A note on the words: tonkatsu is a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet, and katsu curry is that cutlet laid over rice with curry sauce. The Japanese curry roux is a thickened sauce closer to a stew than to an Indian curry. Omurice is a Japanese invention, an omelette wrapped around fried rice, and hayashi rice is beef and onion in a red-wine and tomato sauce over rice; keema is minced-meat curry. Hamburg steak is the Japanese version of the Salisbury steak, a seasoned patty of minced beef and pork served without a bun. The Kanda Curry Grand Prix is an annual curry contest held in the Kanda district of Tokyo. The Ariake Garden branch reviewed here has since closed. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
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MAJI CURRY, Ariake Garden, on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
I want something good to eat today too. This is Hangover Meshi. Out to Ariake to see a miniature diorama exhibition called “Small World”. Went round it fairly briskly — it was enjoyable enough in its way — then thought I might do some shopping and headed into Ariake Garden. By the time I had bought some tableware it was a good hour for lunch, so into the food court. I had thought about a proper restaurant, but every one of them had a long queue. Mind you, the food court was busy too. Still, the good thing about a food court is that everyone can eat whatever they feel like. So we took a table and went off to browse, and this time I picked “MAJI CURRY”.
Apparently it is a shop that won the Kanda Curry Grand Prix. To think you can eat a grand-prix-winning curry I have never tried, in a place like this. Food courts these days are splendid.
Grand Prix curry, 1,330 yen
Tonkatsu curry, 1,080 yen
Omurice, 880 yen
Om-hayashi rice, 1,000 yen
Besides the winning curry there is hayashi rice and keema curry as well.
Go for the Grand Prix curry, or the most popular one, the tonkatsu curry? If I am going to eat the Grand Prix curry, perhaps it is better at the main shop. So this time: the tonkatsu curry.
You order and they hand you the familiar buzzer. It suddenly starts vibrating and gives you a fright every time. Like an insect.
Right, katsu curry! It looks good. A thoroughly orthodox katsu curry to look at.
One mouthful — good! The roux is very well made. What you notice first is the slow spread of cumin and coriander-type spice aromas, with a deep savoriness following after. The heat is not sharp; the spice is clearly there and yet no heaviness is left behind, a balance that explains why people get hooked. It is good. There is not much fat in it, so it feels easy on the stomach too. Less of the sweetness and butter of a European-style curry, not as pointed as an Indian one — it sits in the middle.
The tonkatsu has a light, crisp coating and the meat inside is moist and tender. It is well drained, so pairing it with the curry never turns cloying. Even loaded with roux the coating does not go soggy, and the texture holds to the end, which impressed me. Perhaps it is precisely because the roux is not heavy with flour, and the finish is light, that it goes so well with a katsu or a hamburg steak.
Yes, thoroughly satisfying. A level of satisfaction you would not expect from a food court.
So: that was good. Being able to eat a famous shop’s curry this casually is a pleasure. A grand-prix curry indeed — though rather than a special-occasion curry, its clearest characteristic was a roux leaning toward the spice-curry side that you could eat every day. It was good enough that I would like to visit the shop itself once. I shall go sometime.
And then I found it had already closed. A shame!
MAJI CURRY, Ariake Garden (Curry / Ariake Station, Kokusai-tenjijo Station, Ariake-tennis-no-mori Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.0
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
