Nice prawns, shame about the meat at Y Curry House

Nice prawns, shame about the meat at Y Curry House

Bill Blade, Contributor, Jakarta

Back in the big smoke after a month in Europe and having had
it up to the gills with potatoes and roasts, I reckoned it was
high time to sock the taste buds with some good ol' spicy Asian
nosh. And what better to set the tip of the tongue tingling than
a steaming bowl of curry, the furnace fuel that's guaranteed to
reach the parts other nosh doesn't reach.

But what exactly to go for in this search for oral
excruciation? Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian? Or how about
the Japanese variant available at the Y Japanese Curry House in
Blok M, a place I've often been tempted to visit when shopping in
Pasaraya? Well, given that I don't know my bonzai from my banzai
as regards the Japanese breed of the fiery food, I decided to
gird the loins, chance my arm and give it a go.

Located on the terrace of the Pasaraya department store and
sandwiched between a coffee shop and a Brazilian churascaria, Y
Curry House is an unassuming little place that's not particularly
Japanese in ambience. This may have something to do with the fact
that kimono-clad waitresses, rice paper screens and traditional
low tables are nowhere to be seen. Or it could also be due to the
unhappy reality that the restaurant looks out over the maniacal
traffic on Jl. Iskandarsyah as it hurtles along as in some crazed
competition to see who can reach oblivion sooner.

But for all that, Y Curry House is a pleasant enough spot and
as good a place as any to rest your weary bones after a day
laboring under the harness in Pasaraya, that most
discombobulating (I love that word!) of stores.

Being far from a gourmet when it comes to the epicurean
delights of the land of the rising sun, I decided to be a devil
and order a variety of main courses for my partner and myself --
testing the waters, so to speak.

Each entree in the Y Curry House is served with a bowl of
rice, mini salad (a rather unadventurous affair: white cabbage,
lettuce, tomato and what looked and tasted for all the world like
Hellman's mayonnaise), mishoshiro soup, daintily carved and
manicured vegetables and a variety of sweet pickles.

To start with, my partner ordered the chicken curry (Rp
26,000), while I decided to go for the beef curry (Rp 29,000).
Both, as it turned out, were variations on pretty much the same
theme, with the curry sauce being virtually the same for the two
dishes. Rich, well-flavored and thick, it couldn't, however, do
much to hide the lack of meat that confronted me.

While I'm the first to admit that the Japanese aren't renowned
for being big meat guzzlers, still I would have thought they
might be able to manage a little more than the two measly chunks
of beef I was fobbed off with!

As for the chicken, it appeared to have roosted in slightly
more abundance, but still nothing to crow about. Despite these
complaints, however, the taste factor was well enough served,
although my expectations of "fire in the hold" turned out to be
somewhat misplaced. Japanese curry, it would appear, does not go
in for the same kind of tongue tickling that its namesake from
the Indian subcontinent is wont to do.

Aside from the curry dishes, we also ordered plates of beef
teriyaki (beef broiled after being soaked in a seasoned soy sauce
marinade), beef shogayaki (beef broiled in ginger) and ebi furai
(king prawns served with don katsu sauce).

Unfortunately, both the beef teriyaki (Rp 39,000) and the
shogiyaki (Rp 39,000) turned out to be distinctly disappointing.
Although in both cases the beef was as tender as one could ask
for, the teriyaki turned out to be too salty, virtually briny in
fact, while an oversaturation of ginger rendered the shogiyaki
well-nigh inedible. I was tempted to return both dishes but in
the end put up with scraping as much of the offending sauces off
the meat as humanly possible. But, still very disappointing all
round.

After our virtual poisoning, the ebi furai (Rp 35,000) turned
out to be a saving grace with a perfect don katzu sauce setting
off the whopping great king prawns (only two of them
unfortunately -- evidently not a dish to be shared).

So, in the end the Y Curry House turned out to be rather a
mixed bag. No complaints about the curries taste-wise, although
in the quantity stakes more beef would definitely be well in
order. Throw the excellent ebi furai into the bargain. Nothing
wrong with the service either, and price-wise, you won't often
get a restaurant meal in Jakarta today for Rp 197,505 for two
(excluding even a whiff of alcohol, of course). But as for the
beef teriyaki and shogiyaki, well, what more can I say? Could do
better, guys!

Inbox:
Y Curry House, Jl. Iskandarsyah No. 2, Kebayoran Baru (it's
actually in Pasaraya and you can access it from the second
floor). Call them on 72797486 for a reservation.