It’s not Turkish, and even the rice plays a minor role, but it’s a meal beloved by locals that always sees a clean plate at the end of the meal.

Nagasaki, being tucked away on the southwestern island of Kyushu, doesn’t quite see the same thoroughfare of international travelers as the more central cities, like Tokyo, Kyoto or even Hiroshima do.  However, from the Dutch-themed amusement park Huis Ten Bosch and the Nagasaki Lantern Festival to the battleship-shaped island of Gunkanjima and the resort island of Iojima, there are countless delightful sights to see, and local treats to snack on.

Our avid Pokémon Go fan and Japanese language reporter P.K. Sanjun recently stopped by Nagasaki for a Pokémon Go event, and thought he would take the opportunity to finally go eat a Nagasaki local specialty he had long admired: Turkish rice.

For anyone familiar with Turkish cuisine, you might assume that it refers to the fluffy and buttery rice and pasta pilaf that is enjoyed by so many Turkish people. However, in Japan, what is known as “Turkish rice” can be seen by someone as being as outrageous as an Italian finding out what the popular chain restaurant Saizeriya calls a “pizza”, and… I’ve seen some very offended Italians.

This is mostly due to the inclusion of a pork cutlet, which is generally not eaten in Turkey due to Islamic influences, and as the origin of the “Turkish rice” name remains unclear, we can’t say for sure how this arguably contradictory dish came to be called that. Along with pilaf, the Japanese version of Turkish rice also tends to include the type of pasta called “Napolitan”  in Japanese, which refers to spaghetti with tomato ketchup.

Using our favorite tried and tested method of calling upon the wisdom of local taxi drivers to point us in the direction of the best restaurant for mouthwatering local delicacies, P.K. found himself standing outside what his taxi driver called “the most delicious Turkish rice restaurant in Nagasaki”: Nicky Arnstein.

There are two branches in Nagasaki, one being in the Yorozuyamachi neighborhood and the other being at JR Nagasaki Station. While both are easily accessible, P.K. happened to be near the station that day, so he called into the JR Nagasaki Station store at around noon on a Saturday.

Being right at the lunch rush, there was naturally a line, and P.K. happened to be tenth in it. After a wait of just over twenty minutes, he was finally seated and ready to explore the charm of Nicky Arnstein.

The most striking thing initially was the size of the menu, as due to the many different combinations of things such as hamburg steak, croquettes, dry curry, and so on, they all change the dish in slightly different ways. The staff informed P.K. that there were in fact “about 200 varieties” of Turkish rice to be enjoyed in the store.

Honestly, with so much choice, P.K. felt pretty overwhelmed, so he decided to put his faith in the menu’s recommendation that its most popular dish is the one it calls “Turkish rice #703” and ordered a plate of it for 1,480 yen (US$9.50).

After a wait of about ten minutes, the dish was brought to P.K.’s table. On his plate were a mixture of rice and pasta, a sauce-slathered pork cutlet, a croquette, a fluffy omelet, and a side salad, with very generously sized portions by Japanese restaurant standards.

It wasn’t exactly clear from the photos, but even without specifically ordering a large size, the Turkish rice at Nicky Arnstein is incredibly generous, leaving P.K. to wonder if he’d even be able to finish it all.

However, in the end, P.K. managed to polish off his plate pretty easily. Even the elderly customer next to him left not a single morsel of food behind. In fact, P.K. didn’t see even a single person leave without eating everything on their plate, which is truly the best compliment a restaurant can have.

Each of the components of the Turkish rice, from the pasta to the croquette, were all pretty considerably heavy foods by themselves, and each one was delicious enough to be the star of the plate.

Of particular note was the croquette, because even though P.K. is not generally a fan of them, this smooth, creamy croquette was insanely good. It was perhaps tasty enough that Nicky Arnstein could just sell a croquette set meal and people would love it just the same.

It just so happens that one of our other reporters, Mariko Ohanabatake, is from Nagasaki and can reaffirm that the taxi driver knows what he was talking about as the food at Nicky Arnstein is delicious, so along with P.K.’s recommendation, that’s three levels of guarantee of having a fantastic meal on your next visit to Nagasaki.

Restaurant information
Nicky Arnstein Nagasaki Ekimae-ten / ニッキー・アースティン 長崎駅前店
Address: Nagasaki-ken, Nagasaki-shi, Onouemachi 1-67 Nagasaki Kaido Kamome Ichiba
長崎県長崎市尾上町1-67 長崎街道かもめ市場
Open 11:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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