Muracci's Japanese Curry and Grill in San Francisco, California: A Restaurant Review

The food we refer to as "curry" is really kind of a nebulous thing, because there's no one dish or recipe that you can point to and say "that's curry, and everything else isn't." Usually it's just some mishmosh of rice, vegetables, maybe some meat and sauce and varies not just from culture to culture but from person to person or family to family making it.

So there's no reason why there can't be "Japanese curry", and that's what you'll find here at Muracci's Japanese Curry and Grill in downtown San Francisco. The food is reliably good and the service is consistently friendly and smiley despite the everyday lunchtime crunch from the surrounding Financial District.

If you plan to go between the hours of 11 and 2 on a weekday, it's definitely best to call ahead, and be prepared for a wait in line. You'll also not likely be finding a seat inside, so have somewhere planned out to bring the food to. The wiser play is to visit after 2 p.m. when the Lunch Bunch has all returned to their offices, but the potential backfire to this gambit is that some of the more popular dishes like the Katsu Curry may likely be sold out and it's too late for them to prepare more.

Muracci's Japanese take on curry is less spicy and more sweet than the more common Indian and Thai varieties you usually see in restaurants. This was right up my alley as I'm no fan of spicy food and that's usually what drives me away from eating curry anywhere else. They do have some spicy dishes, but they are clearly labeled as such. Curries are definitely the most popular choice here and run from $7 to $9. You'll have a choice of beef, chicken, katsu (pork cutlet), chicken katsu, ebi fry (fried prawns), salmon or vegetable. For an extra fifty cents each you can add a topping of a boiled egg, mixed vegetables or spinach. If you're in a hurry, there's a pre-made Express Meal that you can grab without waiting for any preparation, this is a choice of mild beef or chicken curry over brown rice and runs about seven bucks.

The curry is definitely the experience of the house, but they do have quite a few other items on the menu - chicken teriyaki, salmon teriyaki, salmon shioyaki, fried and breaded salmon, tonkatsu, karaage (fried chicken), agedashi tofu, Okayu Don, Katsu Don, Udon and Ramen noodle soups, California rolls, Inari sushi and too many side dishes to list. For dessert there's dorayaki, roll cake or daifuku mochi. Beverages include oolong, jasmine or Iyemon tea, hot green tea, Japanese iced coffee in a can, or cans of soda and bottled water. A nice add-on snack to any of these is the hot korokke, which is a croquette with a light taste of pumpkin at only $1.50.

What you can expect here is an authentic, family-owned and operated Japanese-American eatery with some genuinely good food and a "fusion" style that actually works well and is priced decently to boot. $7 to $10 is still a bit of a pricey lunch, but it's worth at least one experience to check out the unique Japanese curry style. Trust the "thumbs up" dude on their logo and head in, preferably when it isn't too crowded.

Muracci's Japanese Curry and Grill
307 Kearny Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
# 415-773-1101
http://www.muraccis.com/