Sumo Ramen & Curry

A couple of weeks ago, I was at Market City Shopping Center having dinner at Gina's B-B-Q, as I was leaving, I noticed Sumo Ramen & Curry.  The shop had not yet opened, but I made a mental note to come back and try it after it had opened. 

A few days ago, one of my co-workers told me that she had eaten at Sumo Ramen & Curry and that the food was pretty good and quite reasonably priced, so I decided that I would drop by.

Upon entering there is a long entryway which leads to an open seating area in the back.  The shop was well lit and had some nice pastel-colored tiles on the counters, on the walls and on the tables as well.

There were two guys cooking and two girls serving food.  After glancing over the menu, I decided to have the Spam® katsu curry combo (US$6.95).  Included in the combo was Spam® katsu curry, a mini charsiu ramen and four pieces of gyoza.

First to arrive was the Spam® katsu curry.

Two pieces of Spam® luncheon meat had been coated in panko flakes (Japanese-style bread crumbs) and deep fried.  The Spam® "katsu" was served on white rice with some fukujinzuke (pickled vegetables) and curry sauce on the side.  The Spam® katsu was something different and not all that bad.  The curry sauce on the other hand was a bit too sweet for me.  I added some shichimi togarashi to the dish, but it didn't really help.  If you like your curry on the sweet side, then this is definitely the curry for you.

Next to arrive, was the mini charsiu ramen.

As the waitress put the bowl on the table, I could smell the bonito in the broth (dashi).  Thinking that this bowl of ramen would have some great flavor, I quickly had a taste.  Boy, was I mistaken.  The broth, while smelling really good and strong, tasted quite bland.  I added some shoyu and shichimi togarashi to the bowl to give it a bit more flavor and kick.  The charsiu was also a bit of a disappointment.  It was tough and dry, not melt-in-the-mouth tender like it should be.

Last to arrive was the gyoza.

The gyoza was very nicely steam-fried.  The bottom was just crisp enough to give this some crunch.  It had just the right amount of filling and the gyoza skin was just the right thickness.  This was not the best gyoza that I've had, but it was decent. 

Sumo Ramen certainly gives a lot of food for the money, making this a good value if you're hungry.  The Spam® katsu curry, gets high marks for its concept alone and is sure to appeal to locals looking for something new and different ways to try Spam®.  Taste-wise, although the gyoza was OK, the curry sauce and the ramen's dashi, were both just average.

Sumo Ramen & Curry
Market City Shopping Center
2919 Kapiolani Boulevard Suite 104
Telephone:  808.737.1868

Comments

[MrsT]

The restaurant looks really nice.. but i'm not really into spam.. but i love ramen..and gyoza is my absolute favourite.. :)
But my first experience with gyoza is not in a japanese restaurant.. but at a hawker centre in singapore at Mei Ling Street .. its stall is on the second floor.. at a corner.. and it was absolutely heavenly.. dipped in vinegar and ginger shred. Yums..!!

[AugustusGloop]

Spam katsu curry? Only in Hawaii may I suggest? :)

Nice shots. I like the indoor one too. Good gyoza is always hard to source. Home-made is always the best! :)

[Wes]

If you liked the spam in panko I have a easy and great recipe..take slices of spam and thinly dip them in Yoshida's gourmet sauce you can buy at Costco. Then they'll be wet so you roll them in flour and panco which will still to them. Then deep fry them in oil. Now spread tonkatsu sauce on them and serve them on a slab of rice...ono

[Mon]

The ones at Sumo are OK, they hold well and are crispy but not too burnt. So far the best gyoza I've had since moving to Hawai'i is at Ezogiku. I have to find one here that tastes like the ones we eat back in Japan. I really miss the "Nira Gyoza". People here don't seem to be familiar with Nira, and it's been hard finding some for me to make my own gyoza...bummer.

[Reid]

Hi MrsT,

The first time I had gyoza wasn't in Japan either. I think it was in California! =)
I asked my friend about the hawker center at Mei Ling Street because he had a HDB flat there which was recently sold. He told me that there is a good char kway teow stall and a good chai tow kway stall there as well. I'm going to make sure that I visit that hawker center when I go to S'pore.

Hi Augustus Gloop,

Spam® katsu curry in Hawaii....has to be! I don't normally eat Spam®, but I do like to have it every now and then. This was actually quite interesting. Now if the curry gravy were better then it would have been really good!

Thanks for the compliments about the photos. It's always a hit and miss. Sometimes they look good on the display of the camera and when you get home they look like absolute rubbish, but sometimes you get lucky. I got lucky this time!

I agree with you about the gyoza. =)

Hi Wes,

Thanks for dropping by and for the tip. I thought the Spam® katsu was good and actually thought of making them into Spam® katsu musubi for the next pot luck we ahve at the office. Yoshida's sounds like a good idea. Thanks again!

Hi Mon,

Welcome to my blog.

The gyoza here at Sumo is a little better than OK. I prefer the gyoza at Taiyo Ramen (if you like them with a lot of garlic), at Taishoken, or at Yotteko-ya much better. You're right about nira. I haven't seen it sold here before. You should be able to find potstickers at dim sum restaurants that have shrimp and chives (which are similar) though. Good luck.

[mr_me]

As far as sweetness goes, how does this curry compre with the sauce used by Curry House?

Speaking of curry, there's an interesting link I read today about Curry being one of the best preventions for Alzhimer's disease

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1174709,0050.htm

[AugustusGloop]

I know what you mean about dodgy photos! Camera shake and poor lighting never show up until you get home and it's all too late! I end up taking about 6 shots of each dish now to increase my chances! :)

[Reid]

Hi mr_me,

This curry is way sweeter than the curry at CoCo Ichibanya, you can't even compare the two. If you want an approximate value, try 5 times as sweet and nowhere near spicy.

Interesting article about the curry. Now all us Japanese men need to stop eating tofu and then we'll be all set. Here's a link to some information. There were articles in the local paper a while back about this...I still eat tofu at least once a week!

http://www.vegsource.com/harris/brain_aging.htm

Hi AugustusGloop,

Actually, what I'm considering is a new camera, one that has an image stabilizer. Here's the camera that I'm considering because it's compact.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfx7/

[Clinton]

Reid,

The best gyoza or pot stickers I've had was many years ago at this Korean place in LA Korea town. My former boss took me there and ordered a dozen pot stickers appetizers which was quite different. It was pork dumplings with lots of garlic and fermented black beans fried crispy on each side. The skin was not the typical thick flour won ton skin but more of the potato starch dough similar to what a Chinese ha gow or fun gok are wrapped in. He also concocted a special dipping sauce using white vinegar, chili oil, sugar, and soy sauce which gave it a little whang. Almost very similar to the common gyoza dip but lacking the sesame oil. I've never experienced that dish again ever since that time.

[AugustusGloop]

Hi Reid - Yeah I've seen this new function being hyped up lately. You'll have to let me know if you do end up getting the camera and the results you get. I actually try and carry a mini-tripod with me most of the time (ack! I'm so addicted) which I use for night-shots/candlelight shots. Ban dim lighting I say! It's horrendous trying to take photos in it! :)

[Reid]

Hi Clinton,

Happy New Year to you! Some of the best gyoza are made by Koreans (not to be confused with mandoo). The ones at Taiyo Ramen are quite good. They're meaty and full of garlic. Don't know about fermented black beans though.

Hi AugustusGloop,

I don't know if I'm going to get the camera, but I did have a chance to play with it for a while and the anti-shake does help a lot. Now the only thing is dim lighting....*sigh* What do we do about that?

[pinkcocoa]

hiya Reid
Late greeting from Sydney!
Happy Belated New Year! *muakkksssss*
Look forward to a Peacefully Delicious 2005 ;-)

[Reid]

Hi pinkcocoa,

Happy New Year to you too! I'm looking forward to reading about all those yummy foods from you too!

[fish fish]

Dear Reid, belated New Year greeting from fish fish. Kotoshi mo yoroshikune! ;) Btw, the curry looks sweet too me... I'm definitely the spicy type. Super spicy japanese curry + fukujinzuke + rakkyou = irresistable to fish fish :P

[AugustusGloop]

I say we storm the place with flood lights :P Just so we can photograph see what we're eating of course!

[Creen]

Hi Reid,
Catching up on my food blogging reads, and this post caught my eye. Spam katsu curry?! OMG--sounds soooo delicious. Y'know I'm on the search for the best katsu curry around, right? Hehehe... I need to make it over this place soon!

Aloha,
Creen

[Reid]

Hi fish fish,

I like spicy curry too. It's a shame that most Japanese curry is sweet. Oh well. I do like fukujinzuke and rakkyou too! =)

Augustus Gloop,

=)

Hi Creen,

Long time no hear! Spam® katsu curry is right! I had no doubt that it would appear sometime. Would you expect any less of us locals? =)

This Spam® katsu would be better with the curry from CoCo Ichibanya. This curry was way too sweet for me.

[Mik]

Happy and safe 2005!
Spam katsu curry?...that's very unique..would love to try one day..and I love all these combo sets..bit of everything.. :)

[Reid]

Hi Mik,

I like the combo sets too. That way I get to try a little of everything! The Spam® katsu curry is different, but definitely not unexpected in Hawaii. =)

Happy New Year to you too!

[Anri]

I came upon this page b/c I was trying to look for the beef curry recipe that could compare to the one at Sumo Ramen & Curry. B/c it is one of the most delicious curry I have ever had. I'm a little difficult to please when it comes to food. But this beef curry is so good I have it almost every other day since I found the restaurant a few weeks ago. The gyoza is also tasty and goes well with the curry. I highly recommend the beef curry though. The ramen I had was so-so just like the ones sold at the grocery store.

[Reid]

Hi Anri,

Thank you for stopping by.

Unfortunately, I don't have a recipe for the beef curry that they make at Sumo Ramen. =(

Maybe you can try a pre-packaged mix like either S&B or House brand and try to modify it to suit your tastes?

[Pupule]

Best gyoza, for many years, has been at Taiyo Ramen. Lots of garlic, nice and crispy on the outside :)

[Allison]

i love there unagi..mmmm..my favorite!!!