Go Go Curry (Kanazawa Curry)

Go Go Curry is the most famous ambassador of 'Kanazawa curry', a distinctive regional style of Japanese curry that has become one of the city's signature comfort foods. While standard Japanese curry rice is found everywhere in the country, the Kanazawa version has its own strict conventions: a thick, glossy, almost black roux that is rich and intensely savoury; a crisp breaded pork cutlet (katsu) laid on top; a heap of finely shredded raw cabbage on the side; the whole thing served on a stainless-steel plate and eaten not with a spoon but with a fork or a distinctive flat-tipped fork-spoon. It is hearty, cheap and deeply satisfying — the kind of meal locals grew up on.

The style traces back to Kanazawa curry houses of the 1960s, and Go Go Curry, founded by Kanazawa native Munetsugu Miyamori, became the brand that carried it to national and even international fame. The company's name and mascot are a love letter to the city: the yellow gorilla logo and the '55' theme nod to Kanazawa-born baseball hero Hideki Matsui, who wore number 55, and the first Go Go Curry store opened on 5 May (5/5) 2004, sparking a nationwide 'Kanazawa curry boom' that spread the style far beyond Ishikawa. The Kanazawa flagship followed soon after, and the brand went on to open in New York's Times Square, turning a hyper-local dish into a small culinary export.

The branch inside Kanazawa Station's Anto (Hyakubangai) concourse is the most convenient place in the city to try it. Positioned just a few minutes from the Shinkansen gates, it is ideal for a quick, filling meal the moment you arrive or right before you catch your train out. The menu is straightforward and portion-focused, with sizes cheerfully named from 'Economy' up through 'Regular', 'Major', 'Mega' and beyond, and toppings from the classic pork cutlet to sausage, egg and extra roux. Prices start low, service is fast, and there is usually an English menu and picture guide, making it very easy for overseas visitors to order.

Eating it is half the fun, because there is an accepted local ritual: the curry arrives on its metal plate, you mix the cabbage into the sauce, and you dig in with the fork rather than a spoon. The flavour is darker, thicker and more umami-heavy than the milder, sweeter curry many travellers expect — closer to a savoury gravy than a soupy sauce — and the contrast of hot roux, crunchy cutlet and cool raw cabbage is what makes the style so moreish.

This is not fine dining, and it isn't trying to be. It is fast, affordable, unpretentious local food with genuine hometown pride behind it, and trying it is a small rite of passage for anyone passing through Kanazawa. Allow about half an hour, including a possible short queue at lunchtime. Between the temples, gardens and gold leaf, a metal plate of Go Go Curry is the easy, tasty way to eat like a Kanazawa local without ever leaving the station.