Kodawari in Salcedo Launches a Branch-Exclusive Japanese Curry
Never knew cute aggression (gigil) would also apply to food, but here we are now...
(SPOT.ph) I'm not in favor of animal cruelty but, my God, murdering the "cat" at Kodawari in Salcedo has sparked a joy I never knew I had. I'll do it again and again, without remorse.
But before you call PAWS on me, this isn't an actual cat—this is Kodawari's new character dish, the Cutie Curry: an uber-cute cat-shaped rice sitting on a field of flowers. It looks a little bit like Miffy, but with cat ears, and if she crossed over to the blossoming meadows of the Studio Ghibli universe.
Also read: Kodawari BGC Shows a Grown-Up Side to the Quirky Japanese Resto
New on the Kodawari menu is the Salcedo-exclusive Cutie Curry:
When I first saw Cutie Curry, I couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be. It’s hard to tell just by the vision of a rabbit-shaped rice ball sitting pretty in a really pretty salad. I was contemplating while taking hundreds of photos, thinking, “How do I eat something this cute?,” before I finally decided to slice the riceball. Here's an unsolicited tip: Take one swift and big slice or scoop through its head—just to get it over with, just to make it easier.
Toni Potenciano, Kodawari's creative director, says, "I think at some point all our customers will get to the realization that it all digests the same way regardless of shape, but I think making something this cute is worth the effort."
If you've got a penchant for Japanese curry—you know, the addicting sweet and savory kind, then the Cutie Curry is bound to make you speechless... in a good way. Speechless because you'll be too busy eating it away—down to the last drop of the curry—for you to even say a word.
The Japanese curry, which is made from scratch, has that distinct sweetness that tells of Japanese curry, plus a pleasant surprise of tanginess that comes from unconventional added ingredients. Kodawari's Chef Bryan Favila tells SPOT.ph, “I wanted to sneak in a little bit of Filipino in there, so there’s tablea and tomato sauce.”
In case it's your first time at Kodawari, there's something so unapologetically un-Japanese about the food that comes out of their kitchen. The on-brand kawaii factor aside, Chef Bryan wanted to add another dimension by mixing in the two ingredients. It was weird at first, he admits, but at least they were "getting somewhere" before eventually landing on their first in-house Japanese curry.
Yes, the cat-shaped riceball was hard to slice, and, to be honest, there was hesitance ruining the bouquet of vegetables and flowers too. The edible garden in which the rice ball sits is made of different leafy greens, petal-looking carrots and radishes, and edible flowers which are the Sweet Williams and the French Marigolds.
It may seem the edible flowers on the Cutie Curry are added purely for aesthetic reasons, but it does lend a refreshing—albeit sharp—flavor and varied textures to the dish. Chef Bryan says, “They [Sweet Williams and French Marigolds] have a slightly bitter taste. For the Sweet Williams, I don’t know if I’m crazy or not, but there is a little bit of sweetness to it, hence the name. Not sure if other people can taste it. I hope they can."
"This is supposed to be a cat in a garden. It’s the Kodawari feel is “landscape,” [similar to when you go] inside the [Kodawari Salcedo] bathroom. This dish is supposed to be a forest—that’s the inspiration for the plating. A nice, chaotic mess," he adds.
The meat is just as integral as the cat-shaped rice ball, edible garden, and the Japanese curry. You can have the Cutie Curry in your choice of protein, there's Lamb (P695), Beef (P540), and Karaage (P450). I got to try the Cutie Curry in Lamb and loved how fork-tender the sous-vide meat is, and how it has chariness and smokiness that add a new layer of flavor. It's completely different compared to the countless times I've devoured heat-and-eat Japanese curry dishes in Japanese konbinis after a whole day of touring.
As far as pairing goes, I like the Cutie Curry on its own with a glass of Kodawari's Herbal Iced Tea (P95) which is a blend of oolong and Wintermelon syrup. You—or we—can heed Chef Bryan's Cutie Curry pairing recommendations and order it with the Spicy Salmon (P365) and Kyuri (P210).
If you want to try this dish, do know that the Cutie Curry is exclusive to Kodawari's Salcedo branch. Each Kodawari branch—there are only two branches for now, and the other just opened at Bonifacio Global City—has its own set of exclusive dishes, and the Salcedo branch has the Cutie Curry.
"Salcedo has become a haunt for young creatives as well as a space for the Salcedo Village residents, which is also why we felt that curry was a natural fit. Much like the streetside curry shops in the more suburban side of Tokyo, we wanted to create a new, super cute neighborhood favorite dish," Kodawari says.
Kodawari is at Salcedo Village, 121 L.P. Leviste Street, Makati. Open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday to Sunday.
For more information, check out Kodawari's Facebook page.
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