The Yummiest Japanese Curry in San Francisco

Poke One

★★★★☆ 4 (364) • $$

"Line was a bit busy upon walking in. Definitely a busy place. We ordered 1 large poke bowl, and 2 medium bowls. They definitely forgot a couple things on all bowls and the amounts of the protein were so sad. Since it wasn't our vibe that day, we took our food to go. Not a fan."

Muracci's Japanese Curry & Grill

★★★★☆ 4 • $$

"I had Muracci's a while back but I absolutely remember what a fun experience this was. This is a small restaurant that really specializes in Katsu curry. Don't expect something fancy, but expect delicious food. This place is popular so I had to wait in line, but it is great for a lunch meal. I got the chicken katsu which came piping hot, crispy and was absolutely delicious with the curry. The rice was plentiful as well. Overall, I would try this place again and would recommend one to check it out!"

Ginto Express

★★★★☆ 4.4 (56)

"So glad I found this little gem while walking around the area on NYE. I ordered the Pork Curry Katsu Don and side of Chicken Karaage and it did not disappoint! The portions were very generous, rich flavor, and the fact they were open on New Years Eve was such a treat! They were pickup and delivery only FYI; I don't know if this is temporary or because it was a holiday."

Muracci's Berkeley

★★★★☆ 3.5 (393) • $$

"I ordered the katsu udon and it was pretty solid! I got the spicy level but could've gotten extra spicy. The udon was perfectly cooked and the curry sauce was creamy. I loved the boiled veggies on the side for extra crunch. The portions were huge but the katsu would have been a bit more tender. Definitely the highlight of my meal was the very friendly staff and coloring paper. They gave us crayons and paper to draw on so we could put it up later on the wall. It was very wholesome and cute (:"

Xiao Yu’s Kitchen

★★★★☆ 4.3 (66)

"The 2-item Lunch Box $14 is a delicious special served Noon to 4:30 pm daily.We recommend the Saba Shioyaki/mackerel, Mixed Tempura, Dengaku, California Roll, Chicken Katsu, Salmon Teriyaki. Agedashi tofu Teriyaki.Tea is $4."

Yoma Cafe

★★★★★ 4.6 (217) • $$

"The highlight of this place for me is the unagi and seared salmon. The sashimi slices are very fresh and thick too. The miso soup is also real miso soup and not the powdered instant kind.I have not been disappointed by anything I've ordered and the owner is really sweet.Melting salmon roll and double unagi rolls are my usuals. My friends and I also like to get the katsu musubis with a side of curry to dip."

Izakaya Ginji

★★★★☆ 3.9 (670) • $$

"Date of Visit: 7/12/2024Japanese izakaya is one of our favorite types of cuisine. Izakaya Ginji located in San Mateo has had great reviews since it was opened back in 2010. It is a family restaurant operated by two brothers. Daisuke Nishimoto works at the back side of the kitchen and curates the extensive sake menu, and Shingo manages the binchotan grill in the front.We made a reservation about 1.5 week prior to our visit, and sat right away. The skewer menu is a physical menu on the table that can place the order of all different kinds of skewers. And we need to scan the QR code to place an order for all others, including sashimi, appetizers, donburi, udon, dessert, and drinks.Sapporo $5Asahi $6We got two types of Japanese beer to pair with our foods.We ordered the following skewers:Shishito Pepper $3.8Shishito pepper was very yummy, but some of them were spicy and some were sweet.Gizzard $4.75My favorite! Love the crispy and chewy taste of the gizzard.Heart $4.75Chicken heart skewers were juicy and delicious!Skin $5Chicken skin was grilled right on point!Cartilage $5.75Cartilage was great too!Fatty Salmon Sashimi $14We got the fatty salmon sashimi with daikon and shiso, and wasabi on the side.Grilled Salmon Collar and Belly $19The grilled salmon collar and belly were big portions.Chicken Knee Karaage $9.5This one paired great with iced cold beer!Mentaiko Carbonara $18One of the most popular dishes, the Mentaiko Carbonara was made with cream and cod roe, on top was decorated with seaweed and green onion. It was very creamy but not too thick.Gyu Don $16And we also got the gyu don. This one is just okay, also with miso soup on the side."

Kobeya

★★★★☆ 3.8 (574) • $

"another wonderful lunch - at a reasonable price. super pleasant people. xxx yu zzzz yelp wants 85 characxhfff"

Nippon Curry

★★★★☆ 4.4 (22)

"Nippon Curry happened to be right next door to where I was getting my drink, so it was very conveniently located, and with the cold weather, warm curry sounded perfect. I ordered the Plain Curry Rice. I somehow thought that the curry being made with beef meant it would have beef inside, but when it came out, it was just the curry with rice. Nonetheless, I thought the flavor of the curry was very good and it had a hint of spiciness. I also thought the pickles were delicious. There are a few stools to sit which made it very convenient. I also thought the prices overall were pretty fair for the portion size you were getting."

Curry Hyuga

★★★★★ 4.6 (159) • $$

"Curry Hyuga is now one of our go-to's for Japanese Curry in the city as the food has always been solid every time we've been. For the past couple times we've been here we just did walk-in and we were able to get seating very easily with no wait. The interior is clean and modern, with ample tables for groups to sit in. I've gotten the Pork Katsu curry along with the Corn Potage soup, which both are great dishes! The katsu here is really crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, while the curry has a lot of flavor in it. They also have an interesting spice rack with various levels of spiciness so you can customize your own dish if you want it to have more of a kick. If you're looking for Japanese Curry in SF, this is another great spot to check out!"

Tonton Restaurant

★★★★☆ 4.1 (192) • $$

"For the price in sf it's good! The ramen was made to order. They take card and they also had beer and a lot of choices :) there's a bathroom. A lot of ramen and rice places to choose from and under $20.00. The waitress was also nice"

Ramen Kowa

★★★★☆ 4.2 (254) • $$

"We were searching for a good meal in the area but other places were packed! We stumbled upon this brightly lit ramen shop and there was no wait. The staff greeted us very quickly and sat us down. The tempura was cooked perfectly, shrimp was tender and the batter was lightly crisp. The ramen noodles had a nice bite and chew. The broth was rich and flavorful, however there was a lot of umami and we were extremely thirsty afterwards!"

Diner Japonica

★★★★☆ 4.4 (343) • $$

"Diner Japonica transitioned to take out only and really focuses on bento boxes, donburi and Japanese curries. Their simple and affordable menu while not fancy is exactly what it's advertised to be--Japanese comfort food.I love their salmon teriyaki, shrimp katsu and sashimi bento. It comes with a small side salad, rice and Japanese potato salad. It was pouring rain today and I called in the order which only took 15 minutes to prepare and was totally satisfied.Again, don't expect it to be fancy but it delivers that simple Japanese comfort food I often crave."

Nippon Curry

★★★★★ 4.5 (398) • $$

"Date: Sunday, September 15th, 2024Party of: 2Meal: Lunch DeliveryTime Ordered: around 2pmTime Arrived: around 3pmOrdered Thru: DoorDashDelivered to: Outer Richmond*"Popeye Curry" Pork & Spinach ($38.08) - Regular, Beef Roux, Yes, Pickles Please! (3PD), Kani (Crab) Cream Croquette (1 pc) (3PD), Karaage (1pc) (3PD), Oyster (1 pc) (3PD), Aji Fry (1 pc) (3PD), Takeout & Delivery - Put curry in separate container(3PD)*Chicken Katsu Curry ($21.28) - Large, Beef Roux, Yes, Pickles Please! (3PD)*Habanebros Classic Habanero Sauce from Kyoto: 60ml ($12)Did I really spend $38+ on a plate of curry?! Yes I did! I also wanted the hot sauce, so there's the extra $12 as well. Yeah, I was in a YOLO kinda mood and hungry, so I added like a million toppings. The other dish was the hubby's.The positive. I actually really liked the hot sauce. Just a small dab added a nice amount of heat. The bottle is kinda small, but a little goes a long way. For the toppings, I enjoyed the katsu and the karaage. They did get a little mushy in transit, but the flavors and textures were still good. The fried seafood items, I didn't enjoy as much. The aji was very fishy. Tho it is mackerel, so I expected that. Just not quite as much. I didn't really taste much crab in the croquette. The oyster was a little over, so rubbery in texture.The curry itself, I found to be too sweet for my palate. I don't know if that's what they are known for, but I did not like it. I ended up adding hot sauce and sour kimchee to my bowl to cut into it. The curry did have a nice texture tho. Since I more of a brown rice girl, I paid extra to have the curry on the side. (I made rice at home.) Otherwise, it would have been served on top of the white rice.I adore Japanese curry. Unfortunately, I'm just not a huge fan of Nippon's version. Too sweet for my tastes.REVIEW #3562"

Osakaya Restaurant

★★★☆☆ 2.8 (689) • $$

"We ordered to go and it was Fabulous!We gotGyozasOzakaya roll Chirashi sashimi over rice Sashimi saladYakiniku Don rice bowl All were delicious and we would order all again"

Fumi Japanese Curry & Ramen

★★★★☆ 4.1 (526) • $$

"It's starting to get cold outside and I start craving soups and warm dishes. My coworker had a couple ideas in mind for lunch and I jumped at Fumi for the Curry dishes. I had been once before for the ramen, but was craving curry and we decided to go try it out. To start we ordered the fried calamari, which was good. Each of us ordered a curry rice plate, which was pretty big. We got the chicken katsu curry, pork katsu curry and the tender beef curry. The food came out pretty fast, which was good because we were on our lunch break and needed to get back. Plate was so big I brought my leftovers home. The food was VERY satisfying and warm on a cold rainy winter day."

On the Bridge

★★★☆☆ 3.4 • $$

"Been wanting to try this spot. We always pass it by. So happy we did this time. The food was great! The staff was friendly and fast. I think the owner even took our orders. Older gentlemen. So cute. Will be coming back to try other dishes."

Champion's Curry

★★★★☆ 3.8 (77) • $$

"To those unacquainted with the history of curry within Japan: the spice was introduced to the country allegedly by British sailors who were shipwrecked on the Japanese coast on their way back from India. To this day, it has been a mainstay in Japanese cuisine so much so that the dish is considered "home cooking" and popular enough that many Japanese curry franchises have expanded to the U.S. Champion's Curry is one of them brought to us via the city of Kanazawa (Japan) and I was so excited and a little annoyed at myself for not being aware it had arrived. In the world of always being connected and force fed targets-how did the algorithm gods betray me??Fear not as Yelp made sure to keep me apprised of the newest (to me) addition to the UC Berkeley area. I appreciated it being off the side rather than off of crowded Telegraph street as I notice most restaurants tend to get clogged up. As most locations, street parking is your option here or a short walk from the nearby parking garages.Fairly sized location a large communal table in the middle and a handful of tables that can accommodate groups of 2/4 along the side. Great lighting and I wonder if they ever roll up the garage door up when it gets warm. There is one clean restroom off to the side with *gasp!* no code required!This is a casual self-service restaurant that only accepts credit card. The staff in the back simply prepares the food so expect a bit of a waving around the window to catch their attention should you have any questions otherwise you're on your own.On to the good stuff: They offer the standard protein of your choice Katsu (panko breaded and fried) with curry combo from an extensive menu with various Japanese renditions of American like options (sandwiches! fries! Katsu salads, beer). We opted for simple and tried their:- Pork Katsu Curry rice - spicy- Fish Katsu Curry rice - mild- Curry Cheese FriesWe placed our order on the tablet, waited an acceptable amount of time (10-15 minutes), and our order arrived. The portions were acceptable-not too little and just enough to take some home to snack on. While the katsus were a bit on the dry side (honestly this is a fast meal chain, I kind of expected this), the curry sauce was great! At first look I was a bit dismayed by the cheese and curry ratio on the fries until I started eating more and realized the cheese sauce was hidden beneath the fry surface. The spicy level was tolerable on my end (I'm a baby) and if it wasn't spicy enough, togarashi flakes could be found on the table accompanied by sauce on the table.Would I return again if I was craving a curry dish (or fries or sandwich) for a reasonable price around the area? Yes. If you want something similar but a little more on the "homier" in quality with casual table service, there's always Muracci's down the street off of Telegraph."

Curry Hyuga

★★★★★ 4.6 (977) • $$

"I had some time to spare before my NOC shift and I wanted to grab some grub so here I am.I ordered the signature katsu curry w/chicken cutlet. The curry has very delicious and complex flavors. It paired really well the chicken cutlet. The portion sizes are also pretty huge and it comes at a reasonable price. I've never tried Japanese curry before, but I can definitely say after today that I'm a fan.The service here was decent. The food arrived pretty quickly and my waiter came back often to refill my water. The restaurant is kinda small inside but at the time I came there was only one other person eating. For parking there are a lot of paid meter parking nearby. Try it out if you like. :)"

Ramen Sky

★★★★☆ 3.9 (176) • $$

"I ordered a rice bowl. It was tasty. The restaurant was empty and when I walked in to pick up the food no was there to greet me. I had wait like 3 minutes until someone came out from the kitchen area to get me order. The restaurant was cute."

Dela Curo Curry

★★★★☆ 4.2 (109) • $$

"This place is a pop up located inside the Berkeley bowl cafe only on some days. The Japanese curry wasn't what I was expecting, and I don't think I enjoyed it as much as the "usual" kind. Their version is very dark and sweet and tastes a lot like the Japanese "bulldog" fruit and vegetable or tonkotsu sauce. We also got the steak special and that was really excellent, though."

Hinodeya Ramen Bar - Financial District

★★★★☆ 4.3 (613) • $$

"High quality ramen, delicious flavors with a variety of options. Interior decor is clean and many seating options available. This is a touch less expensive. Order and pay with the app and QR code."

Hanabi Ramen & Japanese Curry

★★★★☆ 4.2 (962) • $$

"Solid spot for curry. Such a generous sized dish filled with lots of curry sauce. Plenty to dip your Katsu chicken and your rice can swim in curry if you'd like. Excellent flavor. Ramen choices have different toppings like "kfc style" fried chicken or karage chicken or cha siu. Delicious broth Few sushi rolls on the menu, not a lot. Salmon avocado roll was ok and it is $9 whether or not you add the avocado Waitress is so courteous and kind"