Anisha Holla
Audio By Carbonatix
It’s hard to tell at first glance that your meal is the glorious climax of 55 hours of stewing, stirring and maturing. But the murals on the wall make it evident that your $14 bowl of curry is a culmination of more than two days of work.
Go! Go! Curry (exclamation marks included) has roots in the Kanazawa province of Japan. The chain is named proudly after the Japanese baseball legend Hideki Matsui, who grew up in that same region. Matsui’s jersey number when playing for the New York Yankees was the exact number of hours they spend cooking the curry: 55. In fact, the number is almost auspicious here, etched into almost every corner of all four walls. Even the name “Go Go” translates to “five five” in Japanese.
A gorilla holds out a plate of curry and greets you at the front.
Anisha Holla
While we’re still hesitant about the loose (and slightly forced) connection between curry and baseball, the food is good.
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Dishes like the Grand Slam, World Champion and Home Run pay homage to the founding theme (and hero) of the curry shop. The Grand Slam platter has crispy katsu cutlets arranged atop a steaming mound of Japanese rice and curry. Sausage links, boiled eggs and shrimp tempura add to the heap of ingredients. The World Champion comes with the same mix of ingredients but doubled. Four pieces of fried-to-order katsu lounge in a bed of rice and curry.
The World Champion is an all-star platter, with four strips of hand-breaded katsu arranged across the top.
Anisha Holla
Everything on the menu is customizable. You can dress your platter with toppings like shredded cheese, pickled shallots and fried Japanese gyoza. Additions range from $1 to $5, but are good options for adding more flavor or volume to your meal. The only common thread between dishes here is the base of Japanese rice, crispy shredded cabbage and a generous helping of Go Go’s signature curry sauce.
Let’s talk curry. While the rice and cabbage salad are mediocre, the curry sauce here is near-ethereal. It’s whipped into a thick consistency and slightly sweetened before being poured into your dish. The hours of stewing and maturation give it a dense yet light texture that lets it melt on the tongue between bites of meat, rice and cabbage.
The vegetable tempura bowl offers crispy vegetable nests soaked in a pool of curry.
Anisha Holla
Dine-in orders come served in plastic containers; it’s as if leftovers are expected. We don’t blame you if you end up packaging the tail-end of your meal to take home; portions are big and seating is limited. Grab a Japanese beer, ice cream mochi or even a bucket of extra curry sauce on your way out. It’s made with imported ingredients, fresh flavors and hours of hard labor … 55 to be exact.
Go! Go! Curry. 8240 Preston Road, Plano. Daily, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.
