Right after staying laid off from his occupation as a chef at the Chicago Japanese cafe Kamehachi all through the pandemic, Nobu Kobayashi established his sights on a new task in Arizona.
Kobayashi has used most of his 30-moreover-year profession as a freelance chef, traveling the globe and cooking Japanese foodstuff using vintage approaches he uncovered in his indigenous Tokyo. He was supposed to shift to Arizona to commence a new Japanese restaurant in Prescott, but it did not perform out.
When that fell through, he improved gears and opened his individual shop: Umami Tokyo Curry in Tempe.
What is actually on the menu at Umami Tokyo Curry?
Avenue food is unique than what he typically has cooked in dining places in the past, Kobayashi mentioned. He is properly trained in kaiseki, a classic Japanese set class food based mostly on seasonal elements.
But with situations “not like prior to” for the reason that of COVID, he needed to established up a decide-up and delivery-only procedure. Umami Tokyo Curry opened in September and serves Japanese curry and road food out of a cloud kitchen area in Tempe.
“Not only sushi and not only teriyaki is Japanese,” Kobayashi said about why he chose this concept for his to start with Arizona restaurant.
Kobayashi claimed he desired to discover an spot with younger persons to examination out his rapid relaxed restaurant concept, so he considered Tempe’s university group would be the best place.
The Umami Tokyo Curry menu is little and targeted. Kobayashi serves his created-from-scratch curry, featuring soy sauce and bonito flakes, with a choice of meat — solutions include fried pork cutlet, slim-slice beef or sausage. Each curry also comes with a serving of rice and Japanese pickled greens on the aspect.
In addition to the curry, diners can purchase street foodstuff bites these types of as shumai and takoyaki, or fried octopus balls. There are also a number of salads and seaweed soup on the menu.
More:We tried out 8 sorts of Japanese curry bricks. Here’s what we recommending utilizing at household
Why you shouldn’t skip the ebi curry
This to-go only procedure deals its curry dishes in exclusive containers that continue to keep the sauce separate from the rice and meat so it won’t get soggy in transit.
If you reside in the shipping location, you can place an buy on Uber Eats, GrubHub, Postmates or Doordash. If supply isn’t really an alternative, it can be swift and straightforward to choose up your have foods at the Tempe cloud kitchen facility if you area an buy for pickup on one particular of the apps.
The takoyaki starter is rich and creamy, topped with a sweet brown sauce, Japanese mayo and fishy bonito flakes, which are smoked, dried and fermented flakes of tuna. The fried balls consist of a single piece of tender octopus surrounded by pillowy batter. If you’ve under no circumstances experienced it just before, this variation of the Japan street foods most loved is a reliable introduction, stirring up reminiscences of the variations I have eaten at summer time road festivals in Tokyo.
The primary event, of program, is the curry. And the restaurant’s name is not untrue promoting: there is surely umami at perform in this mildly spicy curry. For those accustomed to earning Japanese curry at home with shop-acquired curry bricks, Kobayashi’s version probable features a far more robust seafood flavor from the addition of bonito flakes and kombu kelp.
The fried ebi, or tempura shrimp, have a light, crunchy panko coating that stands up properly to the sauce. Overall, the dish can make an best Japanese lunch or dinner address for these on the
lookout to indulge in a curry craving or try it out for the initial time.
Umami Tokyo Curry
In which: 1900 E. 5th Road, Tempe.
Offerings: Delivery and select-up for lunch and dinner.
Cost: Takoyaki $8.50 ebi curry $15.50.
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Facts: 773-901-5393, umamitokyocurry.com.
Get to the reporter at Shaena.Montanari@gannett.com. Stick to her on Twitter and Instagram @DrShaena.
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