A note on the words: yakuzen curry is Japanese curry built on herbs and aromatics borrowed from traditional Chinese herbal medicine, aimed at nourishing and balancing the body. Spice curry is the modern Japanese genre emphasizing whole spices and fragrant, layered gravies rather than flour-thickened roux. In this article, a two-curry yakuzen plate brings together a fragrant coconut chicken curry and a rich keema curry, keema meaning minced meat, here beef.
Table of Contents hide
Akasaka Spice Center on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. A place I discovered while wandering the back alleys of Akasaka looking for lunch. I wonder if this place was here before? The interior feels rather like a bar, and the entrance is down a short flight of stairs into the basement. A hideaway yakuzen curry spot in Akasaka, you might call it.
Yakuzen curry, one choice — 1,100 yen
Yakuzen curry, two choices — 1,430 yen
Yakuzen curry, three choices — 1,650 yen
Yakuzen South Indian pork curry — 1,650 yen
You choose your curry from coconut chicken curry, keema curry, and spinach and black sesame curry.
For rice portions, you can choose between standard and medium, or large for an extra 200 yen.
Hmm, maybe two curries with regular rice to start? With that decided, I ordered.
The curries I picked this time were the coconut chicken curry and the keema curry!
After waiting a bit, the curry arrived and looked delicious! In fact, it was colorful enough to photograph well for social media, ha.
On the left was coconut chicken curry, on the right keema curry.
Taking a bite, the spice aroma was striking! Very much a spice curry.
The keema curry has a nice depth of beef flavor with the spices, with a touch of heat but thoroughly mellow overall.
The coconut chicken curry pairs the scent of coconut and chicken beautifully.
Breaking into the rice little by little and eating it together with the surrounding curries and vegetables, complex layers of flavor unfold across your palate!
Mmm, delicious. The red powder sprinkled over the rice is paprika powder, I imagine; it isn’t spicy, so it goes down very easily.
The inside really does have the feel of a bar, slightly dim and atmospheric. Maybe it turns into a bar at night or something. Good spice curry in a moody setting — I feel like I’ve found a really nice place. It’s somewhere I’d like to visit again!
Akasaka Spice Center (Cafe / Akasaka Station, Akasaka-mitsuke Station, Tameike-sanno Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
