Kokoroya in Turin, the low cost Japanese cuisine to eat the best traditional dishes of the Rising Sun. Read the review.
One summer evening I was wandering by bicycle through the streets of the Quadrilatero when from afar I caught a glimpse of a small sign that made me rethink Japan all at once. “Hey, wait for me! I absolutely have to understand what they sell here! " I yelled at my boyfriend who had already passed over.
I found out like that Kokoroya and this is the only place in Turin that makes me feel a great nostalgia when thinking back to our trip to Japan.
Kokoroya is a small deli but it is also a grocery store.
The owners are a couple, he Italian and she, the cook, Japanese, but you never see her ... in short, you must believe that she exists as the three little shepherds of Fatima believed.
The gastronomy is very small: once inside you will find on the right a shelf with Japanese specialties (seaweed, rice, ramen, things not well identified) and on the left the seat with the four stools; in front of you instead the counter and the owner who, very kind, explains all the dishes if necessary.
The menus on the walls are written in both Italian and Japanese!
If you're expecting to eat california roll or salmon temaki, come back to Japs; here you will find ramen, udon, yakitori and yakisoba, onigiri as in cartoons ... you know those delicious triangles of rice wrapped in nori and stuffed with what do you want? Those!
Vegetarians have not been forgotten even if the choice is smaller: vegetable ravioli, leek and miso onigiri or bento with rice and vegetable side dishes and, optionally, tofu or eggplant. Personally I tasted the aubergines and they are very good!
It's nasu dengaku, fried and glazed aubergines in miso sauce (miso, sake, mirin and sugar). They melt in your mouth and this will be enough to make you forget that they are fried. Mirin is another type of sake, mainly used in cooking: a sort of secret ingredient that gives a sweet taste to dishes.
From Kokoroya you find i bento and you can also order them to take home or enjoy them in the park like real Japanese. Every week a special is offered for only € 9,80: usually includes rice, side dish and meat or fish. To find out what bento of the week is, you can have a look at them Facebook page ..
The cuisine is traditional and the dishes are freshly prepared so, if you are in a hurry, change places because there is only one cook. Booking is definitely preferable. Everything is decidedly Spartan, the dishes are served in plastic plates; to place the jackets you will be kindly offered a mesh bag placed on the ground next to your stools. Suitable to the nostalgic of the Rising Sun, to those who love authenticity and don't pay too much attention to frills.
