Kat's 9 Lives

Trying to eat in Irvine and finding parking is really hard. So I decided to take my Mom to Curry House because it is in a big shopping center where I can easily find parking. When I was at UCLA, I use to go to the one on Sawtelle a lot. It is like comfort food to me. I love anything fried and the curry is always good, but it isn't anything you can't make at home. They took off one of my favorite items, the Crab Omelette. Still, I love my donkatsu, fried pork, any time.
To start things off, I always get the Curry Pan. The bread is fried to perfection, but I think the one that they have in Irvine is not very flavorful. I would still recommend everyone to try it because I love the texture of the bread. Maybe if you have the "hot" spicy one it would have more flavor.
I ordered the "Katsu" Curry at mild spice. My favorite type of meat is the pork, but I also ordered an extra Chicken Katsu and 2 pieces of Fried Shrimp. It has been a long time since I last had katsu so I was not sure which kind of meat I liked best. After trying them both, I decided that the pork is much more flavorful but the chicken is a little more tender. I really like the batter they use because it never feels greasy and it is always crispy. The curry sauce is always very flavorful and really compliments the rice. All the components work wonderful together and leaves you feeling full without feeling weighed down.
My Mom ordered a Mild Chicken Curry. She liked the taste and was extremely full afterwards. This was her first time trying Japanese curry. Even though the amount of chicken you get is very little, the rice really fills you up. I think next time she would rather get the katsu with curry because it tastes better.
All in all I enjoyed my meal as always. I would go more often if it wasn't a little pricey for something that you can just make at home. I am pretty sure they just use Vermont Curry, which you can buy almost anywhere. Our bill came out to be $30, which is a lot for lunch in my opinion. Don't worry, I will be back when I crave donkatsu & curry.