Sunday:

I saw this video a few weeks ago:

The point of the video is they have an American go around and present his list of the top three Japanese chain restaurants.  His number one is Curryhouse Coco Ichiban.  Which is also a Playstation game.  And we have them in Hawaii.

I haven't had curry since this day, and I apparently didn't take any pictures of the curry place in Akhiabara I went to.  That one was a bit odd, as you don't order normally.  You buy a meal ticket from a vending machine, and then give the ticket to the waitress, who then passes it to the kitchen.  I really wish I'd taken a picture of that.

While checking to see if I had a picture I'd forgotten about, I discovered this one.  I like the tiny aviator  mascot.  "It's delicious water even if it is not cold."

So I figured it would be a good idea to check it out.  Except the first one I went to is closed on Sunday.  Oops.  But again, we do have them in Hawaii, so I just went to the next closest one.  It turns out that the McCully area has a pretty high density of curry houses.

I sat at the counter.  Deep fryer on left, katsu chopping station off camera to the left, curry bubbling on the stove on right.  Rice cookers very far off to the left.

The menu in Hawaii is slightly different than the Japanese one, but the setup is the same: you choose an amount of rice, a spiciness of the curry, your main topping, and an assortment of other toppings.  There are fewer options here than in the global menu book, but that's how it goes.

And spoons come in spoon condoms.  Because you eat curry with a spoon, and only a spoon, and Japan really likes wrapping things in wrappers.

 I attempted to reconstruct the American's favorite meal.  Scrambled egg isn't an option here, so I just did chicken katsu and cheese:

And it was weird.

It's not bad, it's just not...right.  The katsu is good, and even though I went with "spicy" this really wasn't.  I really like curry to have stuff in it, but I guess that isn't standard.  I think next time I try it, I'll skip the cheese and get something else extra.  Maybe beef chunks, so the curry has stuff in it.

There is one major issue that pushes this down on my list of places to go to: cash only.  Which, of course, I only noticed when I was paying and had $9 of the $9.63 I owed.  Fuck.  Luckily, they're cool with you running to the 7-11 next door to get cash, even if they give you dirty looks and sigh when you ask.  It's 2014.  Take credit cards.  It's far easier for everyone.

• I did not know that there's a version of the Archer pilot where Archer is replaced by a raptor.  An official version.  I may need to buy that dvd.
• And a maid.  Obviously.
• The original series.  
• The next generation.