Muracci's Berkeley location was my first visit to the regional chain. I arrived with high expectations based on reviews of the other locations. Most of my hopes were met. The curry, the cornerstone of the restaurant, was delicious. It wasn't too salty, which I find is usually the problem with Japanese curries. I ordered the tofu and vegetables. The tofu was expertly prepared. Unfortunately, the carrots and broccoli were under-cooked and hard to eat. They really detracted from the dish. I had some nice green tea and pickled vegetables, made just right, on the side. My other issue was the price. I visited during lunch so I was prepared for a daily special or a menu meant to attract the many lunch-goers in the area. The price wouldn't have been a problem at dinner, but it seemed quite high for the quick and casual lunch atmosphere. I plan to return, though, and take a second taste. read more

Yummy chicken katsu with curry. You get to choose the curry either mild, medium, or hot. I always get the medium chicken katsu with curry and it's really good. read more

Muracci's Berkeley - Chicken katsu and curry katsu noodle soup - Japanese Curry Near Me - Berkeley, California

I decided to give Japanese restaurant another try after my dissatisfaction with a previous one and, well, I am glad I did. Well... not exactly. My friend was buying me food so I ended up here since I let him decide. Anyways, I left happy. I got the Beef Curry, which came with a portion of rice (college students get free extra rice). The texture was quite thick- not similar to what I am used to AKA Indian curry- and it was a good ratio of meat to curry. I did burn my mouth since I got it hot, but whatever, that cup of water got my back. I am extremely sad that they did not offer me a crayon and a paper to color on, but again, I am in my 20's so that is probably why. read more

I came back to this place after not having been there for a year, and I was very pleasantly surprised. I'm not sure if their food got better, or if my memory is poor, but I really enjoyed my visit this time! The katsu was so so delicious - the pork was tender, and it wasn't too overly fried. Also, we got their weekly special, which was the curry ramen with pork belly, and that was one of the best things I've tasted in a while. I definitely will come back for that ramen any time they have it!! read more

Muracci's Berkeley - Curry ramen with pork belly - Japanese Curry Near Me - Berkeley, California

The pork Katsu and the chicken Karage were cooked perfectly. The curry at mild even has a little kick. Overall a super solid meal. I will be back. read more

Muracci's is one of the only places in Berkeley that serves Japanese curry -- they serve unique dishes that you can't get anywhere else, I definitely recommend trying the Karaage Ramen or the Curry Udon! It's so good! What makes this restaurant special though is the story behind Muracci's. It's owned by an older Japanese couple who work hard everyday to keep their San Francisco and Berkeley customers and workers happy. I was talking to them one time, and learned that they never intended to own a Japanese curry restaurant in America. But after their son Murachi passed away, they wanted to honor him and carry out his dream of owning his own curry restaurant. I was touched to learn this, so much that Muracci's is now my #1 favorite place to get Japanese curry. Muracci's is truly a labor of love. read more

Go for the specials, not just the regular curry. Food is pretty good, there is just too few seating places if you want to come here with a larger group. But they do take reservations!! Plan ahead for the wait otherwise. read more

Closest thing to coco ichibanya or curry house, close, but no cigar. Still looking for the best curry in NorCal

Place is horrible. Do not know how this place has gotten so many reviews. Japanese where? Everyone one here is Mexican, no Asians in sight. From the music to the people I haven't seen anything Japanese. Food is ok, if you're looking for fast and cheap. Do not recommend, should have went to Panda Express for a more authentic experience. read more

Muracci's is one of my go-to restaurants in Berkeley. It has a nice, casual sit down atmosphere that is great to grab a bite with friends or even have a date! I usually get chicken Katsu curry (extra spicy of course) and the portions are usually huge! They even have a student deal where you can get extra rice and curry if you go to Cal. The curry is Japanese style curry which is rich, savory, and filling. They give little Japanese pickled sides which I love to eat with my food to sort of balance the palate. The service is great and the workers are always nice! I haven't tried most of their other Japanese dishes, so I can't speak for their authenticity, but they are known for their curry which most people get. Overall, a great place to sit down and have a nice meal with friends! read more

This restaurant serves delicious Japanese startle curry at a reasonable price. The portions are very generous and a student ID will get you extra rice. Definitely the place to go if you are looking for a substantial meal on a budget. read more

Muracci's Berkeley - Japanese Curry Near Me - Berkeley, California

Nice Japanese restaurant. I saw many Japanese people going there. I like their Katsu, the fried chicken. And the curry also tastes good, different from Thai style curry. It is a little bit more expensive than other restaurants for simply a rice bowl or noodle, but you can have a try. read more

Muracci's Berkeley - Japanese Curry Near Me - Berkeley, California

THIS IS A REVIEW ABOUT ORDERING FOOD TO-GO I just brought home an order of chicken udon curry soup. It's really tasty. I have a cold and this is better than anything I could have gotten from a can. This is not the first time i have ordered to-go from them. They give you a lot of food and I don't feel I'm being served food any differently than if I ate there (which I have experienced from other restaurants). read more

I can't believe the rice at a curry place can go wrong! I ordered omelette curry rice for lunch. The rice is not thoroughly cooked, and the so called omelette is more like scrambled egg. Very disappointed! read more

My partner and I went there yesterday and had the salmon curry with vegetables, the tofu vegetable soup, and the peach jelly sake. We recommend them all! The staff was very friendly, and this was the best curry either of us ever had! The woman serving us told us it took 2 days to make, and it shows. There were a lot of delicious options, the service was fast and exceptionally friendly, and the portions were fairly large for how much it cost. read more

Don't be on your phone when you're here. You want to give your curry your undivided attention. I have personally hated Japanese curry at every restaurant I've been to in America (curry house, to name one) and Japanese curry powder mix has never come out well. I've always loved Thai and Indian curry but never Japanese curry. But MURACCI'S has made me a believer. Their curry is flavorful and multidimensional, especially when u ask for medium level spice. Their grilled salmon on the grilled salmon curry always comes out perfectly juicy. And the little red Japanese side pickles are the shit. When it comes to food, the average person can really only distinguish good, mediocre, and terrible. Muracci's is no doubt solidly in the good range. Just try it, a review won't do it justice. read more

Terrible take out. Made us wait for near an hour after taking our order. They were busy serving other people who came later than us. To our complaint, a server called Richard had the attitude of 'if you don't want it then don't wait. We're just humans, what do you want us to do?' Terribly rude. Never do any take outs at this place if you want any decent service. read more

Best Japanese curry I've had. One hour free parking down the street, fast service, but the portion has become smaller recently. I usually get chicken katsu curry. read more

They curry is just find, not good, not bad. But that is little over price in berkeley. You can get the better food in the same area unless you really want a curry read more

I have been here several times when I get the itch to visit Berkeley. I first have to say that the service has almost always been very good. The food comes fast, and the place is clean though cramped. The food always tastes delicious, especially the curry. I have ordered the beef curry and chicken curry, mild. It is mouth watering delicious. So why then, the two stars? I gave one star for how good the food tastes, and another star for customer service. Unfortunately, my food poisoning and trips to the restroom because my stomach hurts gets three stars taken away. Are they using old meat maybe? Because that is my best guess. Every time I consume the food here, I get a bad stomach ache that results going to the restroom many many many times. I don't know why. Maybe it is just me and my experience. Maybe it's my ultra sensitive stomach (I never order spicy food and get everything mild). I can't say for sure. All I know is that the food tastes so good that I have attempted it several times, and after the last time where I got food poisoning that resulted in me throwing up and feeling very very sick for three days straight...without being able to even keep chicken noodle soup down...I am not going to attempt this place again. It makes me really sad, because the food is most certainly delicious. I can only speak from my experience. And unfortunately, it has always been very conflicting with my stomach. : ( So if you have a sensitive stomach, I would not recommend this place. If you have a strong stomach, go for it. I guarantee it will taste good, but I can't guarantee that you won't be spending some time in the restroom. read more

Murracci's is really good. I get cravings for the tofu and grilled salmon curries pretty often. The curry is really bold, the portions are filling, and the rice is always cooked perfectly. I do wish they'd give you some vegetables though. read more

This is my favorite curry place in the East Bay. The curry is spicy but not overly strong and the chicken was very tender. The rice was also very soft and the whole chicken curry dish came together very well. The service was not the best; the servers didn't know whose dish was whose. The serving size of the beef curry that my friend ordered was below suffice. The place is conveniently located near UCB campus so it's very convenient for students or visitors of the campus. Overall, I really liked the curry here and would come back but it's definitely not the best place around. read more

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. read more

Ok I am confused. So the dish I got (Katsu curry) was not even warm and the curry was like liquid. I prefer my curry when it's thick and simmering hot and it's like nice to eat. My friend ordered an omelette curry and for some reason she got the nice thick one and I am very disappointed because she got a warm plate and the rest of us did not. So I don't know if it's like normal to get cold plates because my curry was not that warm. Also the student ID card that redeems extra rice and sauce is a lie. I am never coming back here again. Good day. read more

Love this always, always go for the Kakuni Pork Belly udon. The rest of the menu are ok.

Last minute had the grilled salmon curry over brown rice. Food came out quick, but it was disappointing. Paid $13 for some brown rice, a fillet of fish and some curry. Didn't seem worth at all...didn't taste that great...won't be back. read more

Great spot for Japanese curry and pretty affordable as well. Definitely recommending this place to others.

It's been a while since I wrote a review and I think this one is deserving of what I am about to write. Despite all the rumors and positive reviews I've heard about Japanese curry and how great this chain is, this one just didn't live up to its name to me, and here's why..... First off, I'm gonna be honest, I did try to look for every reason possible to give this place the best review and more stars, but I could not find any to do so.... First and foremost the most important thing that people judge on outside of flavor is the service of a restaurant. It is the single and most important initial impression that makes or breaks an experience for a customer. So here's the story: My girlfriend and I walked into Muracci's because she's had Japanese Curry before and she said it was great and I must try it. We walk in and there were a few open tables. The server looks around and directs us to sit at a table open and close to the register (small place). Great, we can sit! We don't get another greeting, menu's, water, or any acknowledgement that we existed in the restaurant. Couple minutes later, another 2 customers arrive and they got sat right next to us (broke our two tables into 2 because we didn't want to be greedy in a small restaurant). They INSTANTLY get menu's, water, and a nice warm greeting. What's the difference between that table and my table? I have no idea, except maybe they're college students and my girlfriend are not? IF the server can tell by that and decide not to serve us, then I believe this place should just get 5 stars for the ability to read people. But I doubt that. Ok so the girlfriend tells me this place opened not too long ago, I give them a break and grab my own menu. GREAT! Let's move on and see if I can find anything I like to eat. Looking at the menu, I realized everything is the same essentially, covered in flour and fried (katsu) with sauce essentially and a side of either white or brown rice. Great. Lovely. What is the fad about this place? Must taste EXTREMELY DELICIOUS RIGHT? NO! Ok taking a step back, I give credit where credit is due, I was able to flag the server down to take my order (no they didn't come ask if we were ready, I had to flag her down). Girlfriend order the chicken katsu with brown rice and I ordered the katsu (pork) with brown rice. (Table next to us ordered 5ish minutes after we did...this leads to a fantastic experience and read below to find out why).... 10-15 minutes later....THE TABLE NEXT TO US GETS THEIR FOOD (ALL ORDERS)...and I get my katsu...but where's my girlfriends food!? I turn around and there's an angry Asian guy complaining that his friend hasn't gotten his food and he's done eating...I then think to myself and wonder where my girlfriend's food is?! The next order of food to come out was for this table that was there when we walked in and waiting already..thinking they barely got their food something was wrong. So we wait and wait..my food is getting cold..table next to us who order later and sat later was half way done eating and then our final dish comes out...my food was getting cold...YUMMMMYYY...NOTTT! Ok fine, I finally got my food, let's give it a taste. The great fad and rumors that make this restaurant so great...well nothing special. EVERYONE get's the same sauce. You just get a different type of flour covered meat known as Katsu that wasn't even cooked that great. My katsu was dry. Well could be because it was sitting there while i was waiting for my girlfriends food to come out, but i'll never know now. Overall, $10/$11 per dish, this is a joke right? Serving the same sauce over some meat and rice? REALLY!? I know Japanese food is somewhat expensive (and I still don't understand why) but this is ridiculous, it's a $2-$3 platter of food for $10. WOW. This is how broke college students stay broke because they get ripped off by restaurants like this. There are plenty of others around campus that are worse, but I'm not reviewing those at the moment. My overall experience to this place was not great. There's no order in the kitchen, there's no priority and sense of warmth for customers in this restaurant. It's actually a place I'd never go back to. Over priced, ordinary fast food quality restaurant that deserves no rave. I have no idea why there's so many positive reviews because they are not that special. Given that they are new, i'll give it some more time to adjust before going back (if i go back...)... read more

The most times I've come here in a week is 3, or it might be 4. Great simple but really hits the spot warm and slightly sweet curry, the best is the omelette curry in which the egg is cooked perfectly to be just a bit soft and runny. Has absolutely been my go to staple during my college years in Berkeley :) read more

It was HOT in the restaurant. We ordered the lunch special (curry ramen and beef rice). Both of good, not extraordinary. Good to grab a quick bite. read more

I've eaten here once or twice and ordered delivery several other times. I almost always get the Chicken Katsu Curry. The quality of the chicken is a bit of a gamble (sometimes it's good, sometimes it's rather stringy and separates too easily from the fried skin). One time I ordered the Salmon Curry and received a cold giant shrimp in my curry instead. Frankly I lost my appetite. read more

Great location. We came in a half hour before closing and the service was quick, friendly, and awesome. The food was delicious as always. I can't wait to come back. Thanks guys! Came here with my dad we had the Katsu curry and Thea seafood curry. Clean plate for both of us read more

The food is 5/5, staff accommodation is good and friendly, but this place is small and gets too crowded easily Really good place to get your Japanese curry cravings satisfied Recommend to go back again! read more

I ordered take-out.... chicken katsu curry, extra spicy. I can't really speak about the service, but everything was just as delicious as the one in San Francisco. But it was a little more expensive than Muracci's SF. read more

Just like most other reviewers have mentioned, the curry was watery and lacked flavor. I thought the menu said that my curry was supposed to include pickled radishes, but none were found. Some other reviewers mentioned that you have to ask for it, which I probably could have done, but didn't bother since the curry was flavorless and I just wanted to leave. Won't return. read more

Average chicken katsu curry. I think their SF location is better. Their katsu don was hard to eat. I couldn't even finish it; tasteless toppings, and hard rice. read more

To be honest, I don't go here often. But when I do come, I'm hungry for delicious Japanese curry. Now, whether it's truly authentic or not, I don't know since I'm not a food connoisseur. However, the dishes I have tried were pretty good, and worth (most of) the money since it's pretty large portions. The first time I came I tried the katsu curry with brown rice. The katsu slices are huge, and there is definitely lots of curry sauce for you to eat with rice. Especially with the Cal student ID thingy where you can get extra rice and curry - good! TIP: Show your Cal ID FIRST when you're ordering to get the extra rice and curry!! The second time I came was just an hour ago. I ordered the special, pork katsu curry ramen with egg and it was delicious, even though I wasn't sure how noodles in curry would taste! The udon paired perfectly with the more soup-y curry, and the katsu slices were again, enormous. There were only 2 waitstaff handling everything so of course things didn't go quickly, and there were many hungry customers waiting for their food, or even just waiting to be sat down. I wish they had either more waitstaff or more kitchen staff. Food seemed to be coming out fairly slowly... read more

Murraci is not bad place to eat Japanese curry . I ordered spicy curry with chicken katsu. Its taste wasn't specially delicious, just so so and it is not that hot, so if you are a spicy lover, ordered with special instruction. I recommend this place when you are at telegraph ave and want to eat japanese curry. read more

Muracci's Berkeley - Chicken katsu curry - Japanese Curry Near Me - Berkeley, California

Food is good but the service here honestly sucks. We waited over an hour for our food, which they entirely forgot to put in to the chef to order, and we also had to ask multiple times for water, napkins and utensils. 100% not worth the trouble read more

Luv the food. Small place but good vibes. Workers friendly. Big big big portions. Good priced