Japanese Curry Rice in Helsinki Airport

We had four hours to kill at Helsinki Airport, so when we spotted an Asian food court nearby, we decided to find a temporary refuge.

By that, I mean I paid $32 for a shrimp rice bowl from a Japanese place. And by that, I mean it was actually a Japanese curry bowl with a few shrimp tempura.

“I thought you hated Japanese curry?” Fafa commented when he saw what I got (he got tacos – it was a very inclusive Asian food court).

I ordered without checking the picture, I told him. Defeated. Deflated. Discouraged.

I started by putting the shrimp aside to ensure that it didn’t touch or, worse, soak in Japanese curry.

Then, at first, I only ate the plain rice and the shrimp tempura, generously dipped in Sriracha sauce from the restaurant’s entrance counter. It was good. The shrimp were small (and in a world where bigger shellfish are seen as better, I actually prefer the smaller ones).

And, more importantly, the rice was perfect! It was fluffy and delicious—not necessarily Japanese sushi rice, but it kind of worked with the curry.

Yes, the curry.

After a few spoonfuls of plain rice and shrimp, I had to dive into the rice soaked in Japanese curry. Because, well, I wasn’t about to waste $32 on food.

The thing was… it actually tasted okay. Better even.

Especially with the tiny, square-cut potatoes. And it was hot—a far cry from the Japanese curry I’ve had before, like the one from that famous Japanese curry rice chain restaurant Fafa tried in Japan.

This one tasted closer to Indian curry—only lighter, both in color and consistency, with a slight sweetness. As an Indo, I could let that slide.

In the end, I finished the whole bowl, leaving only the slice of cabbage they put there as a substitute for salad. (This is a very Finnish immigrant food scene moment if I draw a string to the Indo restaurant we visited in Helsinki a few days ago.)

“Well done!” Fafa applauded my effort, knowing how much I’ve always disliked Japanese curry rice.

I wonder – does this mean I’m inching closer to actually liking Japanese curry rice now? Should I seek out a hidden gem of a Japanese curry rice restaurant during my sometime-in-the-future trip to Tokyo? Or maybe in Melbourne first?

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