Oodles of noodles

With its reputation for serving up the best udon curry in the world, it comes as little surprise that the Bangkok franchise of Konaya is earning an increasing number of fans eager to sup on its aromatic fare.

Founded in 1983, Konaya is the pioneer of curry udon topped with prawn tempura. The first restaurant served only three choices of the thick and curried wheat flour noodle topped with mixed tempura, Tanuki and sliced pork in a soup made from dried king mackerel. Today, the 10 branches in Tokyo and Osaka and franchise outlets in Taiwan and China offer many more.

The first Bangkok branch of Konaya was opened in 2011 by Boonrawd Brewery. Ideal for a quick lunch or dinner, the cosy restaurant is furnished with natural wood tables and chairs and decorated in a clean, minimalist-style.

Chef Tomio Akiyama is in charge of the kitchen at the Nine Neighbourhood Centre branch and says he spends three days preparing the strong and aromatic yellow curry, which is made from pork bone soup and flavoured with 10 spices imported from Japan.

“People will appreciate the original Tokyo-style curry udon, which has a strong and slightly salty flavour that’s offset by the sweetness from vegetables and fruits,” says Akiyama, who is also managing director of Konaya International. “Our dishes are prepared to traditional recipes and with quality ingredients. The taste is authentic while the noodles are thick, sticky but soft.”

The noodles are served in a soup of both soy sauce and yellow curry and there are more than 10 kinds of additional toppings from which to choose, varying from deep-fried pork cutlets, deep-fried tofu, fried rice cake, vegetable tempura, stewed pork and minced chicken and pork. 

“Our tempura are crispy, light but never oily and they go very well with curry. In Japan, the prawn tempura is the best seller,” he says.

We take him at his word and happily sample the curry Udon with crunchy, prawn tempura (Bt230) as well as curry rice with deep fried pork cutlets (Bt199) and fresh tofu salad (Bt100).

Among the best picks for dessert are hot red beans with smooth mochi (Bt60) and banana tempura served with green tea ice cream (Bt90).

Konaya is launching a special “Kin Ebi Rolls” menu at the end of this month in celebration of Boonrawd Brewery’s 80th anniversary. The promotion will run for two months.

“Kin means gold in Japanese. We don’t normally offer sushi but the Kin Ebi Rolls are being created to mark a special occasion. They are stuffed with prawn tempura and vegetables, wrapped with fried tempura flour and topped with gold,” Akiyama says. 

There’s also a branch of Konaya on the fourth floor of Terminal 21. 

  

 

GOING FOR GOLD

<< Konaya Curry Udon & Tempura restaurant is located on the ground floor of The Nine Neighbourhood Centre, Rama 9 Road. 

<< It’s open from 11am to 10pm on weekdays and from 10am to 10pm at weekends.

<< Call (02) 716 7939 or check out “KonayaCurryUdonThailand” at Facebbok