Japanese Curry Express: Salmon Mentai Don + more!

TL;DR Take my Money. (It's very affordable, don't worry). Salmon Mentai Don is my to-go comfort food, but the Makis here also make for a satisfying Maki feast. 

One of my most favourite places to eat in the world has to be Japanese Curry Express, at the third floor of Fortune Centre in Bugis.

The ambience here is very much family business/coffee shop with aircon. So adjust your expectations.

I've a lot to say about the food, so let's cut to the chase.

Food

I've been to Japanese Curry Express more times than I can count, and one of my absolute favourites is the Salmon Mentai Don. 

Salmon Mentai Don ($10/$13)  

The Salmon Mentai Don comes in two sizes, small at $10 and big at $13. This is my comfort food and sometimes I come here specifically to eat this when I'm feeling sad. The first bite, always brings me so much joy and makes everything okay. There's something so simple and comforting about it. It's not a complex dish at all, literally just rice, raw salmon slices, a glob of mentaiko mayonnaise, a dash of wasibi, then torched to perfection, the flavours perfectly balancing each other, melting together beautifully in my mouth. You don't even need to be a chef to prepare this and it takes just five minutes for them to make it. But it's so simple and so delicious and so hidden that I feel kind of special that I'm privy to a little secret not a lot of people know about.

The serving size of the small bowl is not filling enough to make you full, and if you don't want to order anything else, do get the big bowl. However, I love the small bowl! So that I have space to order other sides like the makis or sashimi!

Their makis are also super good and always a treat to feast on. I've eaten... a couple. :) So let's go through them. 

Ebi Mango Maki ($11) 

One of my absolute favourites is the Ebi Mango Maki ($11). A juicy piece of fried breaded prawn in the middle, wrapped in seaweed and rice, topped with a slice of mango and some fish roe, and of course a generous helping of that delicious kewpie mayo. The textures of the chewy rice, crispy ebi, soft mango, and the fish roe popping in my mouth, the dynamism of textures makes this my all-time favourite maki here. Of course it also helps that I have absolutely nothing against fried ebi and mangoes and fish roe, all things I loooove to eat. My heart always sinks a little when it's sold out for the day. :(

Spider Maki ($11) 

Then there's the Spider Maki ($11). Fried breaded spider crab, wrapped in rice and seaweed, then topped with seaweed flakes, chilli flakes, kewpie mayo, and with a dash of chilli sauce. It's very unJapanese to bring chilli sauce anywhere sushi, but so so so Singaporean. And the chilli sauce really brings it to the nice level, and adds a good kick of flavour and makes it extra delicious. The fried spider crab also has a better surface-area-of-fried-batter-to volume ratio, and makes it a bit more delicate in texture compared to the fried ebi makis. This is also another one of my favourites.

Ebi Fry Maki ($8.50) 

The Ebi Fry Maki at $8.50 is less complex in flavour and texture, literally fried prawns wrapped in rice and seaweed. But it's a nice addition to a maki feast to nom on.

Salmon Mentai Maki ($11) 

The Salmon Mentai Maki ($11), I'm on the fence about. It's like the Salmon Mentai Don, but with cucumber and crabstick. It's personal preference, but I think the creaminess of the aburi salmon and mentaiko mayonnaise is rather ruined by the crunchy wateryness of the cucumber. But perhaps the contrast here is better appreciated by another person. 

Pork/Chicken Katsu Curry Rice ($7.50) 

The Pork/Chicken Katsu Curry Rice at $7.50 is also pretty good. I heard the curry here is homemade, and it's only a few dollars above the regular food court pricing. Not what I usually go for though since there's so much other delicious food that I crave here! 

Salmon Belly Sashimi, 5 pcs ($12) 

They serve salmon sashimi here as well. I usually go for the Salmon Belly Sashimi because it's usually thicker and fattier. It's a bit pricy since it contributes nothing to my stomach quota. But it's super indulgent, and I get this on treat days.

These are some of my favourites, and although I visit Japanese Curry Express many times, I've yet to try their entire menu. T_T Since I keep ordering the Salmon Mentai Don every single time.

Service

I don't usually talk about the service. But the service (or lack of) bears mentioning here. If you're going to hate Japanese Curry Express, you're going to hate it because of the service. Fair warning. Don't come here expecting top-notch, atas restaurant service. You're not going to get it. The ambience of this restaurant is pretty much family-run kopitiam tze-char restaurant with air con. There is no additional service charge or GST to pay here. You pay for what you get. And to be honest, if you're willing to judge this place for what it is and not what it's not, you'll find that the sometimes brusque service here has its own charm.

The long-haired auntie is famous for her short temper. She doesn't give a shit about your feelings as a snowflake customer. If you're doing something wrong, she's going to scold you. If you're done eating and need to leave, she's going to make you leave. Especially if you come eating at a time when it's super busy, yeah don't expect her to treat you like king. Honestly, I don't mind it. She's not going to beat me up or kick me out, really. You just really have to open up a channel of communication with her. She's just like a naggy mother, she even once lectured me for not eating my salmon belly early, because it wouldn't be as delicious anymore when left there.

There's also the chef guy behind the counter. Sometimes you hear him before you see him. He's shorter in height, but he's so cheerful and bubbly. Especially during slower periods, he takes the time to talk to his customers, asking whether are students, where they are studying, etc. And it's not just small talk for him. He's really genuine. Once I came during lunch and came back during dinner to takeaway their Mentai Salmon Don for my sister, and he actually remembered that I came earlier in the day. Another time, I was telling my friend that the salmon belly was unexpectedly good, and he overheard it and went, "Nice, right?" to us over his maki-making counter (even though we couldn't see him from where we were). This is a man that loves what he does, and he radiates it.

There is an almost poetic juxtaposition here between the mean Auntie and the cheerful chef. This contrast really encapsulates the charm of this place. It's real. It's genuine. It's sincere. No pretences. No niceties. No customer is always right.

Then there's the bumbly uncle who sometimes makes the mentai don on a table not too far away from the customers when it gets busy. And there's another short-haired auntie, who's much less brusque, and gentler with her tone. And her daughter who sometimes helps out as well, scuttling about with bowls of mentai don perched in her hands, sometimes getting tables wrong but always eager to serve the next dish.

The atmosphere of Japanese Curry Express is very much that of a small, family-run restaurant, and you aren't really stepping into a restaurant anymore but their home. It's a staunch guardian of when restaurants were less cold and full of warmth, when customers weren't strangers never to be seen again, but people to build relationships with. Even if they don't remember you as a customer, it's nice as a customer to return to a place where the staff is always the same and you're familiar with their quirks and temperaments.

Give it a chance and you'll see its charm.

Pricing

The food here is mid-range in it's pricing. But it's very very affordable for how delicious it is. And there's no GST and service charge so YAY for my cheapo heart! I end up spending about $10-$20 here, depending on my mood.

If you just get a Katsu Don or Curry Don, this would be a very affordable meal at just $7.50.

Most maki rolls in other establishments go for $16-$18 before GST and service charge, so I would consider the makis here very affordable. For a maki feast, you would need about three plates between two people to feel full, so that's usually a meal of about $15/person.

They also have some slightly more expensive dishes like the Spider Don and Una-Tama Don which look super good that I've yet to try! And if you add on some sides like the Salmon Belly or Soft Shell Crab, it'll definitely be a more expensive meal.

Location and Opening Hours

Monday - Saturday: 11.30am-2.30pm, 5.30pm-8.30pm

Last order at 8.00pm 

Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays 

Japanese Curry Express
Fortune Centre, #03-04
190 Middle Road, Singapore 188979

Nearest MRT: Bencoolen (Downtown Line), Bugis (East-West Line/Downtown Line), Bras Basah (Circle Line)