Hlahal Soup Curry, Lake Toya, Hokkaido

Soup curry is quite famous in Hokkaido, but I tried 2 different shops that it wasn't to my preference.  Out of curiosity, I tried this one because it's was such a foggy day that I would like to have something to clear up.  Unfortunately this soup curry was much oily.  The veggie was deep fried and yet the soup was  with a thick layer of oil.  The rice was oily too that I had to give up.  The soft ice cream was a milk sorbet. 

Garaku soup curry, Sapporo, Hokkaido

Noticed this shop was very busy in the last trip to Sapporo.  This time we came here earlier, at 6pm to avoid the crowd.  Got a soup curry with pork and a lassi as well as their house signature deep fried chicken in pomelo sauce.  The soup curry is a bit disappointing to me.  It was simply a soup curry base with the ingredients cooked separately.  So without shimmering in the soup curry, I really didn't find the pork and the veggie in a curry aroma.  Yet, the soup is a bit too much with turmeric and galangal.  What's more the rice was cooked with turmeric too.  So it's just tumeric all the way making it much too overwhelming.  The deep fried chicken wasn't nice either as the pomelo sauce was way too sweet.  Later on I found out most visitors here followed their smartphones' forums to come here.  Next time I need to check on the forums too to avoid those hot picks.  BTW, knew someone in some IT companies who could help servicing a million likes or AI comments on the forums and this kind of service really made them a business.  

CoCo Ichiban curry house, Sapporo, Japan

This shop is way too better than those we tried in their HK branches, though the ones in HK aren't too bad.  The rice from this shop is so good that I can clean the plate.  Yet, their curry isn't too greasy.  Pay JPY150, you can get a salad a soup to go with the meal.  So it's just JPY1,000, you can get a full meal.

Tiger Curry, Causeway Bay, HK

Thought that it would be a very powerful (strong) curry,  as its name tells.  Got a curry salad but it's creamy rather than curry, though not too bad.  In general the curry rice and the pork chop are pretty nice.  However, the service and the attitude of the chef are a bit not too nice.  When a mother came in and asked the chef if they took take-away order,  the chef pointed at the other staff.  So the mother thought (so did I) they took the order.  When the mother was about to order,  the waiter rudely replied "no take-away".   Guess it would be my last time to be here.

新仙牛腩咖喱店 Sun Shin beef brisket noodle and curry house, CC Wu Bldg. Wanchai HK

Got told about this shop several times from friends over the past 2 years.  Finally I could get to try it. The soup base is really nice and the beef brisket is a half fat and lean - so aromatic though I still prefer a lean choice.  The shop has a signature tender water cress in soup at just HK$13.  I like it very much as it's a very selected one.  Next to the veggie, that's another interesting drink - barley with crushed ginger in rock sugar.  Barley is not my favourite as it has a "dull" flavour and texture.  This time with a small amount of crushed ginger, this "dull" feeling was gone.  That's good that we can learn when we eat or drink.  I'll come back here for their curry.  Photo 3: they have prepared various containers of curry - smells so good!

CoCo Ichiban Japanese curry house, Windsor House, Causeway Bay, HK

Came here as an alternate choice to avoid queueing at the neighbour Totoya (sushi/sashimi house).  Took a sofa seat and glad to find such a nice street view to Morton terrace and Tai Hang view from Windsor House.  Talking about Windsor House - still remember the Fox fairy in the 70's?  That related to a no. of baby death from the full month birthday dinner banquets held in the Chinese restaurants of this old place.  All of a sudden, people came here to see the marble wall showing the face of a fox fairy.  In fact, perhaps my eyesight was a bit not so good that I couldn't imagine it's a fox.  However, that caused quite much phobia and so led the management of Windsor House renovated the whole mall.  See how the old Chinese saying - 人言可畏 (Getting frightened from massive people's comments).

Back to this place, the food is at average but in considering the price and the location, it's a good choice for getting a Japanese curry rice.   So a wide range of curry rice or other stewed rice is about HK$55-88.  Pay a little more from HK$10-20 for 2-4 more side dishes from, soup, salad, dessert and drink (with average of HK$5 for each choice).  Lately I found out Perrier is on the choice drink list.  So paying HK$5 for a Perrier at a restaurant is a very good deal.  One more nice consideration is the dessert choice.  That's a Dreyer's ice cream for 2 scoops at just HK$5.   So if you get a curry beef or pork chop curry rice with a salad, Dreyer's ice cream plus a Perrier is just HK$83.

Izumi Curry, Hysan Place Causeway Bay HK

 The shop claimed on its house signature home-made hamburg steak (normal one at HK$85 and a giant one at HK$98); so I had to give it a try of course.  The steak was used with mixed pork and beef.  Supposed it's a nice combination, but somehow it lacks the texture (from not having enough stir for more sticky and firm texture).  Yet, it wasn't aromatic enough - lacking some sort of meat flavour.  The curry sauce was so so.  Fortunately the snack deep fried chicken was pretty nice.

Coco Ichibanya Curry House, Crocodile Shirt Center, Kwun Tong Kowloon

This chain shop landed HK quite some years ago. The branch in Silvercord Center TST is always full. As this one was opened in Kwun Tong, I finally gotta try this one. Curry rice ranged from HK$60-90 with an extra of $15-25 for 2-4 side orders from salad, soup, dessert and a drink (i.e. $20 for 3 side orders for a salad, dessert plus a drink, or $25 for 4 side orders). The curry is very aromatic and quite spicy even though I asked for a degree 1 hot (highest 6). The rice is pretty nice too and quite a big portion. I chose a salad, dessert (Dreyer's ice cream 2 scoops) and an iced coffee.

International Curry House 國際咖哩館，Wanchai HK

I am not much into curry but this one is an exception. I kind of love it and hate it as it's quite oily, but no oil isn't aromatic enough. So I often tried not to pass around that area. Their curry is not just hot only, but a lot of various herb. The shop is still only one branch on Tai Wong East Street 大王東街. I somehow prefer shops with just only one.

1. their classic menu

2. Plain salad, HK$25. See that salt on the side. Yes, sprinkle some salt on it. That's it. No need to have any salad dressing. I like this way.

3. Curry Samosa HK$35. A bit not dried-out fried, but the filling is so nice with some beans and curry paste.

4. Curry Prawn HK$88. The prawns are very fresh and about 8 big prawns were used. What's more some fresh pineapple and tomato were put in the curry to make it a bit sweeter.

5. Hot spicy African chicken HK$88. Highly recommended. They used fresh chicken. So HK$88 is justified. The chef stir fried the onion, parsley, chilli and some herb. So fragrant!

6. Pakistan curry with beef HK$78. The beef was stewed well. The curry is so aromatic. Highly recommended.

7. It's still crowded with its fans.

8. the shop outside. I noticed a Nepal restaurant on the 2nd floor. Will try that out later.