Even curry skeptics might like this one for its masterful blend of several spices.

Japanese beef bowl chain Yoshinoya recently began offering a limited-time menu item called Beef Roka Curry (牛魯珈カレー) for 729 yen (US$4.68). The dish went on sale at locations nationwide on January 16 and features curry from a popular restaurant in Tokyo’s Okubo neighborhood, Spicy Curry Roka, paired with Yoshinoya’s own famous simmered beef. We’d heard plenty of people praising it since its release, so one recent day we headed to the Yoshinoya branch in front of the famous Shibuya 109 department store to try it for ourselves.

▼ Ad for Beef Roka Curry on the left

…Which in itself was probably a mistake. Shibuya is a bustling city center, and right at lunchtime, there’s a continuous line of salarymen, young people, and foreign tourists heading into this particular shop. Luckily, our worries turned out to be unfounded because the staff there were masterful at serving the food quickly and clearing up after customers, leading to an incredibly fast seat-turnover rate.

We decided to spring for a slight variation of the dish called the Niku Daku Beef Roka Curry (839 yen), which contains slightly more meat than the plain Beef Roka Curry. When it was our turn, the curry also arrived promptly and piping hot.

Despite the larger quantity, the amount of beef and onions nestled on top of the bed of rice was still only the same amount as that of a regular-sized gyudon beef bowl at the chain. Some diners might want to order more beef on the side if they’re used to a larger serving.

We took our first bite and–WHAM!–the curry packed a flavorful punch. It wasn’t just there to add to the looks of the dish but was adding some heavy, tasty lifting.

No wheat flour was used in the curry as a binding agent, so its flavor is thrust at you full throttle. It also contains an aromatic edge of cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves to balance its pure spiciness. This last point makes it very different from Matsuya’s Gorogoro Nikomi Chicken Curry (“Gorochiki Curry”)–and why even people who tend to shy away from spicy foods should be able to handle it, especially when paired with the rice. Those who want to tone it down even more, though, might consider adding the “quattro cheese” or “omelet egg” as an additional topping to their dish.

All in all, while the curry was supposed to complement the beef, it actually outshone the meat in our opinion. It’s not that the beef doesn’t go well with it–just that rather than enhancing the beef’s flavor, the curry actually buries it instead.

Yoshinoya currently plans to offer the Beef Roka Curry through the end of April, so interested diners still have plenty of time to try it for themselves. If you end up going to the same Shibuya 109 location that we did, you might also want to check out the cutest onigiri Tokyo has offer which is only a short walk away–perhaps once its opening crowds die down a bit more.

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