"OH MY GOD WHY IS THERE A FRIED EGG?"
is likely to be the first thing a curry fan will exclaim at being served the katsu curry plate at On the Bridge, a small, popular eatery in San Francisco's Japantown.
There are, in fact, some people who love having their curry topped with fried eggs, as evidenced by the fact that the topping is available in Japan's CoCo Ichibanya curry chain. But getting surprised with a massive topping that's not on the menu, especially if you don't like fried eggs, is a scary experience. My katsu curry at On the Bridge even had diced tomatoes and grated Parmesean cheese on it, for some reason.
Why all the surprise bizarro toppings? Well, it's because On the Bridge specializes in what it calls yoshokuya dishes, which is Japanese for "Western style." It's fusion cuisine that combines Eastern and Western flavors. So you can get all manner of pasta with Japanese toppings, or curry with "American" toppings that you'd find on a pizza. (And yes, they do in fact serve curry pizza.)
But whereas most fusion food consists of flavors from different cuisines delicately stitched together, On the Bridge's fusion is the equivalent of a train full of Japanese food and a train full of American food smashing together in a full-speed head-on collision. Pick up the wreckage and you'll have their katsu curry. It is, to understate the case, an inelegant combination.
And yet I can't totally dismiss On the Bridge's food. On the one hand, I love curry places that offer a lot of customization options, and On the Bridge has the most of any San Francisco place I've ever seen. You can start with a basic curry plate for about $6, then choose from a large menu of different toppings to add to it, including tons of different vegetables. You can pick from six different spiciness levels.
Oddly enough, if you want katsu, and of course you do, you need to look elsewhere on the overly complicated menu. Way down the list, in the "Over Rice" section, it lists "Katsu Curry Don." They even have beef katsu, which I've rarely seen outside Japan. I ordered the pork Katsu Curry Don ($10.25) with shredded cheese.
You know what happened next. I had to push a fried egg off my plate. The cheese was served in a little separate dish, and I put it right on the curry, which had been liberated from its egg-based torment. The curry sauce was quite warm, and the cheese immediately began to melt in. I have to say, once I got past the egg, the dish was piping hot and good -- it felt like serious comfort food. The little tomato pieces didn't change the flavor that much, but the Parmesan made it taste weird. At least they sprinkled it off to the side instead of all over the curry sauce.
The curry sauce itself was decent, albeit with kind of an off taste to it -- although that might have been because of the other ingredients. There wasn't a lot of sauce: just enough to cover the katsu, leaving all the rice underneath white and bare.
If you're in Japantown and you want to stop by On the Bridge -- and you might be tempted, since it's a charming little place with Studio Ghibli anime playing on the three TV sets and shelves full of manga for you to read while you eat -- try the katsu curry, but remember to ask them to leave off the fried egg, tomatoes, and grated cheese if you don't want them.
On the Bridge
1581 Webster St., #205, San Francisco, CA 94115
415-922-7765
Hours: Mon-Sun 11:30 AM - 10 PM
Toppings Available: Tonkatsu, beef katsu, chicken katsu, shrimp katsu, tofu/spinach/mushroom, shrimp/scallop/calamari/mussel, shredded cheese, tons of different vegetables
Spice Levels: Six levels, from Mild to XXX Spicy
+ A large plate of katsu curry with a good-sized pork cutlet
+ Tons of customization options including cheese
+ Beef katsu? Who else even has that?
- WTF SURPRISE FRIED EGG
- Parmesan cheese makes curry taste weird and bad
- Not a lot of sauce
- Confusing menu
Verdict: If you remember to tell them to leave off any surprise "Western fusion" pizza and/or breakfast items that might make your curry taste like a combination between bad Italian food and a Moons Over My Hammy, On the Bridge's curry might work for you.
On a quest to find the best Japanese curry in America
9 Comments
1 Kuroki wrote:
The reason why OTB is the great is because they specialize in spicy curry. I eat spicy food all the time and nothing in the city makes me sweat like OTB's 3x curry.
On the back of the menu, you will notice that they offer 1x, 2x, and 3x degrees of spiciness for the curry for a little bit more change.
If you like spicy food, you will be challenged. 3x will make you break out in a mad sweat like you just ran a marathon. You might think that this is the kind of spicy you find on a bottle of gimmick hot sauce but that's not the case with OTB. The flavor is great and the heat goes away leaving you wanting for more. Just make sure you ask for a pitcher of water.
If you can handle the heat, go and order it 2x and move up from there. You won't be disappointed!
2 Liz Ohanesian wrote:
Just saw your website today. As it so happened, I was in SF last week and ate at On the Bridge twice. The curry pizza with mushrooms and cheese is delicious, so is the curry rice with the potato croquette.
3 Emily wrote:
On the Bridge is soooo tasty. Their shrimp curry is so tasty. I think it has spinach, too? (which I've had in Japan, as well...)
I prefer hard boiled to fried on my curry. What do you have against eggs? ;p
4 Emily wrote:
Oops haha, I edited out delicious by accident, hurr. Let's think of something else constructive to say...
Oh, little tomato pieces shouldn't change the flavor too much since awesome curry should have tomato sauce in it. The thing I don't like about fresh tomato is that it can sometimes make things watery.
5 Chris wrote:
You know, it's not as if I have anything against eggs. Or even Parmesan cheese, if that's what somebody wants on their curry. Or any topping. What I object to is the fact that it gets served to you without any warning. The egg and tomatoes don't affect the flavor, but the Parmesan does. It's an indulgent, ham-fisted attempt at "fusion" marketing that makes the food unique, but worse.
6 kokokurry wrote:
actually the egg and tomato and cheese are delicious
this review must have been written by a caucasian who thinks they have curry figured out.
in japan your curry should stand out.
in the us on the bridge is unique and delicious, try something new instead of mcdolands or coco curry every day.
most japanese dont like same taste all the time
7 Chris wrote:
You're missing the point. I'm not saying that all curry should follow some arbitrary guideline, I'm saying that:
1) On the Bridge's attempt at "fusion" has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the face,
2) They should offer standard curry for those who want it, and
3) A restaurant's menu should be fully forthcoming about what you will be served; there should never be a surprise like this.
8 kokokurry wrote:
Than something is wrong with tastebud
shrimp katsu curry there is so f*cking good! now i can not stop thinking about it!
9 warren wrote:
i have loved the curry here for the past 10 years. unfortunately, the service has deteriorated to the point where even i can't stand it. i will go back only if i have a strong enough craving to last through half-hour water refills and lukewarm rice.
the curry itself deserves four stars.