Naga Raja

Rating: OK
Meal:  Lunch for 2
Price:  2660 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes:  Chicken curry set, Thali set
English Menu: No
Smoking: No

My son and I were holed up this weekend as a heat wave returned and my wife was off galavanting as she is wont to do.  We were going a bit stir-crazy so I decided we should take the train down to our first home town here in Japan:  Kurihama.  I remembered eating once at an interesting Indian restaurant run by an old Japanese man.  It wasn't bad as I recalled and since I started this blog after moving to Yokosuka, I have very few reviews from my first stomping grounds.

Thali

We showed up a little before opening at 11:30, and were the first ones in.  This was a good thing as by the time we finished ordering the place had filled up and he was turning people away by 11:45.  It's a first come, first served kind of place, but even so we didn't get out of there til around 12:30.  I wish I could say this meant the food was amazing, but sadly it was a mixture of pretty good to disappointing.

Chicken curry

I was surprised to see him advertising paratha bread and had to get some.  This was one of the disappointments as it was more of a puffed fried bread.  The naan was a bit sad too, as he doesn't have a tandoor and therefore is using store-bought preformed highly processed bread as far as I can see.  My son liked it though.

He usually gets butter chicken, but they don't have that here as he claims to be making southern Indian cuisine.  My son opted for the regular chicken curry, which was the lunch special.  Unfortunately he didn't like it as it was slightly spicy.  I liked it quite a bit, as it had good flavor and whole spices.  It did arrive a bit cold however.

I wanted to try as many curries as possible, and he does have quite a spread, so I opted for the Thali lunch which came with three curries.  I got the mutton keema, the mutton tomato, and the goya coconut curry.  Of the three, the mutton tomato was the most disappointing, consisting primarily of what tasted to me like canned tomatoes with a bit of spices added.  I ate the few pieces of tough meat and left the rest.  The mutton keema was pretty good though, and the goya coconut curry was very tasty.  The thali came with a small piece of tandoori chicken (tasty but tiny), and some pieces of spiced kabocha which were delicious.

Overall, the ups and downs cancel each other out and I have to give this place an Ok.  It makes a nice change from all the Napalese run curry joints you find everywhere here.