I recently visited the newly opened 100HoursCurry branch in GH Mall, and I was honestly looking forward to it. As someone who appreciates a good Japanese curry, I thought I was in for a treat — after all, the brand name literally promises curry that’s been simmered and perfected over 100 hours. That has to be good, right?
Well… let’s just say the expectation vs. reality meme came to mind.
I was a bit taken aback to see that prices here are almost double what you’d pay for the same dish in Japan. I understand there are franchise fees and local operating costs, but I couldn’t help feeling a little bit robbed — especially when the plate arrived and it was… small. For the price of that single item alone (around ₱500, or ¥1,300 at the time of writing), I expected either a generous portion or at least something visually impressive. Sadly, it was neither.
The staff weren’t unfriendly, but they also weren’t particularly helpful. Not a major issue, but it added to the sense that things weren’t quite polished yet.
To be fair, the curry itself wasn’t bad. The flavor was decent, the rice was cooked well, and the presentation was clean. But was it “worth-the-hype, wait-100-hours” good? Not for me.
Maybe things will improve with time. But based on this visit, I’d say the Manila version of 100HoursCurry still has a few hundred more hours to go before it truly lives up to its name.