Muracci’s Berkeley

I never thought it would hAve had this curry place in down town berkely. I have to say this restaurant becomes my favourite of all time curries already.

I’ve lived in Japan for a longtime. One of my favorite dishes was Japanese curry, so I was excited to see a Japanese curry place close where I lived. Unfortunately this is not Japanese curry. It’s way to soupy and the flavor just isn’t there. The katsu was ok and the portion size was very generous, it was just lacking in flavor and texture.

We love this place. When I think about Japanese curry I always choose Muracci’s. My favorite dish is curry ramen (Kakuni) pork belly. $ 12.25 You will get a huge bowl. My friend love Katsu curry with rice. If you are student you can ask for extra rice and extra curry

Ordered one of the weekly specials: Katsu curry ramen
The portions here are quite big! I could only finish about half of mine. The ramen noodles had a nice chew to them and weren’t too small or big. The katsu was cooked crispy and tender. I ordered the curry medium and it wasn’t spicy at all.
Restaurant itself is a bit small, but worth coming if you’re in the mood for some Japanese comfort food!

I have mixed feelings about Muracci’s. The curry is so tasty and they give you a heaping portion of rice; which is great… if you don’t care about getting full on rice. If you order the katsu curry, you’ll get a reasonably sized cut of meat for what you pay for, $ 10.45. However, I was so disappointed with my order of shrimp tempura curry. I understand that typically it’s standard to give 3−5pcs, but this place charges $ 11.25 for 3 of the most measly pieces of shrimp I’ve ever seen. Each shrimp was maybe 3.5 inches long, and lacked meat/​breading.
A curry plate with white rice probably costs less than $ 1 for them to make in bulk, and 3 – 5 shrimps of that size MAYBE cost $ 2. They didn’t even try to make it look like you get your money’s worth.
Don’t order the shrimp tempura. It’s completely insulting how small the tempura are for what they’re asking for. The flavor of the curry is good, but I can’t leave a positive review after such a laughable portion disappointment.

Well I have been to Muraccis so many times over the course of the last year. My opinion has risen and sunk time and time again.
Their food is really good 98% of the time. It’s easily one of my favorite meals in Berkeley. However, one time I went with my friends their curry was cold and their chicken was bad. We tried to inform the manager but they were upset we were complaining. That one out of thirty times was a bad experience.
Another qualm I have is the slow service. On a Wednesday at dinner time there will be open tables but it will take them 10 minutes to seat you.
I will still come here cause it’s one of my favorite places in Berkeley and I hope the customer service improves.

Coming here on a Sunday night there was about a 25 minute wait for our party of 5 really hungry borderline hangry people. The store itself isn’t very big and they were very busy as the servers hustled around delivering hot plates of food.
I had ordered a chicken katsu curry which came with pickled vegetables on the side. The portions were very generous which gives the meal better value. The rice was cooked well, the chicken katsu was perfectly cooked, though the curry feel short to me. I thought the curry though flavorful, was a bit to chunky for me and the texture just wasn’t as smooth as other Japanese curry places.
My friends got the ramen and looking at their portions and hearing their feedback, their ramen portions are also VERY generous. The noodles were cooked well and the soup broth was also flavorful. I may come back to try the ramen, maybe this time on a less busy day.
Overall, great place for the hungry college student. TIP if you show your student ID you get extra curry and rice free! Score!

I’ve been a few times and now feel like I have enough for this review. I must say this a great place for Japanese curry and ramen. The location is a little small so call in early for big groups (+4) to make sure they have room.
The Good:
When it come to food, yes, the meals have very good flavors and is great for the culinary center that Berkeley is. The pork katsu curry is cooked well and students get extra portions of rice with student ID. The dishes come with picked cabbage (mmm for me) and you can choose from mild to spicy on the curries. During happy hour, you get a few pieces of fried chicken with the purchase of a Sapporo. In my picture, you can see my friend with a bowl of curry ramen (~$ 13) which was fantastic and packed with trimmings.
The Bad:
Remember when I said students get extra portions of rice? This is true. However, when I went to get a small dinner with a friend, we ran into a problem. We were going to split one plate with the extra portion of rice because we are both students. After receiving the order of the pork katsu curry (~$ 11) with the extra rice portions, we were told we must purchase another plate because we couldn’t share that one. This is because the student discount only applies to one plate per one person at a time. We were basically forced to order another plate and our ~$ 11 meal turned into a ~$ 22 meal. I understand this policy, but this should be stated by the waitress who knew we were splitting a plate, instead of bringing it up after the food has been brought to the table. This policy should be posted as well. This problem coupled with the above-​average prices in a city that already has expensive meals has turned me off from Murachi’s. Think, $ 11 for a plate here when you can get (Pakistani) curry at House of Curries down the street for ~$ 8 and unlimited chai!
The food here is good, don’t get me wrong. but it is on the costly side even for Berkeley. The second time I came here I was rushed out once I finished my meal and beer. I would suggest going up to Asian Ghetto or House of Curries for great Berkeley cuisine unless you are looking for Japanese curry specifically.

One of the best places to get Japanese curry in Berkeley!
To start off, the curry here is simply great. While not as good as the curry I’ve had in Japan or even Taiwan, it’s still very authentic (something quite rare around Berkeley, in my opinion) and tasty. Other items, such as the curry ramen, are not as spot-​on as the curries, but they’re still satisfactory.
Portions are quite generous too, though the curries don’t come with anything except rice and the meat. You can add sides like potatoes or an egg, but that will cost extra. Students can also get extra rice and curry upon showing your ID.
Service is excellent, and the owner, who is actually Japanese, is very kind. Due to the small size of the restaurant however, expect to wait in line for a while if you go during dinner time.
The only thing that holds me back from giving it a full five stars is the general pricing. Though not unreasonable, it is a tad high, especially compared to other restaurants in the area.
But then again, you’re not going to find better Japanese curry in Berkeley than at Muracci’s!

We were on a tight schedule as we needed to grab a bite to eat and hurry across town before closing. We came across this place! Never heard of them, so we wanted to give it a shot! Japanese dishes made by a Korean owner. The menu is centered around either curry or fried items.
We ordered:
Katsu curry w/​beef and veggie curry ³⁄₅
The Tonkatsu was fried perfect but mediocre in taste.
Fried tofu /​veggie curry ¹⁄₅ the low rating was fir the fried onions-​blah! The fried onions were awful! It was an awful bitter taste, had a difficult time trying to figure out what it was. I finally asked our server what those fried things were? He confirmed that it was fried onions but I couldn’t understand why it tasted so awful!
Ebi fry meal. The shrimp was fried almost perfect. This came with miso soup, which was quite underwhelming. The potato salad was bland. Lukewarm miso soup with big pieces of sliced leeks. Not ok. ²⁄₅
What we did like:
Extra curry/​rice if you’re a college student! Show them your school ID when ordering, this was great for my daughter and her BF, Sweet!
The servers were helpful and on top of things.
The prices were quite economical. I’m guessing this is a great place for students to get their studies on.

Solid place for Japanese style curry. Prices are slightly higher than I would like, but nothing unreasonable.
My go-​to order is katsu curry (medium spicy) with brown rice. Sometimes I add a fried egg. It’s nice that they don’t charge extra for brown rice, and students get extra curry and extra rice at no charge if you show your ID. The curry is pretty flavorful, and the katsu breading is usually very crispy. I actually ALWAYS run out of katsu and curry even with the extra (oink), but my friends usually have leftovers of everything so… take that as you will ^_​^;;
If you’re feeling noodles more than rice, opt for the curry noodle soup! That way, you still get the curry.
Basically, get anything with curry, and you’re good to go.

On a rainy day, all I sought out for was some warm Asian comfort food. Then, I came upon some Japanese curry that really hit the spot.
If you’re a Cal student, apparently, you get extra rice and curry. Since the bf is a Cal student, he was excited for this deal. However, it didn’t really seem like he got anything extra when he ordered the Katsu curry.
I got the fried chicken curry ramen and whoa, curry ramen? I didn’t even know that existed and thank goodness it does because it’s everything I could ask for. The bowl is massive and the broth is pretty heavy. A hearty meal perfect for a rainy day!

SO MUCH CURRY.
For around $ 10, you can get an enormous platter of white rice, katsu pork, and a small ocean of Japanese curry, with plenty of beni shoga (red pickled ginger) and a quick cabbage pickle. Two people can probably split that and be perfectly full.
We also got a spicy curry noodle, which was less successful since the meat sauce had a hard time sticking to the ramen noodles. The curry itself brought the heat, but this dish was a little too salty for my taste.
There’s a sign that indicates college students with ID can get more rice and curry sauce, but it looks like everyone gets the huge default plate.
I’m impressed how much seating they pack into this joint, and it didn’t look it took long for people to get a table since the food comes out quick.

Solid Japanese curry dishes at a reasonable price! Curry can be a good comfort food– especially in the sometimes miserable Bay Area fog.
I’ve tried a katsu chicken curry udon and simple chicken katsu curry (that was a $ 6 special of the day– yay for Warriors winning and all the Bay Area pride!). The udon bowl was quite savory and pretty substantial. The meat was well cooked, and the curry was nice and mild to order but still had good flavor. The katsu was pretty good at well and it paired well with the brown rice.
Sometimes the simplest dishes are the best– and Muracci’s simple curry plates are satisfying and a good value.

Location: on Telegraph, parking is difficult unless you park a few blocks away. Easily accessible by the AC transit 1/​1R. Restaurant itself is pretty cramped.
Service: pretty much nonexistent. they come to take orders, give food, and get the check. Difficult to flag them down for a water refill or anything else really.
Food: Chicken donburi was delicious! Tasted like extreme comfort food and filled me up a lot. I would probably come here to get that for takeout and eat it in the comfort of my home.

Muracci’s was the third of this Japa-​Curry mini-​chain, though the 2^nd location in Los Altos closed late last year. Saw the wife, Tamiko, leaving as I arrived right at 11. She was surprised it was already opening time, but was quick to call her cashier /​server from the back, where I could hear prepping still going on, before running off.
Anyway, along with curry plates, they also have donburi, udon & ramen soups, and set plates with protein, rice, salad, and miso soup.
I saw a review saying the «medium» was really spicy, which I wasn’t in the mood for, so I ordered the Katsu Curry ($ 10.45) mild with brown rice and an extra Sunnyside-​up Egg (+$ 1.50).
You get a large oval plate of food with a big mound of rice on one side, the protein, and a pool of curry filled to the rim of the plate (
). A sign said Cal students get extra rice & curry (show student ID), but not sure where extra curry would fit (maybe given on the side?).
The Mild curry turned out to be. .. really mild. I sweat with even lightly spicy food (bad genes) and my forehead barely got moist. Still, this was a nice thick, flavorful curry that I enjoyed on the tonkotsu, mixed in the rice, and on it’s own. It’s suposed to be a 2-​day process to cook the curry to naturally reduce and concentrate the flavors (vs. thickening w/​corn-​starch etc.) and it shows.
As for the toppings, the pork was well fried and not oily, but a touch dry (
). The egg was overcooked with the yolk almost completely set.
I liked the housemade pickled veggies (
)

I have to start by admitting a bias. Japanese curry isn’t really my jam. Thai curries are consistently awesome. Other southeast countries… Myanmar, Laos, Burma… also amazing. Then I’d rank Indian. Next maybe Vietnamese and Chinese. Japanese kinda ranks on the bottom for me. Not quite sure why, just personal preference… but it kind of reminds me of American gravy. So there’s that.
But judging this place just on its own merit, I’d say it’s a solid three. Location is good, servers plenty friendly, the aesthetic is pretty standard Berkeley. Prices are reasonable. But the food is just good, not great.
I’d never warn anyone away from this place… but can’t see me begging them to go either.

Muracci’s has some darn good curry for a petite-​sized wallet! The tried and true chicken katsu curry is a fan favorite at $ 10.45 while the katsu don is one of my favorites at $ 9.75. Both of these dishes contain the lightly breaded, crunchy on the outside pork cutlet served alongside Muracci’s famously savory curry. The chicken katsu curry has a dish of house pickled vegetables and your choice of white or brown rice. The katsu don contains an egg and rice as well.
All of Muracci’s dishes are suuuper filling, so bring a hungry belly! Cal1 cards will also get you extra curry and rice for free. Solid option for a starving college student.

Having tried the SF Muraccci’s and other Japanese curry places in SF, the katsu curry plate here just felt a bit disappointing given the price. ($ 10 – 12 for katsu curry before tax)
First some wait might be expected (we had about an hour wait for weekend lunch), which wasn’t a big deal since there were shops nearby to check out. When the curry plate came, it looked like just mostly curry and rice. It came with two tiny pickled side dishes, would be nice if they could just be a bit more generous on the sides and katsu.

I love Japanese curry and have been meaning to try Muracci’s (why does it sound Italian?) in SF or the second location in Los Altos (but this one closed because they weren’t able to renew their lease). I was stoked to see that there was a location in Berkeley on Telegraph. Came here for dinner and was seated right away. They had a special which was curry over ramen, which sounded amazing. I love Japanese curry and Japanese ramen, so the two things together sounded epic. But I decided to go with the chicken katsu curry instead — something a little more traditional. For the curry, you can choose between mild, medium, or spicy. I picked spicy! And you also get to choose between white rice or brown rice. Decided to be good and pick brown rice. The curry meal also came with some yummy pickled veggies.
The food was pretty yummy. The chicken katsu was good — fried perfectly, just a teensy bit dry. The curry was delicious and definitely had a kick to it. I could see the little red pepper flakes that they made it spicy. The portion was massive. A lot of curry, a lot of rice, and a lot of chicken. It was big enough for two! I couldn’t finish mine, so I took the rest home. I think I would’ve liked veggies in my curry though.
The customer service was excellent. The two ladies working that day were very attentive and really nice. Refilled the water multiple times and asked how the food was and if there was anything else we needed. I would definitely come back when I’m back in Berkeley, and hopefully the ramen special will be offered. Or I’ll order something else from the menu!