately, so I asked for half the normal portion.
Right, after a little wait — here it comes! Curry!
Ooh, that looks good. Bringing it out in a curry boat like that is stylish. It smells wonderful!
The accompaniments. Like an Indian-style appetizer. They’re good eaten alongside the curry.
The rice is 110 g, which is less even than the 150 g small portion.
The simmered egg is 150 yen. Everyone around me had ordered one, though, so it gives off a must-buy sort of air.
And now you pour the curry over onto the rice side! When it’s been plated this neatly, you get a little nervous doing the pouring.
I think I poured it well! While I’m at it, let’s put the egg on top too.
Time to break it all up and dig in!!
One bite in: that’s good.
This is a delicious curry! A fairly strong sourness, but not a sharp, pointed one — a mellow sourness. And the aroma of the spices comes through properly without being too hot. The pork falls apart, and because it’s been simmered so long its savor has dissolved into the curry as well. How to put it — a gentle vindaloo. Wow, that’s good. It goes perfectly with the rice. And the Indian-style simmered egg, runny in the middle, works with the curry, but it’s also ridiculously good on its own. If they sold these at a convenience store I’d buy one every day.
This combination of mellow sourness and savor is so good.
Nihari has a sourness to it too and that’s delicious, but this is an overwhelmingly gentler sourness, with the edges taken right off. That’s new. Amazing!
So there you have it: Curry Shop Fennel, the high-scoring curry place, and it really was seriously good. How can I put it — that pork vindaloo ranks pretty high among all the curry places I’ve been to. I don’t know how crowded it usually gets, but I want to come back here and eat one of the other curries. Superb curry, so please do give it a try!!!
Curry Shop Fennel (Indian curry / Nishi-Ogikubo Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★★☆ 4.0
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
