A note on the words: garam masala, the shop’s name, is the warm North Indian spice blend. Biryani is the layered rice dish cooked with meat and spices; naan is the tandoor-baked flatbread. Otoshi is the small appetizer an izakaya brings unbidden and charges you for, effectively a cover charge, and a lemon sour is shochu with lemon and soda. Shochu is Japanese distilled spirit. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
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Garam Masala on AutoReserve (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
I want to eat something good today too. This is Hangover Meshi. This time, a famous Indian curry restaurant in Kyodo: Garam Masala. I had wanted to come for ages and finally made it. If you are along the Odakyu line it should be easy to reach. Out of the station and along the tracks and it is very close, two or three minutes on foot, I would say. The restaurant is on the second floor, and on the ground floor there is a characterful izakaya as well. Doing both in one evening might be fun.
The famous name when it comes to spice cooking. Looking forward to it.
There are so many dishes and they all look good. We ordered as the mood took us.
Only the biryani has set dates and requires a booking, apparently. I would like to come back aiming for that.
First a draft beer to wet the throat.
The otoshi looks good too.
Next, the cilantro salad. A dressing with spice to it and a good sharp acidity, and the cilantro suits it perfectly.
The menu said it was addictively good, and that is exactly right.
Bone-in lamb, two pieces to the order. Very juicy and tender, wearing just the right amount of spice. This is extremely good. It does not feel steeped in spice, so you can still taste the lamb itself properly.
Beef offal on a hot iron plate. Quite the opposite — this one has been marinated thoroughly in spice.
The way the spices mix together is remarkably complex. The aroma that rises through the nose is spot on, and it is seasoned a little strongly, so it works with the onion in the middle and, above all, it goes tremendously well with beer.
And this is the black spice mutton curry.
They said I could choose the heat, so I asked for extra hot. One mouthful and it is an aggressive dish, dense spice and mutton fused into one. Perhaps because I asked for extra hot — it is properly hot. What you feel in the first mouthful is a deep punch of heat, spreading across the mouth all at once, but it does not stop at sharpness: the richness of the lamb comes chasing after it immediately. The particular character of mutton is kept in check while remaining as a dense savor. And then the toasty fragrance of various complex, weighty spices drifts up afterwards. This is good. It suits the cilantro scattered around it perfectly as well.
And then the lemon chicken curry.
This must be Garam Masala’s signature. I cannot go home without eating it.
One mouthful and there is a fresh scent of lemon. They use the peel as well, so the aroma is light and yet has a strong core. The acidity of the lemon comes first, but it is not mere sourness — the acidity of ripe citrus, with a faint sweetness in it. And then the cardamom and cumin that belong to curry. The sharpness does not push too far forward, and the balance between acidity and savor is never broken.
This is extremely good. The chicken is cut small, and its tenderness and juiciness are remarkable. The savor of the meat harmonizes with the lemon and the spices and must be what adds roundness to the base sauce. The sauce itself, rather than dense, has a cleaner, more soup-like texture.
I ordered naan as well and ate it dipped in. I knew it would work, and of course it does, and it is good.
At this point, a cilantro lemon sour.
Realizing I might not have eaten any beef, I added the kebab. It looks refined, and the spices come through clearly and it is good.
Last, vanilla ice cream. It seems they gave it to us on the house ^^ Thank you.
So, Garam Masala in Kyodo this time. It is extremely good. No wonder it is famous. The way they use spices, and the whole feel of the place, is very much the real thing. The curries of course, but the kebabs and tandoori dishes are excellent too, and my impression is that if anything this is a place to drink with those as your snacks. There is a wide range of drinks as well — fennel gin, cardamom shochu, cinnamon rum — so even the drinks are covered in spices and you can enjoy yourself. Recommended.
Garam Masala (Indian / Kyodo Station, Miyanosaka Station, Yamashita Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.4
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
