Opening] "22 Curry" opens today in Akihabara! You can enjoy authentic curry collaborated with anime and games!

Akihabara is a fierce battleground for curry where various curry stores are competing with each other. A new concept curry store, 22 Curry, opened its grand opening on December 15, 2023 (Fri.) at 10:00 a.m.

22 Curry" is a new concept curry store where customers can enjoy curry made in collaboration with characters from various contents. Akiba Research Institute visited "22 Curry" just before its opening to interview the owner about his specialty curry and the concept of the store.

The location is on the second floor of the Kogure Building along Chuo-dori Avenue, and should be easily recognizable if you look toward Daikokuya, which has a store at the intersection.

Here is the entrance. As soon as you exit the elevator, you will see an automatic door in front of you.

Upon entering the store, you will be greeted by a pop-up of "Chimitan," a popular character on SNS!

The plan is to collaborate with this character for about a month, from the first day of opening on December 15, 2023 (Friday) to January 21, 2024 (Sunday).

The restaurant will offer only one type of curry at the time of opening: Chimitan's Curry with Sunflower Seeds, a masculine dish! The menu includes side dishes such as fried Tatsuta, French fries, desserts, and drinks, but I started with "Chimitan's Curry with Sunflower Seeds". It seems rather aggressive for a curry store to offer only one curry menu item, but is it really ......?

It's ...... delicious! The base curry roux is a true royal road! The base curry roux is a classic, but the slightly spicy and slightly tangy taste is exquisite and lingers in the mouth.

The sunflower seeds (apparently an ingredient chosen because Chimitan is a Jungarian hamster), which everyone is curious about, are hardly noticeable, and many people may not even notice that they are in the curry unless they are told. However, the slight aroma of the seeds (see ......), combined with the spiciness of the curry, creates a delicious and addictive flavor.

This is a curry that can make a store's signature with a pinch of salt! I highly recommend you try it. The amount of curry is just right for a woman to eat, and for a man it is about eight-tenths of a man's stomach, which is also exquisite. If the curry alone is not enough to fill you up, order one of the side dishes and you will be just as full as you can be.

Four types of drinks are offered: "Chimichan Uruwashi Iced Tea," "Thick Mango Lassi Tan," "Ramune Soda with Apple and Chimi's Love," and "Strawberry, Nata de Coco, Chimi, Kiss, Soda.

This time I ordered the "Ramune Soda with Apple and Chimi's Love". Diced apples float in a carbonated drink flavored with rumune. The carbonation and the sweet and sour apple are a perfect marriage. It is a drink that can be enjoyed as an accompaniment to curry or as a dessert.

In conclusion, 22 Curry is a curry store that should be experienced at least once! There is none of the disappointment that is common in collaboration cafes, where the price is high but the taste is a bit ....... The curry is supervised by Mr. Naoyoshi Motoyama, a "traveling chef" who has worked at famous restaurants both in Japan and abroad. Under his supervision, he plans to develop a curry that matches the content of each collaboration.

Now, after the meal, let's take a look at the pop-up store. Currently, Chimitan x 22 Curry's original goods and retort curry are on sale.

The space for the pop-up store occupies almost half of the floor, so it looks like a relaxing place to shop.

In addition, an air curtain has been installed between the food and beverage space and the pop-up store space to prevent the smell of curry from wafting up to the pop-up store. This is a great relief for those who are worried about the smell of food and cannot concentrate on their shopping .......

Retort-packed curry packages are on display.

In fact, the company that operates 22 Curry, Mazuru, originally developed and sold retort curry in collaboration with the aforementioned Chef Motoyama, as well as various anime and video games. Since the many collaboration curries they have sold have been well received, they have been looking for an opportunity to set up an actual store and sell their collaboration curries there for over two years.

The content of the collaboration can be of any genre, such as anime, video games, and manga, and the collaboration changes almost every month. In other words, 22 Curry's curry is renewed every month, and even if people don't know about the characters and contents of the collaborations, they will probably want to go to the restaurant to try the new curry. At least for me, the "Sunflower Seed Curry" has been a hit, and I plan to visit again in the future.

22 Curry is located in the heart of Akihabara, near the Animate, Bic Camera, Manrandare, AKIBA Cultures Zone, and Bellesalle Akihabara, all of which are representative stores and facilities of Akihabara. We have a feeling that this will become a new Akihabara landmark.

Store Information

22 Curry

Location: Kogure Bldg. 2F, 1-11-6 Sotokanda, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Access: 4-minute walk from JR Line Akihabara Station Electric Town Exit

Business hours: 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Regular closing days: No regular holidays

Number of seats: 24

Menu: Curry and rice, desserts, drinks, and character goods

Payment Methods: Cash, Credit Card VISA master amex card

Reservations: Varies depending on the event. Please see event details.