Katsu Curry At Niko Niko: A Better Bet Than The Teriyaki

I had a plan for lunch the other day, but that quickly got derailed by the intensely crappy weather. (It’s the second time in two months I’ve had an umbrella destroyed while in search of lunch). The cart I was looking for was MIA and I ended up at Niko Niko on Pearl St. (at Wall) to dry off and eat something hot. The ramen soups sounded appealing, but something involving a bunch of rice sounded better. And I wanted that rice covered in Japanese curry and fried meat.

We’ve already covered the so-so bentos at Niko Niko, and those and the pre-made sushi seem to be the hot sellers. Neither are that appealing to me so instead I usually hit up the hot selection. Here’s my  tip of the day: Order something that they don’t have pre-made and sitting under the heat lamps. It’s worth the extra few minutes of your time.

The katsu curry ($7.95) is one of those items that for some reason gets made fresh every time. Not so with the bentos or teriyaki bowls. If I’m paying $8 for some rice, curry and meat, I’m not going to have it turn to rubber under a lamp! The first thing I noticed when handed my bowl of curry was that only a corner of the pork katsu was visible under its blanket of curry. This wouldn’t be such a big deal except for the fact that when you dump liquid over a previously crispy fried piece of pork, it’s going to get soggy. It was still pretty good, though and there were a bunch of chunks of carrot and potato in there.

Is this the best Japanese curry you’re ever going to have? No, because it’s clearly out of a package. That’s fine with me though because this lunch filled me up enough that a nap sounded good afterward and I felt like my $8 was spent wisely.

Niko Niko, 80 Wall St. (entrance on Pearl), (212) 232-0152

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3 Comments

  • I’m having trouble understanding the scale of the bowl in this picture, I can’t tell if it is a big or small portion.

  • I don’t think it’s very big for the price…probably a little larger than the KFC chicken bowls. Unless I really need a curry fix, I’d go for some of the lower priced bowls at Niko Niko.

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    @MWinston: I thought it was pretty filling since the bowl is 3/4 rice and the rest is meat, potatoes and gravy. And there are other cheaper bowls there, but I’ve found them inferior for maybe $1 less.

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