Osaka

Noguchi Taro

野口太郎

Trusting nothing but his instinct, an ex-Japanese salaryman is embarking on a culinary challenge. Creating a kind of wonderland, the self-taught chef curates a truly unique dining experience that has won him a star in just 18 months. Augmented by his eclectic aesthetics and lively performance, classic recipes like chicken wingtips and fish cakes become unforgettable sensations.

Through word of mouth, the praise for Noguchi Taro has quickly spread, making it one of Osaka’s hottest restaurants. Attracting food lovers from all over, it’s hard to get a reservation here with the restaurant only accommodating just ten guests for two seatings a day.

The hidden restaurant is found on the third floor of a building in the upscale neighborhood Kita-Shinchi on the west side. You slide the door open and a whole new world awaits. In a dimly-lit room, gentle spotlights light up the mosaic-like art hanging behind the counter, the work of ceramic artist Jun Kawajiri. Every exquisite piece of tableware used for the meal is also made by the renowned artist.

A heavy wooden counter table stretches across the room, with a row of large fabric chairs lined up against it. At the center of the kitchen is an open grill where Noguchi performs his magic using charcoal and straw. The long straight counter in front of him allows him to interact and serve each guest with the attention he or she deserves. Be mesmerized by the power of flavor as every dish gets cooked right in front of your eyes.

Enjoy the style "Noguchi Taro".

Noguchi Taro’s prefix course flows through 13 to 15 exquisite dishes of seasonal delicacies and original recipes. Calling it “world’s most delicious chicken wingtips,” the chef is proud of his original dish. The recipe involves drying free-range Banshu chicken overnight before broiling it in over binchotan charcoal. The rich and deep flavor is hard to forget, enticing guests to come back again for more.

The satsuma age (fried fish cake) is truly homemade. Noguchi begins from making the dough in front of the guests and dropping the cakes into hot oil right on front of their eyes. As the sizzling cakes are put on plates, he presses each one down with a branding iron, marking it with the restaurant’s name. Made of seasonal dishes like cod, the cakes are sweet, soft and smooth on the inside. The flavor changes with the season as the chef adds accents like truffles, basic and tomato or even zucchini flowers.

Behind the cooking is Noguchi’s firm belief that freshly made food tastes the best. He also believes that delicious food also should look delicious. Riding on these values, his final product appeals to all five senses.

Placed across the rim of small ceramic bowl, custom-designed to serve this particular dish, is a single spear of asparagus. Swam under boiling water for precisely 7 seconds, the Shinshu asparagus is fresh and crunchy, and served with homemade miso-flavored mayonnaise.

A fun and delicious rice dish is nodoguro maki. Tender and flavorful pieces of blackthroat seaperch, grilled over straw on the open grill, is wrapped in vinegared sushi rice and wrapped in crisp piece of seaweed. The roll is passed straight from the chef’s hand to the guest’s while everything is hot and crisp.

Abalone is slow cooked over five hours to not lose its soft texture and deep aroma. The liver sauce is condensed with umami and pairs perfectly with crisp dry sake. Somen noodles from Nara are infused with white sesame oil and topped with bits of sea urchin and caviar. Mix everything well before indulging in this simple yet gorgeous dish.

INGREDIENTS
The fish used at Noguchi Taro comes from both the fish market as well as local ports. After sampling many different brands of meats, the chef has resorted to using Hidagyu beef, which comes from black-haired Japanese cattle that have been raised in Gifu.

Knowing the producer is very important for Noguchi, as he wants and needs to be able to trust the quality of the ingredients. Thanks to the cultivated relationships, even the simplest recipes like boiled asparagus becomes a dish he can serve with great confidence.

CHEF

Taro Noguchi

Unlike other top chefs in Japan with years of culinary training, Noguchi has a unique resume. Born and raised in Kyoto, he leaves Japan at age 15 to study in the U.K. With an international mindset, he enrolls a Japanese university that paves way to an elite career at a large foreign company in Tokyo.

His life takes a surprise turn with his father’s passing, which leaves him to take over the family’s auto business back in Kyoto. This forces him to start asking himself what it is that he really wants to do. That important question leads him to rediscover his childhood passion of cooking and to pursue it as a profession.

He packs up his bags, leaving the family business to his brother, to pursue a world so foreign to him. Arriving in Osaka with no friends or leads to depend on, he embarks on his biggest challenge yet. In November 2009, he opens a restaurant with his very own name. “It was the biggest challenge of my life,” he recalls.

The philosophy behind his cooking is simple—to pursue for the best of flavors. His style to show the various cooking steps in front of the guests is not merely for show but a necessity in creating a product of the highest quality. Most important, his strong wish to want to please the guests is a universal feeling that can be shared with all.

The essence of Noguchi Taro’s cuisine is Japanese but the chef remains creative and flexible with every menu. At times, he may surprise the guest with a bowl of curry or Chinese fried rice.

VISION
Noguchi always has the world at top of his mind. He has already done a number of popups abroad including a month-long restaurant in the Bahamas in 2017 and another in Hong Kong the following year. With Sushi Saeki, another established Osaka restaurant, he has also had a hugely successful collaboration event in New York. Going forward, he hopes to welcome more international guests in Osaka as well as expanding his business overseas such as New York.

TABLEWARE

All the dishes at Noguchi Taro are works of Jun Kawajiri and his father Ikkan Kawajiri. The Kyoto-made tableware is as dynamic as the cuisine, becoming an essential element of the dining experience. The most notable of the collection is the welcome plate. Every piece of the set is unique with its own design, decorated with platinum and gold.

The artists’ work are found in every corner of the restaurant from paintings on the wall to the sink bowl in the restroom. The chopstick holders are works of the chef himself, designed when visiting Kawajiri’s kiln. They become a special gift for regular guests to remember the exquisite meal by.