Go! Go! Curry

6/4/2008
Penn Station Area: 273 W. 38th Street (and 8th Ave) - (212) 730-5555
Price: Cheap Eats
Rating (1-10): 5

Full review:
Go! Go! Curry is a fun little joint, which serves fairly good value food for the price, and would be a great lunch break spot or quick and cheap meal to grab for dinner, by yourself or with a couple friends. Be careful though because you'll be really full and might not feel apt to work or do any kind of exercise afterwards.

People who have eaten Japanese curry tend to associate it with comfort and happiness. Mention Japanese curry and faces will light up, and empassioned discussion on the topic quickly ensues. For that reason, Go! Go! Curry, a small, simple joint inspires a good deal of excitement, at least with me.

Japanese curry actually came by way of England, which got it from its former colony, India. The Japanese variety has different spices and less heat than Indian curry, it's a bit sweeter, and usually contains a wider variety of rough cut vegetables (carrots, potatoes, onion, are common) - and of course, the rice is Japanese style, not basmati. Meets are sometimes stewed in it, or the sauce can be accompanied by breaded, deep-fried meat of some kind; it's flexible.

The Go! Go! Curry menu offers only 6 plates and several small sides, and it's all cheap by NY standards. The curry is rich in flavor, and certainly passable as Japanese curry. For less than $15, you'll be able to pick any of the entrees, which are sized as "Singles," "Doubles, and Triples," and get the appropriate fixins (cabbage, pickled veggies, etc.) This isn't the easily congealed-when-cooled Golden Curry variety - it's better than that, with better texture and more marrow flavor. It is a bit too thick however, and comes atop a pile of rice that is a soggy and overcooked. You'd do yourself well to chose one of the plates that comes with a serving of friend pork or chicken cutlet and/or fried shrimp atop your dish as well. (If you're gonna go...go.) Although the deep fried cutlets are very crispy, they're cut too thin and end up being dry and chewy. There's still plenty of reason to get it, but a slightly thicker cut would prevent this overdoneness.

The friendly, quirky, courteous young Japanese staff will take your order and call out your number when your food is up. For a place in this price range, don't forget how indifferent, disconnected, and outright rude cheap eats places tend to be. This is Japanese food with Japanese feel ("Birthday Happy Matsui" sign on the wall). They make an effort to make this place inviting and playful - and it all centers around Hideki Matsui whose number 55, which is everywhere, including in the phone number and name of the restaurant ("go" = 5 in Japanese). Most of the decor is homemade whether newspaper clippings of Matsui and other Japanese athletes or different construction paper cutouts/signs. The restaurant is about as fanatical about Matsui as Matsui is about porn - and both are a little strange. They're trying to provide atmosphere and character on a budget, and it's far more enjoyable than some kind of faux-nice but strangely ornate and obviously cheap decor.

You shouldn't come here expecting high-end cuisine or even the best curry you've evre had, but you'll get your Japanese curry on and leave very full, definitely satiated, and most likely sedated.