While Japanese goods emporium Mujirushi Ryouhin (more commonly known as MUJI) is most known as a stop for things like furniture, accessories, and fashion, they've picked up quite a reputation for having surprisingly tasty food for a "no frills" store. In particular, their 65 varieties of retort packaged curry has gotten a lot of high praise for providing ready-made tasty options (and is the highlight of their recently opened food-based service store and buffet).

So while we're never surprised to hear glowing reviews for their curry pouches, talk of one particularly gourmet sounding option caught our eye--Venison and Mushroom Curry! As good as we expect the flavors to be, this sounded like a gamey option may be a bit too hard a challenge to pull off, so we went and got our hands on some to put it to a taste test.

Pouring it into a bowl, we were surprised to see how generous the ingredient portion was in the curry, which was packed with minced venison, sautéed mushrooms and onions.

As with all MUJI curry, it's a just simple recommended two minutes in the microwave (although you can heat the package in boiling water as well) and then it's ready to serve. Here it is after being heated up.

Now for the taste! The curry roux itself packed an unexpected firm spice to it (MUJI notes it as a 3 out of 5 in spice level), and made it a great pairing with rice. The minced venison meat was also not as chewy as one may expect, as it and the veggies are slowly simmered with red wine, tomatoes and apples. While the initial spice gives quite a kick, the curry eventually mellows out into a more savory and rich finish.

All in all, our verdict is that the Venison and Mushroom ready-to-serve curry from MUJI is definitely recommended for those looking to fancy up their instant curry game, and a pleasantly surprisingly spicy serving of venison!