The Curry Club (Formerly Zen Curry)

Back at the end of July, I thought that Zen Curry, which had been "temporarily closed" since summer of 2023, had permanently closed. As always, our great "Friends of Yoso" (FOYs) came thru, as Elle notified me that Zen Curry was becoming something named "Curry Club". It was the same owners and the place had their soft opening in the middle of August. In the beginning the place was only opened for dinner; so I decided to wait until lunch hours were available. A couple of weeks back, I noticed that the Curry Club now had lunch hours, but only on weekends. On a recent weekend, I finally decided to check the place out, to see the state of the curry.

I arrived right past the posted opening time of 11am and easily found parking. I quickly noticed that the sign for the business has not been put up yet.

It seems that the interior has been changed a bit, though it still looks simple and functional.

There were folks already in the place when I arrived.

The menu seemed similar to what I recall at Zen Curry, but this difference caught my attention.

Interesting……it seems like the Curry Club has created a mechanism for controlling the spice and associated flavors.

My experience with the tonkatsu over the years had not been very good; so I decided to stick with the "meat product" I had enjoyed the best here, the Spam® Katsu.

Asking about the various chili powders I was told that the best approach to determining which spice level you enjoyed was to take a spoon of the curry and sprinkle a bit of the chili powder in it, starting from the mildest of the three, and determine which suited you the best.

I thought that was an interesting approach, so as soon as my plate arrived, I started the process…..

As soon as I seasoned that first spoonful, I stopped…..well sheesh; what about the blog???? I guess I got a bit too excited……

Anyway, here's the Spam® Katsu Curry, minus one spoon of the sauce.

 In the end, I settled with the Cayenne Pepper seasoning as it had a nice bit of heat, mild smokiness,  a bit of a "bite" if you will, with a touch of sweetness. I actually tasted the seasoning by itself! 

Zen Curry had a habit of "over-frying" the Spam Katsu and this looked basically the same. Still it was crisp without being hard. The meat product was nice and salty….heck, it was Spam®, whaddya expect?

One of the things I disliked about the curry at Zen was how pasty and bland it had been on some visits. This version was smoother and creamier; it was still a bit weak in terms of beefiness, but was not overly sweet, and not very pungent overall.

I enjoyed the "add your spice" step, I think it's a bit more than a gimmick. I'll probably return somewhere down the line and try the tonkatsu or maybe the "Curry Moco". And maybe add in some garlic chips?

Until then, I think it's getting to be curry season(ing) around here. I need to start my "rounds" again! Any suggestions on where to start? Does Hinotez still do curry? They used to be a favorite of mine….though they're only open for dinner these days.

The Curry Club
7309 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Tues – Fri 5pm – 9pm
Sat – Sun  11am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm
Closed on Mondays