LocalEatsJapan

Manten is a super popular, fast-serving curry shop located in the Jinbocho area of Tokyo. 

I went in 2024, and while popular it has seemed to increase in popularity significantly since then, so I am unaware of how the business of the place is but when I went around lunch time on a weekday I was able to enter without lining up. 

Jinbocho is a big business area, as well as has a few university campuses, so the clientele are reflective of it – a tell tale sign that it has been able to stay in business for 45 years. 

It is a simple menu with, you guessed it, curry. There are a few different renditions of it, some plain, and others with pork-katsu or wieners, but they are all mix and match  – so is the size. 

I was unaware of this because it isn’t written on the menu, but you will see that with a lot of local shops like this they allow little changes like this, so it always helps to ask. 

I personally got the katsu-curry and I upgraded the size to “oomori” or large for free of charge. They have a size beyond this which is “megamori” and is supposedly 3 times the size, so next time I go I think I am going to have this. 

The curry was just how I liked it, not too thick and not too soupy. You were able to taste the potato and onion that was mixed into it, and I like that because it doesn’t mean you are simply tasting curry, but you also get the heartiness from the potato and sweetness of the onion mixed in too.

The amount they served was generous and it was enough to cover all of the rice which is often not the case at a lot of curry places – especially for how cheap it is! 

At the time I went, the katsu-curry was only 700 yen, and I don’t see it having gone up much, if at all. 

The katsu was cooked perfectly, and the crispy pork mixed with curry is truly a match made in heaven and I wish I could shake the hand of whoever came up with it. 

The red things on the dish were Japanese tsukemono (sweet-pickled vegetable things) and they add a nice bit of crunch and the sweetness helps offset the little bit of spice that the curry has. 

They had a few different sauces as well, but all of them were a little sweet and paired amazingly with the curry – I stayed conservative but I could have easily drenched it in it, it was that good.

Lastly, and something I have never seen elsewhere is that with every order they give you both water and a little cup of black coffee (I guess this is a tradition that started with all the workers coming in). Surprisingly however, the bitterness of the coffee and richness of the curry actually go quite well together, and I have read that coffee powder is sometimes used as a secret ingredient in curry to enhance the flavour. 

The inside of the shop were all counter seats, and you kind of sit in a half circle with the chef(s) in the middle serving your food. 

When you sit down you say your order, and when you leave you pay, all from the same spot, and to the same people who handed you your food.

It is an efficient system, and even better food. It makes complete sense that it is as popular as it is, and honestly? I am kind of glad it has gotten the recognition it deserves (though it may make  it longer to get in as compared to how it was before). 

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