CHUBBY CURRY
ADDRESS: 225 S Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90212
WEBSITE: https://chubbycurry.co/
Ever since going to Gol Tong Chicken, my friend Yuji and I have now started to go out to try new restaurants together, rotating between the two of us on who picks the spot. It was his turn, and his pick was a place down in Beverly Hills called Chubby Curry, which focused primarily on Japanese curry. It was a spot he had found through TikTok, and I actually also had it saved from seeing it on Instagram. We took the trip down into the area to go check it out a couple of weeks back.
The restaurant is actually located about five blocks south of Rodeo Drive, the luxury shopping area in LA that you often see in movies and TV shows. For a Friday night, that stretch of Beverly Drive that the restaurant was situated on was already getting pretty busy, but it wasn’t too bad. We got into the area right around 6PM, and there’s a parking garage that is conveniently located right across the street. Once we got to the restaurant, the dining area in the back was already pretty full, with only a few open tables remaining. We took a seat at one of the tables right near the front and started looking through what they had on the menu.
As expected, Japanese curry was featured on their menu as their signature items, with four different options to choose from. Three of those options featured their traditional Japanese curry, with the difference between either chicken katsu, tonkatsu, or vegan options to go with it. The last option featured wagyu beef and a curry flavored with dark cocoa and Worcestershire sauce. They also had a katsu sando or a wagyu burger on their menu, some udon skillets, or sides of cucumber salad and curry fries.
We were looking for a good spread of different items to try, and two of the curries were catching our eye. I made the pick for the Chicken Katsu Curry while Yuji chose the Chubby Curry. Not just limiting ourselves to curry, the other two things that we tacked onto our order were the Wagyu Burger and Curry Fries, both of which were spoken pretty positively from the Yelp reviews that I had looked at.
I have to say, we definitely lucked out on our timing of getting to the restaurant when we did. When we arrived, there were still a couple of tables open to be able to get seated immediately. 15 minutes later, we took a look at the entrance and there was a line of people out the door. It ended up staying like that up until we finished our meal and headed out. I’m not sure if the popularity was attributed to the social media buzz around the restaurant (I had seen it pop up on my Instagram and TikTok feeds quite a bit lately), but we were certainly fortunate nonetheless.
The curry fries arrived out to us first, a mound of waffle fries tossed with aonori seasoning and served on the side with a curry aioli. I have to say, being the first time ever hearing or trying a curry aioli, that was certainly the real star of the plate. You definitely had a very pronounced curry flavor from the dipping sauce, and the crispy potatoes complemented that perfectly. What a great way to open up the meal for sure.
Both of our curries came out of the kitchen just as we were finishing up our curry fries, with the wagyu burger following right behind. We thought that the burger might be best to eat while it was fresh out of the kitchen, so we turned our attention to that before we went for the curries. With an 8 oz. ground wagyu patty, caramelized onions, and curry aioli, all served on a brioche bun, this burger definitely lived up to its $18 price tag. The meat had really great flavor and that curry aioli came in packed with more flavor to help elevate each bite. I’d already be a happy camper with the wagyu burger and an order of the curry fries just on their own.
With the burger dispatched, it was time to focus on the curries. The chicken katsu was served on a half-moon shaped wire grate to help make sure it retained its crispiness not being submerged inside the curry. The curry itself contained caramelized onions, carrots, and potatoes, along with some scallions and fukujinzuke (pickled radish). The chicken katsu was absolutely on point, nice and crispy on the outside with just the right amount of breading, while the chicken breast still remained moist. The curry itself was definitely on the sweeter side for me, and ate pretty well with the rice and chicken katsu. I could definitely taste the notes of apple that they used for sweetening up the curry.
For the Chubby Curry, that was a dark cocoa curry with Worcestershire sauce and caramelized onions, along with some slow-cooked wagyu beef. On the side, it was served with a bowl of rice, fukujinzuke, and charred broccoli. The curry itself was served in a little cast iron pot, as opposed to the other one right on the plate. As being the restaurant’s namesake, I thought that this curry needed to really deliver. I tell you what, it certainly did.
There was a richness in this curry and depth of flavor that I really enjoyed, carrying both savory and umami flavors as the primary notes. The dark cocoa was very subtle and did have some slight sweetness to add to the mix. The slow-cooked wagyu beef was really tender and would collapse when pressed with the spoon. Between the two curries, the Chubby Curry was definitely the one that I would prefer, mostly due to the savory flavors that weren’t present in the other one.
Until Yuji mentioned it, I didn’t notice that Japanese curry was not as prevalent in the LA food scene. I guess that also makes more sense why there was a line of so many people wanting to give the spot a try on a Friday night. I also liked the fact that there are a few different ways that you could choose to enjoy the curry flavors, which also provides for other things to try on a return visit. If you’re looking to introduce yourself to Japanese curry (or have been trying to find a place to get some around LA), Chubby Curry has got you covered.
Let’s now take a look at the Chubby Curry Dish Spotlight. Asterisks (*) below mark my recommended dishes.
** Curry Fries **
Crispy waffle fries tossed with aonori seasoning, served with curry aioli.
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** Wagyu Burger **
8 oz. ground wagyu beef patty with caramelized onions and curry aioli, served on a brioche bun.
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** Chicken Katsu Curry **
House-made Japanese curry with carrots and potatoes, served with chicken katsu.
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** The Chubby Curry **
Japanese curry flavored with dark cocoa, Worcestershire sauce, and caramelized onions, along with slow-cooked wagyu beef. Served with rice and charred broccoli.
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And finally, here are my rankings for Chubby Curry:
Food: 4.75 / 5
Both curries that we tried definitely had great depths of flavor, and the menu also offers other variety in addition to your core curry dishes as well.
Atmosphere: 4.5 / 5
It’s a pretty nice vibe inside the restaurant itself, with wood elements definitely being their primary décor for the walls and dining furniture. Each of the tables seemed to have a light directly overhead pointed downwards, so you had great illumination of all of your food on the table.
Service: 4 / 5
The waitstaff were friendly and we were able to get our food out from the kitchen in a pretty prompt fashion.
Price: 4.5 / 5
For being right in Beverly Hills, I thought that the pricing on all of the food was very reasonable. The portion sizes and the quality was good, and both of us left our meal feeling really satisfied.
Overall:
17.75 / 20
(89%)
Categories: California, Restaurants
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