We went to see the latest Mission: Impossible (Rogue Nation) movie at the Megamall last weekend and had an early pre-movie dinner at Eri Curry. We were actually debating where to eat, but J wasn’t in the mood for a buffet so we ended up trying Eri Curry. I’m so glad I listened to him and tried this place.
It is located at the third floor of the SM Megamall Atrium. Eri Curry is a local Japanese Curry restaurant. I originally thought that it was a Japanese chain like Coco Ichibanya, but I later found out that it’s a restaurant by a Filipina chef and her partners, and at the moment, this is the first and only branch.
Similar to other Japanese curry restaurant chains, you have the option to choose how much rice you want, the level of spiciness of your curry sauce, as well as adding other toppings.
There are 3 options for the curry sauce – regular, spicy and fiery. The waitress told us that the regular curry sauce was not hot at all, which led us to choosing the spicy sauce. If you’re wondering what Step 1 is, it’s just a list of their available curries (like katsu curry, fried fish curry, etc…) while Step 4 is just a list of add-ons.
With only 3 choices for the spiciness level, and fewer (but more than enough) choices for add-ons, I found ordering at Eri Curry to be less complicated and less mind-boggling – this really helps especially if you’re pressed for time because your movie is going to start in an hour and a half (we like to be early to watch the trailers).
For appetizers, we ordered the Tofu Steak (P160). This is 3 pieces of breaded and fried tofu, topped with some sautéed shiitake mushrooms, onions, carrots and sliced pork. It was good. The tofu was fresh, the breading was crispy, the sautéed mushroom and vegetable toppings was sweet & salty. It’s not mind blowing but I’m happy with it, although I would probably order something else next time just to try other dishes.
Having learned my lesson about ordering the popular tonkatsu curry, I instead ordered the Thinly Sliced Beef Omelette with Curry (P320) with Spicy Curry Sauce.
I was really happy with my order. The curry sauce was spicy – it’s not overwhelmingly hot for me since I have developed an above average tolerance for heat, but it was enough to make me tear up a little.
What made this dish really stand out for me was the addition of cream! If you’ve been reading my food posts for a while, you know I love cream! The addition of drizzles of cream here took the curry sauce to the next level for me. It makes the already delicious spicy, salty, sweet, fruity curry sauce flavors go along so much better. It is sooooo perfect with the rice. I will definitely come back to Eri Curry just to eat this again. I also think thinly sliced beef pairs better with the curry sauce than any katsu.
I also liked the omelette – it was cooked just the way I like it – still a little jiggly!
Probably the only issue I have is that there were only a few pieces of thinly sliced beef, and the beef was not as tender as I expected. But they never claimed that it was wagyu, so that’s okay. The beef is not really that tough, it’s just regular beef and similar to any regular tapa in toughness. I just expected it to be as tender as the beef from other Japanese sizzling beef chain restaurants, but the beef Eri Curry uses is a different cut and is less fatty, so it’s okay.
J went vegetarian for the meal, choosing to order the Mushroom Curry (P224) with Large Rice (P21.75) and Vegetables (P50) with Spicy Curry Sauce. I thought he’d lost his mind, but apparently, he had been eating beef tapa every day for lunch at work and wanted a change. He seemed content with his order.
SUMMARY
I’m glad we decided to try this restaurant. It is slightly less expensive than the competition but I like their curry that is slightly customized to cater more to the Filipino palate. Their curry sauce is really, really good with the addition of some cream! If you are the type who likes creamy curry sauces, you’ll most probably like the Thinly Sliced Beef Omelette Curry. I know I’ll be back for it!
Service is good, the food arrived quickly. Note that they don’t provide house tea. Having free house tea is something that I have come to expect from Chinese, Japanese and Korean restaurants, and it just seemed off that Eri Curry doesn’t provide it. They have bottomless iced tea though.
Their service charge is only 5%.
Eri Curry
3rd Floor, The Atrium, SM Megamall
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EriCurry2014
Contact: +639275546194 / (02)531-5033
