Tokyo is a fast-paced city with many opportunities for work but also a plethora of places to destress and find comfort. In the heart of Kayabacho, a business district in central Tokyo, sits Latino, a prime destination for some of the best comfort food the city has to offer.
On the surface, the name can be a bit misleading: the restaurant does have great Mexican food, a rarity in the city, but it also has a myriad of fantastic fusion curries. To get there, we walk past the office buildings and up a quieter street to a strip of restaurants serving everything from Thai to Korean. We hunt for the restaurant’s unassuming green awning and go in.
Upon entering, we are greeted, in English, by Haruhiko Murakami, the Japanese owner and friendly hippy that came up with the concept of the restaurant. The decor seems more fitting for a cool dive bar in L.A.: low lighting, sugar candy skulls, and mezcal bottles line the walls. There is a long counter, behind which all of the food and drinks are prepared. Haru-san shows us to the dining area, which has a beautiful Mexican tableau painted on its wall. He proudly tells us that his daughter painted it back when she was a graphic design student.
The chefs Yuya and Tomoko both work diligently over every dish. Tomoko is chattier, as she spent some time studying in New York and working in bars there. We order a margarita and a caipirinha (a Brazilian drink made with cachaça, a sugar cane spirit), which she expertly shakes up for us. Tomoko had a short stint working at Latino many years ago as a part-time server, but later on down the line when she needed a job again, Haru-san was there to train her up to be a chef. The drinks are well-balanced, sour, and fresh: the perfect opening to whet our appetite.
We order some chicken tacos served on soft corn tortillas, and a plate of small chorizo sausages. The tacos have such a depth of flavor, which takes us by surprise – most tacos in Japan veer towards milder tastes, but this feels like the genuine article. The mini, slightly sweet pork chorizo sausages deliver a perfect burst of flavor with every bite.
Haru-san tells us that before opening the restaurant, he had spent time in many places all over the Americas, both North and South. “That’s where I got the idea for this place. I was selling beachwear to clients and surfing all over the world and tasting all this great food,” he says. So dedicated is he to the surfer life that one of his prized surfboards is displayed on the ceiling, and he tells us that still surfs all the time.
He opened the doors to Latino almost 30 years ago in 1995, when he decided to stop working in sales and go into business for himself. We ask him about the eclectic menu, which includes curries of various influences, tacos with different fillings such as beef, shrimp and chicken; fajitas, nachos and ceviche. He tells us that since there are many offices in the area, curry was something that he could make in batches and was time-efficient to serve to hungry workers on their breaks. In Japan, curry is a comfort-food staple that every child grows up eating with at home. Usually, the dish consists of a thick “Vermont” sauce, which is slightly sweet and spicy, served with potatoes, carrots and either beef or chicken over or alongside rice.
But Haru-san wanted to put his own spin on the idea of curry, serving up many different styles including Japanese, Indian, Thai, Kashgar (a Chinese curry) and even a Mexican curry, which he invented. He recommends for us to try the “dry curry,” a type of Japanese curry that is served without the usual Vermont curry sauce but that instead has all of the curry seasonings cooked directly into it. He also recommends the combination curry, which has both Mexican and Thai curries on a single plate.
We ask him who came up with the recipes and he states, “I did. I was inspired by all the food I ate while I was traveling. And I have friends from around the world who shared recipes, which I took inspiration from.”
There is a guitar and an amp in the corner of the restaurant, so we ask Haru-san if they are his. He responds emphatically in the positive that he sings and plays guitar. He even points to the guitar on his t-shirt, which he strums. “I play like this while riding the train and kids say ‘What is the strange man doing?!’” He then chortles heartily and goes back to the kitchen to check on the progress of our curries.
He first brings us the dry curry, which sits comfortably atop a pillow of rice. Despite there being no sauce, it is steeped in rich curry flavors, that include ginger and garlic, warms us through. Each bite of minced pork and carrot is more addictive than the last.
Next up, the Mexican and Thai curries arrive, served on one plate and split down the middle by a moat of rice. He tells us, “I know there is no such a thing as Mexican curry, but I came up with the idea to incorporate flavors from that region in a fusion way.” And he certainly was successful: the curry has a tomato base as well as some beans, chicken, potato, and enough spice to appease even the most ardent fans of Mexican cuisine. The Thai green chicken curry which has a deep coconut flavor, with eggplant and bamboo shoots, is equally mouthwatering, and clearly made with love.
Latino is warm and welcoming, and the staff really do feel like family, cracking jokes and looking out for each other. Haru-san helps them out with all of the tasks, from cooking and clearing tables to shaking up cocktails. We thank him for his hospitality and amazing food, and get up to pay.
We see several regulars as we pass by the bar, one of whom tells us that this is the second time she’s been there today. People all seem to get that same feeling of familiarity from the place.
Haru-san, with a cheeky grin, slams down a couple of tequila shots in front of us. “On the house!” he announces. We leave with the sense that Latino is a place we can always return to when we crave that feeling of home – wherever home may be.
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Published on November 19, 2024
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