“There’s supposed to be a food court around here somewhere,” I said, driving around a maze of old warehouses just off Harry Hines Boulevard in Dallas’ Koreatown. We passed a cell phone repair shop, perfume importers, a custom T-shirt maker, and something called “Ugs (Jewelry).” This is the unlikely scene for a comforting new Japanese food court stall that serves up a very good curry katsu.
Point your GPS toward Shin Chon Market, a Korean grocery store with a good, concise selection of products. Shin Chon carries a little bit of everything in its tight quarters; the biggest shortcomings, compared to a huge store like H Mart, are in home goods and the candy aisle. If you need to grab some fresh noodles, a tub of Japanese short-grain rice, or ginger tea, Shin Chon will do nicely.
And it has a food court bigger than the grocery. I’ll have to return at lunch to provide an update on the other stalls, which were closed when I visited at dinnertime last week; there are spots serving Nicaraguan, West African, and Korean-Chinese foods. When all four are open, Shin Chon Market is one of the most diverse culinary addresses in Dallas.
Moriya Shokudo, the Japanese stall, is on the far right of the building and celebrated its grand opening in May. It’s the first food business from owner Tadashi Nakazawa, who worked in education in New York City before moving to Dallas during the pandemic. Though Dallas has a strong, diverse Japanese food scene, Nakazawa noticed that much of it is high-end or luxurious.
“Most Japanese ramen stores these days really look fancy,” Nakazawa told me one afternoon at one of his tables. “But I feel like, from my experience in Japan, ramen or katsu is more of a comfort food, like a food court or a small shop. That’s why I want to start with this kind of concept.” He shares a food court space with his mother-in-law, who operates the kimchi business Ju Ga Kimchi, selling a variety of kimchis to go.
Moriya Shokudo focuses on two specialties—tonkotsu ramen and Japanese curry—with a variety of appetizers and add-ons. We ordered a curry katsu plate and a menu special Nakazawa is testing out: katsudon, the fried pork sliced and plated in a rice bowl with an egg, pickled ginger, nori strips, scallions, and onions. It’s a loaded bowl and an enormous portion.
The curry is comforting and warmly spicy. You get a choice of more or less spicy—I chose more and got a moderate, lasting heat, not enough to cause a sweat but enough that red flecks were visible in the sauce. Nakazawa says he makes the curry sauce each day from scratch—it’s a five-hour process—and the complexity and comfort are well worth the wait.
“It’s funny that they’re very casual foods but they take so long to make,” I told him when we spoke. Then he laughed.
“That’s kind of Japanese people,” he answered, laughing some more. “Even casual food, they don’t care how long they have to spend time. They’re trying to serve the best food, even casual.”
His other main star is tonkotsu ramen, which I did not try but which involves a similarly laborious process to achieve perfectly balanced broth. Nakazawa said that his role model is Shohei Ohtani, the baseball player who’s gained global renown for his double-size set of skills. “He hits and he pitches,” Nakazawa said, laughing again at the comparison. “I make ramen and curry.”
The real star of my first order, by the way, was the rice. Moriya Shokudo makes truly good, flavorful rice, washed repeatedly and carefully and cooked to perfection. Even after I was full, I continued swiping more tufts of rice through the curry sauce. It’s hard to resist.
Nakazawa’s ambition is to eventually expand into other food court stalls. He has a lofty goal—the Dallas Farmers Market—but there are a lot of casual environments around town that could benefit from this food. He also wants to branch into more ramen flavors, conscious of local competitors that serve five or 10 different broths.
I’m hoping this is just the start for Moriya Shokudo. It’s certainly enough to help add a new address to Dallas’ culinary map. Next time we get a hunger for a good Japanese curry, we won’t need directions to find it.
Moriya Shokudo, 11422 Harry Hines Blvd., Ste. 210
Author
