5 best Osaka spice curry restaurants in Osaka

The self-taught, self-described ‘curry maniac’ behind this Shinsaibashi gem combines an array of familiar curry spices like cumin and turmeric with sour pickled plums, fermented and salted squid, and other powerful flavours from Japanese cuisine. The results are spectacular, with curry fans making pilgrimages from far and wide to taste his unique creations.

Four kinds of curry are available every day, and you can choose from two (¥1,400) to four (¥1,700) of them for a single plate, plus add any number of toppings such as star anise-flavoured boiled egg (¥100). Pair your meal with some imported beer; on our visit, the fridge contained bottles from Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines...

A highly rated curry restaurant in Osaka, Kyu Yam Tei Nakanoshima Yokan offers a good variety of curries, from Japanese-style spiced versions to Indian and even Thai ones. A standard meal lets you choose two or three curries from the day’s selection, which usually features four options. Each set comes with rice, a bean curry, a small salad and a dessert. On our past visits, we enjoyed the chicken keema curry, pork keema curry and Thai red curry with shrimp.

For an even more substantial meal, the special plate is available after 1pm. This generous platter comes with spiced grilled chicken, two kinds of keema curry, a meat or fish soup curry, pickles, a bean curry, two side dishes and a dessert. You can also choose your preferred rice: Japanese brown rice, Thai jasmine rice or a mixed-grain blend.

The restaurant’s interior looks like an old-world English mansion, with chandeliers, lace table mats, dainty vases and china, and floral wallpaper lending it a retro countryside charm...

Khaos Spice Diner, located in Kitahorie near Amerikamura, serves a tantalising selection of Osaka spice curry. The menu always features three different curries, two of which rotate on a weekly basis. The restaurant’s signature Chaos Keema Curry is an evergreen staple that wins over patrons with a beautiful balance of sweet, sour and spicy notes. 

The weekly chicken curry takes inspiration from global cuisines, with options such as kyet thar hin (a traditional Myanmarese chicken curry), North Indian-style chicken ginger curry, pepper chicken masala, and many others. The third option is the ‘chef’s choice curry’. This is where Khaos goes wild with some interestingly inventive fusions. Past highlights included a clam chowder masala, a tongue-numbing black mapo keema curry, and even a Korean-inspired sundubu masala.

For your curry plate, you can have one type of curry (¥1,200), two (¥1,300) or all three (¥1,350), alongside your choice of plain or turmeric rice. We prefer the latter for its extra depth of flavour and appetising colour. The portion is generous, although there’s a small-sized option with less rice and curry for ¥150 less....

An inquisitive culinary mind with more than a passing interest in Buddhism, Ryoya Ito travelled to India to discover the roots of his religion. He returned a changed man – mostly thanks to all the incredible food he tasted while on the subcontinent. Ito has been hard at work replicating and refining those enlightening flavours ever since, running this comfy curry-focused eatery that opened in 2012.

Decorated with Buddha statues and located a stone’s throw from Shitennoji, one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Japan, Rainbow Buddha is open for lunch every day of the week, offering up Ito’s signature dashi keema curry (¥1,300). A mild mixture of Sri Lanka-style curry and Japanese fish stock that showcases its creator’s background in traditional washoku, the dish wows with its colourful presentation and impeccable balance of sweet, sour and spicy flavours.

For some extra fire, pair the dashi keema with the day’s spicy curry for an extra ¥300. You also get to choose from a selection of six toppings, including raw egg and crispy papad...

When Italian-trained chef Hiroki Nakao started cooking a weekly serving of curry for his staff at the now-closed Mykonos in Nagahoribashi, little did he know that the dish would one day surpass all his other creations in popularity.

After first offering it for lunch once a week at Mykonos, the spicy curry caused such a sensation locally that Nakao decided to open an entire new restaurant to do it justice. And so Teishokudo Kongoseki was born in 2017. A tiny one-man operation decorated with retro and antique furniture and serving up one or two varieties of curry daily, the eatery attracts spice fiends from throughout Kansai.

On our lunchtime visit, the only option on the menu was a voluminous half-and-half platter with tandoori butter chicken and kofta curry (¥1,300), a pleasantly piquant affair to which an ample dollop of butter on the chicken side added a welcome hint of creaminess. Our choice of topping was a Taiwanese-style braised egg (¥100) seasoned with five-spice powder and star anise for another infusion of palate-amusing flavour.

Note that as Nakao recently started serving a cosmopolitan range of set meals in the evening, it’s best to visit for lunch if you’re craving his curry...