Welcome to The Avocado’s weekly discussion of Japanese pop culture! This Christmas my husband gave me the wonderful gift of curry. To be exact, he got a variety pack of S&B’s “Kanda Curry Grand Prix” microwavable curry boxes. The Kanda Curry Grand Prix is an annual curry celebration and competition that occurs between August and November in Chiyoda, Tokyo. During this time, you can eat at all the participating curry restaurants and collect stamps. This culinary event concludes with two days of curry food stalls and the official tasting and judging. In other words, it’s a curry paradise! But if you can’t attend the actual event, or go to curry restaurants in Tokyo, you can still get a taste because S&B creates these instant curry boxes from the winning recipes!
Over the last four months I slowly ate through the six boxes I received, savoring each one. You have to provide your own rice (not a problem for me), but other than that all you do is open the box and stick it in the microwave for a couple minutes. Easy! Naturally, I took pictures and ranked them so I can share with all of you! They were all good, but there were definitely a few that were better than others. Oh course, I’m absolutely sure that the real thing from each of these restaurants is amazing and more than deserve the prizes they won. A smart person would have made some notes while they ate each one, but I’m not that person, so you’ll just have to settle for my vague recollections. If the images are tiny, try refreshing the page, that usually fixes it for me.
#6: Too thin, not enough meat, just okay. 
#5: Probably would have liked this more if it was spicier. I think it needed that. 
#4: Pretty good! A little oily, but the flavor was complex and layered. 
#: Actually spicy! This one stood out for being different from the rest. 
#2: The first one I tried, and it set a high bar. The most meat of the bunch. Very good flavor. 
#1: Nothing beats Bondy! The cheese is genius, and it translated well to this instant format. 
I know because I actually ate at Bondy last summer! It was incredible. Absolutely worth waiting in line. Dream about this curry. Want to eat it right now.
And, as always…
What have you been watching/reading/playing/eating/listening to lately?
Happy Wednesday! 🌸