Interview with owner Moriyasu Motomasa
Shaka Spice (SHAKA SPICE) serves distinctive curries bursting with spice.
We spoke with owner Moriyasu Motomasa.
Loved cooking from a young age. Aiming to run a curry shop suited to a small-scale operation
Tell us how you came to open the shop.
Moriyasu (honorific omitted)
I have always loved cooking, ever since I was little.
However, I had no particular plans to open a restaurant in the future; I simply enjoyed cooking as a hobby.
So after entering the workforce, I worked at financial institutions and companies in the steel industry, among others, and had no connection to the food-service business. The closest I came was working part-time at a restaurant while I was a student.
But I eventually wanted to make a job out of something I loved—cooking—and decided to aim for opening a restaurant.
Why did you choose curry?
Moriyasu
When I decided to open a restaurant, I thought I would make it small enough to run on my own.
At that scale, I thought the options were a ramen shop, a set-meal restaurant, or a curry shop.
At first I planned to make ramen, and I did a lot of research and repeated trials at home.
But I got tired of making ramen itself (laughs).
If I got tired of it, I wouldn't be able to keep the shop going.
Next I considered a set-meal restaurant, but that would require preparing a fairly wide range of dishes.
I reconsidered, thinking that running a set-meal restaurant alone might be tough.
On the other hand, I never got tired of making curry, and I became more and more absorbed in it.
I was especially engrossed in making spice curry.
A radio program was what got me started making spice curry.
One day, a program featuring the owner of a well-known spice-curry shop in Kyoto came on the radio.
The owner had left a corporate job to open a curry shop, which grew into such a popular restaurant that it earned a Michelin star in about three years.
I was impressed, thinking, “Curry has so much potential,” and decided to open a curry shop.
I immediately ordered curry from a popular Kyoto shop and tried it, then began researching with its flavor as a reference.
After many rounds of testing, I was able to make a spice curry that satisfied me.
Unlike ramen, I never got tired of it, and after that I made many different kinds of spice curry.
That is how I moved forward with opening a curry shop.
One day, I happened to find a vacant property. It was where the shop is now.
I contacted a real estate agent right away and secured the property. Then, in August 2024, I opened Shaka Spice.
Where did the name “Shaka Spice” come from?
Moriyasu
There are various theories about the origin of the word curry, and one of them traces it to Buddha.
According to this story, “The mountain where the young Buddha trained is in a place called ‘Kare.’ After his training, Buddha served local people dishes made with spices and other ingredients gathered from the mountain. This was the origin of curry, which came to be called curry after the place name.”
Since I was opening a curry shop, I borrowed the name from Buddha, who could be considered the origin of curry.
Three curries introduced as a trial became regular menu items
How did you decide on the current menu?
Moriyasu
At first, I planned to have two menu items and offer the rest as limited-time specials.
I made various curries during the trial stage, but the three I felt confident serving at the shop were chicken, beef tendon, and coconut shrimp.
I wanted to narrow it down to two at the end, taking customers’ preferences and local tastes into account.
So I planned to offer all three as an experiment, then narrow it down to two after a while based on how many orders each received.
But once we actually started operating, each of the three gained its own fans, and they all had steady sales.
So I made all three regular menu items. I also added “Aigake” (two curries) and “Zenbu-gake” (all three curries).
If you’re unsure what to order on your first visit, I recommend starting with these and finding the curry you like best!
However, chicken keema curry was not on the original menu. As the number of customers grew, more people started visiting with their children.
As a result, we heard more requests for “a curry that people who don’t like spicy food can eat.”
So I added chicken keema curry as a non-spicy option.
As I mentioned earlier, chicken keema curry is also the original flavor that inspired me to start making curry.
Particular about ingredients. Especially for cilantro, he visits the growing site himself
Tell us what makes your shop special.
Moriyasu
We are very particular about our ingredients.
We are especially particular about cilantro.
We use only “Okayama Mild Cilantro,” grown in Okayama City.
It was the freshest and tastiest cilantro we found.
To get it fresh, I visit the cilantro-growing site in Okayama City myself and buy it freshly harvested. I then store it in a refrigerator dedicated to cilantro inside the shop.
That’s why I’m confident our curry will satisfy people who love cilantro.
We ask whether you’d like cilantro when you order, so don’t worry if you’re not a fan.
For our chicken and beef tendon, we also give our suppliers detailed instructions and have them deliver meat that meets our requirements.
We use rice grown around Soja City (Kibiji), specifying the degree of milling.
We tried various kinds of rice and chose the one that goes best with our curry.
What do you do differently in the curry-making process?
Moriyasu
We also carefully adjust the spice blend to create a flavor that is easy for everyone to enjoy, including people trying spice curry for the first time.
We buy spices from a specialist supplier in Kobe City, specifying their place of origin.
Another key point is that we make sure not to lose the ingredients’ natural umami.
Most of the people who visit our shop are Japanese, so I felt that umami was an essential element.
For example, for the chicken in our chicken curry, we remove the skin and parboil it.
We use the fat that comes from the chicken skin (chicken oil) to bring out the umami.
We also boil it until just before any unpleasant odor develops.
Aiming to run the shop by making the most of curry's strengths
What are your plans for the future, or anything you’d like to try?
Moriyasu
I’d like to focus on setting up at events.
And in the future, I’d also like to try operating a food truck.
I don’t plan to expand the shop, since that would increase the burden of running it.
On the other hand, I think setting up at events and operating a food truck could help us strengthen our business efficiently.
One advantage of curry is that it’s easy to serve at events and from a food truck.
I’d like to run the shop in a way that makes the most of curry’s strengths.
Shaka Spice, a specialty spice-curry shop particular about everything from ingredients to cooking methods
Shaka Spice takes great care with its ingredients and cooking.
Enjoy two or three curries together for a great deal.
Or find your favorite and savor a generous serving on its own.
Come try these carefully crafted curries, bursting with umami and spice.
Shaka Spice (SHAKA SPICE) details
| Name | Shaka Spice (SHAKA SPICE) |
|---|---|
| Address | 2-2-1 Chuo, Soja City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Contact | 0866-31-6521 |
| Parking | Available Two spaces about 300 m to the east, south of Araki Bookstore |
| Business hours | 【Monday–Friday】11:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m., 5:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. 【Saturday】11:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m. |
| Closed | Sunday Hours may vary during the year-end and New Year holidays or when participating in events |
| Payment methods |
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| Reservations | Accepted ・Seat reservations are available only for visits after 5:00 p.m. ・Takeout orders can be reserved anytime during business hours |
| Seating | 9 counter seats |
| Smoking | Entirely non-smoking |
| Restroom | Western-style toilet |
| Families with children | Children’s tableware available |
| Website | Official Instagram |
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