​CURRYS NEAR ME is located in Naka-ku, Nagoya City. Based on South Indian cuisine, the restaurant offers safe and delicious food made with the best local vegetables.

This time, we asked Mr. Wada, the store manager, about the reasons for opening the store and what he is particular about.

About 5 minutes on foot from Shin-Sakae Station on the Higashiyama Subway Line. The shop is on the second floor of this building.

Look for the signboard on the road.

When you go up to the second floor by elevator, the shop is immediately on your right.

The interior of the restaurant has a warm atmosphere based on white and wood colors. The restaurant was created with "a comfortable space that is easy to enter alone" in mind.

Mr. Wada: “I wanted to make it easy for ordinary people to enter, not just those who love Indian food. When I was thinking about the interior, I thought about whether my wife would be able to enter by herself.”

"I want to provide safe and secure products"
That thought and Indian cuisine matched

Manager Mr. Wada

The owner, Mr. Wada, was originally an Italian chef. What made you decide to open a spice curry restaurant?

Wata: "I gradually stopped enjoying working at the company. I think the restaurant industry is something that customers enjoy. Ideally, customers should be excited and I and my staff should be able to have fun. That's how I came to want to open a restaurant like that myself."

Mr. Wada began to think that he wanted to have his own shop. He came across spice curry when he was thinking about what kind of genre to open a store.

Wata:"I happened to have a chance to eat South Indian food in Tokyo. Unlike other curries, there were many curries in a small plate, and I was really excited by the variety of flavors in one dish. It was simply fun!"

After encountering South Indian cuisine, Mr. Wada quit his job and started training at an Indian restaurant. And it seems that there was something he noticed while practicing.

Wata: "Originally, I wanted to provide safe and secure food. The important criterion for me was whether or not my family and friends could eat it with peace of mind. Indian food can be made with just the taste of the ingredients and spices, so there is no need to add anything extra. I realized that this was very compatible with my idea."

Selected vegetables purchased directly from farmers

The board inside the store explains the vegetables used that day.

CURRYS NEAR ME not only offers curry with no additives or chemical seasonings, but is also particular about the vegetables they use. We use safe seasonal vegetables purchased directly from reliable farmers.

Mr. Wada values the "excitement" and "safety and security" of enjoying a meal. And he is particular about cooking that brings out the taste of the vegetables themselves.

Wata: "Actually, Italian food, which I used to make, and South Indian food have something in common. Both are simple and rustic. They are both simple, plain cooking methods that bring out the flavors of the ingredients themselves."

CURRYS NEAR ME's Curry Set of choice

A. 3 kinds of curry & deli set ¥ 1,483 (tax included)

B. Two kinds of curry & deli set ¥ 1,263 (tax included)

There are three types of menus for CURRYS NEAR ME: A, B, and C. Vegan correspondence is also possible.

A set: 3 kinds of curry & 2 kinds of deli, served with rasam
B set: 2 kinds of curry & 2 kinds of deli, with rasam
C set: 2 kinds of curry & 1 kind of deli

You choose your favorite curry and deli at the counter as soon as you enter the restaurant before taking your seat. Here are the dishes we had this time, one by one!

The front is "Chicken Kuruma". Creamy curry with nut paste, yogurt and coconut. You can feel the gentle sweetness and the rich flavor of nuts and coconuts.

In the back is "Two kinds of mushroom keema curry". Plenty of mushroom flavor is overflowing! Combined with minced chicken, it has a strong taste.

These two are classic South Indian dishes, sambal (left) and rasam (right). Sambal is a bean curry with vegetables, and you can feel the sour taste of tamarind.

Rasam is also a sour soup using tamarind. If you drink rasam between other curries, it will accentuate the acidity and make it delicious!

From left to right: Middle Eastern-style salad with Uzumaki beets, Stir-fried root vegetables in coconut, and yogurt salad. The root vegetable contains yacon, and the crunchiness of yacon and the sweetness of coconut are a perfect match.

CURRYS NEAR ME, which uses rare vegetables such as "Uzumaki beets" and "Yacon", which is purchased from local farmers, is unique. Yogurt salad is eaten with curry.

For those who want additional spiciness, the chili paste is on the left. On the right is also spiced pickled ginger with a spicy flavor. By adding a yogurt salad or any of these garnishes, you can enjoy the change of flavors as many times as you like. Curry at CURRYS NEAR ME is truly "exciting" as you eat it.

The rice is "Aichi no Kaori" produced by a local farmer, and is cooked specially to give it a crispy texture that goes well with curry. Glutinous barley, ancient rice, and spices are also cooked together to thoroughly pursue a "rice that goes well with curry". The barley also adds a nice crunchy texture to the rice.

"Please put the whole spices in the dish here". The attention to detail makes me smile.

We also had the recommended drink "Lassi" together. Curry spices and refreshing yogurt-flavored lassi are a perfect match.

CURRYS NEAR ME's curry has a simple and gentle flavor, with a strong spice but with the true taste of vegetables. I felt that this is exactly the kind of cuisine that "brings out the flavor of the ingredients," as Mr. Wada says. Not only that, but it seems that Mr. Wada's soft personality is reflected in his cooking.

Mr. Wada: "South Indian cuisine has its own rules such as 'eat this first' and 'eat while mixing', but we don't care about such things and want customers to eat as they like. I think it would be great if you could freely enjoy the 'excitement' with your own sensibilities."