The supreme curry that will buzz in 2025! This year’s curry trends are “biryani” and “katsu curry” [Tokyo Edition

Drinking and eating” style is catching on.

When he posts on gourmet food websites, the number of visitors to his restaurant skyrockets–and he has eaten at more than 4,000 restaurants.

Hiroaki Matsu (photo), whose handle is “Curry Cell” and who has eaten at more than 4,000 restaurants, has been praised as such by freaks. This time, FRIDAY’s curry editor Son visited Mr. Matsu and asked him to name the best curries that “will be the talk of the town” in the near future. Here are some of them.

According to Mr. Matsu, this year’s curry trends are “biryani” and “katsu curry,” and the style of curry that is “eaten while drinking alcohol” will be popular.

Biryani is a spicy rice dish eaten in India and neighboring countries, and is served at festive occasions. The image is similar to paella or jambalaya. It is popular as a luxurious curry dish filled with meat. It has been known among “connoisseurs” for a long time, but it is becoming popular among the general public as well, as evidenced by the fact that biryani bento boxes were released by Seven-Eleven last year and immediately became a trending item on the X-web site.

One of the restaurants I have been paying attention to in this trend is Johnny’s Biryani Kanda (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo). The main restaurant is located in Ishikawa Prefecture, but it made its Tokyo debut last June. It is known as a restaurant specializing in authentic biryani made by a Japanese chef, and the restaurant’s frozen biryani, which can be purchased by mail order, sells 10,000 servings a year. The key point is that they use authentic basmati rice (a high-grade indica rice). Served in portions that are easy for women to eat, it is suitable for both solo diners and those on dates.”

Biryani aside, why is the spotlight once again shining on the old standby, katsu curry? It is due to inbound demand.

It is not well known, but curry with pork cutlets is loved by people all over the world as a typical Japanese food. In fact, foreign tourists come into curry shops and ask, ‘Do you still have katsu curry? and are told that it is sold out. It is so popular that even Indians, who come from the home of curry, eat katsu curry in Japan.

Hutcherson in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, serves curry with pork cutlets under the name “Katsu Vindaloo. Vindaloo” is a specialty of Goa, a region in Western India, and is a curry with a sour taste made with vinegar. Hutcherson’s uses black vinegar and Thai garlic vinegar to create a vindaloo that definitely does not exist in India. Even I had never tasted it before. They also have some rare craft beers here, so you can have it with a drink.”

He also recommends the new-style pork cutlet curry that incorporates French techniques.

The curry at PAIKAJI (Paikaji, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), which I love, has a sweet and sour fruity flavor, using tropical ingredients such as pepper and pineapple unique to Ishigaki Island called “pipaerts. And yet, because the chef is a former French chef, the flavor of the fon (Western-style soup stock) is richly expressed. The cutlet on it is called a ‘burg cutlet,’ which is a hamburger steak dipped in a thin layer of flour and deep fried, making it light and easy to eat!

In the Nagoya/Osaka section, we will look at unique curries that use Nagoya specialties, unique curries, and a list of “curries that will be a hit in 2025,” as selected by Mr. Matsu!

From authentic Indian flavors to high-level curries!

From the February 21 and 28, 2025 combined issue of FRIDAY.