Tadka, a South Indian restaurant in Kyoto.
Indian cuisine has gained immense popularity across the globe. Some people are used to carrying some Indian snacks while travelling abroad as they prefer the Indian flavours and are also habitual to the same. While it is hard to find a proper eatery which serves you the same Indian flavours, a social media user, claimed that he found a perfect south Indian restaurant in Kyoto which is "unbelievably authentic". He even shared an interesting story behind the Japanese owners and has left the internet impressed.
Prasanna Karthik, a former policy advisor to the Chief Minister of Goa, took to the microblogging website X and shared that he visited Tadka recently. He wrote, "I visited this kick-a** south Indian restaurant called Tadka in Kyoto, Japan. Tadka is owned and run by Japanese people. They visit Chennai once every 6 months, learn new dishes, practice it to perfection and add it to their menu. In Tadka, I had one of the best South Indian meals I've ever had, even after judging by the standards of my Chennai upbringings. The dosa and idli were unbelievably authentic."
Mr Karthik added that there are a handful of Indians eating here and the customers are mostly Japanese. "Apparently Tadka has very very few Indians eating there. Its customers are mostly Japanese customers who have fallen in love with the food there. what a way to contribute to India's soft power!!!"
In another post, he said, "In a country that uses chop-sticks to eat food, Tadka actively promotes eating by hand... in true south Indian style."
He also shared a picture with the chefs and said that "the two have truly embraced Indian culture from the bottom of their hearts." "During all their visits to Chennai, they visit Tiruvanamalai (a temple town in Tamil Nadu) and spend time for meditation in the Ashram of Bhagwan Ramana Maharishi - a renowned Advaita Vedanta teacher and jivan mukta. Ramana's picture can be seen in the background," he wrote.
Mr Karthik stated that they also gave him a complimentary cup of filter coffee which was the "best filter coffee" he has had. Concluding the post, he added, "I don't have coffee or tea. But when I was leaving, they gave me a complimentary cup of south Indian filter coffee. Since I did not want to be rude, I accepted it. It turned out to be the best filter coffee I've ever had. These guys took Japanese precision to an all new level."