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 stewed 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. Details on the day’s offerings can be spied over on the restaurant’s X feed.