MAJI CURRY - Award Winning Japanese Curry — Restaurant in Irvine

Great alternative to Curry House. Maji Curry boasts award-winning Japanese curry with a simple menu of popular proteins, curry, and a handful of toppings (including a melted, creamy cheese to pour over your curry). So, of course, I was curious: does it hold up?

The answer is mostly yes. The curry itself is a bit spicy, even at the mild level, and is a thicker consistency compared to the usual Japanese curry. The flavor of the curry sauce is dark and rich, and the rice was cooked perfectly. The accompanying pickles also tasted like they were freshly made and were a delicious addition to the curry.

The Lows: The Hamburg Curry with Cheese did not meet the hype for me, primarily because the Hamburg was not soft or delicate as most Hamburg in Japan would be. Perhaps more to American taste - they served a well-done patty. When I asked if they could cook the beef medium rare, to my surprise, the server let me know that they would not be able to adjust the cook.

The cheese sauce was pretty good on its own but gets lost in the rich curry sauce. For this reason, I would not recommend adding the cheese if you're being calorie-conscious.

The Highs: the Pork Cutlet Curry! The cutlet was thick, juicy, and delicious, and the cook of the meat was great. The Vegetables (which can act as its own curry or a side) and the Eggplant are both also great. Tenderly cooked and well-seasoned stars.

The service pacing was decent and the servers were pretty friendly, but the restaurant is far too small for the potential demand of curry lovers.

The interior has seating for maybe 7-8 small parties (mostly for parties of 2), and on the night we visited, a large party took up half the restaurant so it took over an hour for a seat for 3 folks. Things may improve once it's warm enough for outdoor seating (though there are only a couple of tables outside too).

Would I come back? Absolutely! With that said, I'd recommend to come with a small group (preferably just 2 people) and avoid the dinner rush and get here very early or late. And order the pork cutlet and/or veggie curry -...

Not quite Coco Ichibanya... but another option available.

I arrived 20 minutes after opening on a Sunday, there were already well over 10+ names on the waitlist. The restaurant has a few tables and about 5 counter seats. Currently not accepting take-out orders. I decided to try to come back on a weekday around lunch. I came on Wednesday 10 minutes after they opened and the restaurant only had 4 bar seats left open by the time I arrived.

The menu is quite smaller than Coco Ichibanya, with less options. The waiter informed me that the award winning entrees are the pork katsu curry with cheese sauce and the hamburg curry with cheese sauce. Unfortunately, on this day they were out of the pork katsu. I decided to order the hamburg curry with cheese sauce. The waiter informed me that the spice levels were default level 2 or there was a high option of level 5, but I saw on his ordering screen that there was also a level 10, I asked about that and he said "oh yeah there is a 10 for $2 extra." I decided to go with the 5 but I overheard later from a couple next to me that the 2 was "quite spicy" and "would be difficult for kids to eat". My order came out in about 15 minutes and the waiter advised me to pour the cheese sauce over immediately or it will harden. The 5 wasn't very spicy to me, but I believe the cheese sauce calmed down the spice quite a bit. There was not much to write home about the hamburg steak, it was pretty average. The curry was delicious and had a deep flavor, just like curries I've had in Japan. I noticed the pickled radishes available on the side were a little bit different from Coco Ichibanya, Maji had some cucumbers and whole peppers in the mix, but it didn't change the taste too much.

Overall, I prefer Coco Ichibanya better because of the vast majority of customizations and the convenience of seating and take-out. Maji was not bad but did not win me over from my loyalty to...

Finally got to try this place after hearing that it was the best curry in town. I don't have a sharp palate for Japanese Curry but I do enjoy a good one. I came on a Friday night around 6:30pm and the establishment was not full yet. I would say after 7pm, lines started to form. While the food was tasty, I wasn't super amazed with it either given all the hype. I would come back again when I'm craving curry again but not if there's a long wait.

|| L O C A T I O N / P A R K I N G || -Located in the plaza as Wanderlust Creamery, Stacked, Jamba Juice, Trader Joes and more. -Cross Streets are Culver Dr. and Walnut Ave. -Plenty of parking around 6:30pm on Friday night, you could always park near the bank to avoid a lot of in and out traffic within the plaza

|| F O O D || Fried Chicken Karaage ($4.45) - Not the best karaage I've had but certainly not the worst. As it is under $5.00, expect the portion size to be smaller than at other establishments. I shared one with my friend and there were probably only 4-5 pieces on the plate. I'm indifferent about this and would rather spend my money on extra protein on my curry instead.

Pork Cutlet Curry with Cheese (R: $15.04, L: $16.79, XL: $20.04) - Different portion sizes only apply for the rice and sauce, not the protein! You'll have to order an extra side of protein if you want more. Personally, the regular size was more than enough for me. The addition of cheese sauce to the curry makes it a lot more decadent and creamy. With the portion of cheese given, it doesn't take away from the strong curry flavor. For the spice level, I went with standard (0) but I still felt like there was a bit of spice, so beware! Overall, I enjoyed the dish and would recommend this to first timers...