Maji Curry Review: Award-Winning Japanese Curry Rice In Novena

Maji Curry has award-winning Japanese curry rice in Novena

With the plethora of Japanese restaurants in Singapore, it’s quite easy to find a place that serves curry rice, AKA kare raisu. Whether said curry rice is good is another issue entirely. Maji Curry, an eatery in Square 2, is one place I can definitively say serves good curry rice.

Back in 2018, Maji Curry made waves by winning the annual Kanda Curry Grand Prix. Since then, the brand has expanded beyond Japan, making its way to countries such as the USA and Thailand before finally arriving in Singapore in 2022.

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Food at Maji Curry

We started with the Hamburger Steak Cheese Sauce Curry Rice (from $14.30++), which is the dish that earned Maji Curry the Kanda Curry Grand Prix. It arrived in a large oval plate featuring a sizeable mound of rice and hamburger steak surrounded by curry, as well as a small pan of cheese fondue.

Before digging in, we poured the cheese fondue all over the dish and watched as it slowly intermingled with the curry. Then, we gave it all a mix.

Aromatic, piquant, and with a good sweet-to-spicy balance, the curry here had more depth of flavour than your average Japanese curry. And when combined with the creamy, savoury cheese fondue and fluffy rice, each spoonful was a blast to consume.

Being a composite of ground beef and pork, the hamburger steak possessed a rich meaty flavour. While it wasn’t as juicy or succulent as I would have liked, I appreciated its taste and chunkiness enough to make me forget the shortcomings.

Up next was the Tonkatsu Omelette Curry (from $14.50++). This omurice dish was one I could see anybody, whether adults or children, enjoying.

That’s because, like any omurice worth its salt, the omelette was prepared till fluffy and creamy, complementing the curry rice perfectly. While the cheese fondue in the previous dish had a big influence on the dish’s overall flavour, the omelette here was more of a gentle accompaniment, lending some eggy flavour but letting the piquant and sweet curry do most of the work.

The tonkatsu, however, was not the best. It was a little tougher than I would have liked, and its breaded exterior didn’t provide too much of that satisfying crunch either.

We had to end our meal with some greens, and so we decided to get the Karaage Salad ($7++). Lettuce, carrots, cherry tomatoes and more are joined by creamy salad dressing and not more than five pieces of crispy chicken karaage. There’s little chance of this salad blowing you out of the park in terms of quality and freshness, but if you’re looking to introduce some veggies into your meal whilst still enjoying some meat, this would be a good option.

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Ambience at Maji Curry

With its red-painted walls and simple furnishing, Maji Curry doesn’t stand out from other curry rice places in terms of ambience, but that isn’t likely to detract from your kare raisu experience. There aren’t many tables in the indoor dining space, however, so if you’re here during peak hours, you may have to dine in the outdoor area.

Maji Curry is a five-minute walk from Novena MRT Station.

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The verdict

If you’re looking for Japanese curry rice that is a tier or two above run-off-the-mill ones, Maji Curry is a good place to check out. Its kare raisu is flavourful and hearty, and its signature dish, the Hamburger Steak Cheese Sauce Curry Rice, is a must-try.

For 36-hour Japanese curry in SMU, read our Kuro Kare review. For crispy Filipino roast pork from $6.50 nett in Novena, read our Lechon Republic review.

Address: 10 Sinaran Drive, #02-07, Square 2, Singapore 307506
Opening hours: Daily 11am to 9:30pm
Tel: 8494 4898
Website
Maji Curry is not a halal-certified eatery.

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Photos taken by Maisie Chong.
This was a media tasting at Maji Curry.