
Curry Dō
A small, highly focused katsu curry chain with locations in Tustin and Costa Mesa
Curry Dō (pronounced dough, meaning “the way of” in Japanese) opened in Buena Park as a Japanese katsu curry shop at the end of 2020, added Tustin and Costa Mesa locations in 2023 and 2024, then closed the original location in early 2025. Originally so highly focused on essentials that they were hard to revisit unless one had a very specific craving for curry, the locations have since expanded their menus – notably including bringing back cookies from Dough & Arrow, a sweet shop that Curry Dō replaced when it opened in Costa Mesa.
The original menu was simple: pick rice or udon as a base, choose from pork belly, beef belly, shrimp tempura, or chicken katsu as a protein, then augment the plate with your choice of a fried egg, cheese, or one of the four proteins as an add-on. Curry Dō’s only appetizers were white rice, curry, and curry fries, with one dessert added later (vanilla crepe cake), plus a list of drinks (teas, sodas, strawberry milk) that were all fairly basic but more numerous than the restaurant’s food choices. Currently, the “build your own curry” plates sell for $14.50 (small) or $17.50 (regular) with a choice of any base, protein, and original/mild/spicy spice level.
Gyoza ($7.50), takoyaki ($7.50), and french fries (now curry fries, $12.50) were added around 2024 as appetizers, along with pork tonkatsu as a protein, and around 2025, additional entrees joined them: donburi bowls ($16.50), lemon cold udon ($15.50), Ishiyaki Curry ($18.50, a hot stone bowl with curry, rice, protein, cheese, tomato, and the option of menchi katsu) and Children’s Set ($9.95, with katsu or sausage, gyoza, edamame/miso soup/vegetable curry). In late 2025, the menu grew more substantially with the addition of chicken wings ($11), agedashi tofu ($7), fried squid ($9), and fried chicken ($11) appetizers; fries are now available as a base alternative to rice or udon.
On our first visit to Curry Dō, we tried both the udon and rice versions of the katsu curry – at the time, chicken-only, and without kitchen-adjusted spice levels, when guests looking for more heat were given a small dish of red pepper to add themselves. Though we enjoyed the richness and flavor of their base curry without modification, our group’s spice fiend wanted more heat. We returned in early 2026, and that’s no longer an issue: Between three curry spice levels (including an actually spicy top level) and a pepper-battered spicy chicken katsu as a protein, Curry Dō now has options for everyone. There’s even a lemon-and-soy cold udon, paired with your choice of three proteins for $16.50, to provide a gentle, cooling sensation with alternating bright and umami flavors.
Each element of these dishes was very good – nice crispy coating, tender meat, quality rice and udon, tempura cracklins in the curry plates, plus a big fried egg as an addition. Omissions we’d noted in protein options and appetizers have been fully resolved at this point, making Curry Dō a place we would certainly recommend to more than just chicken katsu and pork belly fans. While newer restaurants such as Omori and 88 Katsu have impressed us with larger, more delicately battered pork cutlets, Curry Dō’s new menu choices and reasonable pricing make it worth visiting repeatedly; after our second visit, we’re already actively planning a third, and will update this article with more details when we have them.
Stats
Price: $$
Service: Counter
Open Since: 2020
Address
14075 Newport Ave.
Tustin, CA 92780
714.852.3129
3033 Bristol St. Suite 128
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
657.210.4460
Instagram: @curry_do