Demiya — Restaurant in San Jose

Demiya – A Casual Spot for Japanese Curry Lovers in San Jose

Tucked into a modest storefront in San Jose, Demiya is a popular local curry house known for its Japanese-style curry rice, udon noodles, donburi, and teishoku sets. While the shop has built a strong following, especially for takeout, the dine-in experience is more of a casual, fast-food format than a full-service restaurant.

The dining space is compact, with wooden two-person tables that can be pushed together for small groups, but the layout isn’t ideal for larger gatherings. The décor is minimal but thoughtful—featuring Japanese artwork, a teapot or two, and a few playful touches like Hello Kitty plush toys.

Demiya’s menu offers a wide range of protein options including tonkatsu, chicken katsu, karaage, menchi (ground meat cutlet), tofu, nasu (eggplant), beef shabu, croquettes, and ebi (shrimp). A spicy level could be chosen with the curry option. I believe the curry rice with the fried protein could be high in calories. You can customize your meal further with toppings like mushrooms, veggies, omelet, egg, and sausage. While the variety is impressive, the prices run high considering the dishes are relatively simple and home-style in nature.

Ordering is done at the counter, and food is picked up once your name is called. Self-service water is available, and the dine-in staff presence is minimal—likely due to the team’s focus on prepping a steady stream of to-go orders. During lunch hours, even on weekdays, be prepared for a short wait in line.

If you're looking for quick, customizable Japanese comfort food, Demiya delivers on flavor and variety, though not necessarily on atmosphere or service. Best suited for a solo visit or casual lunch, especially if you're a fan of Japanese...

I recently moved to San Jose from NorCal from LA and was looking for a good place to get my curry fix and Demiya definitely surpassed my expectations.

Parking: Parking was relatively easy but the lot is a little small so I can see it filling up pretty quickly during busy hours.

Store/Staff: The inside of the restaurant is very clean and the staff were very friendly. Some of the staff were Japanese who I think may have been the owners and also the chefs. There was not much seating so again, similar to parking, I can see it filling up pretty quickly during busy hours. The restaurant actually did get completely full in the time I stayed to eat my food.

Food: I ordered the hamburger cheese curry (medium spicy) and my friend ordered the katsu curry (also medium spicy). The hamburger cheese curry takes at least 15 minutes so keep that in mind when ordering.

My friend's katsu curry came out pretty quickly so I tried some of that while waiting for mine. The katsu curry was very good. The outer breading of the katsu was perfectly crispy and the pork inside had lots of flavor and was not dry at all. It went really well with the curry.

The hamburger cheese curry is basically a hamburg with some cheese mixed inside with the meat. It also comes with a runny egg on top. It was very juicy and flavorful and actually would also be ok without the curry but did go well with the curry, too.

I'll definitely be going...

Japanese curry is one of my favorite things. I chose Demiya for lunch to satisfy that craving. They didn't disappoint but neither did they spark joy. I arrived to a small dining room packed with guests and a line (presumably delivery drivers) waiting for their food.

So I ordered the yasai (vegetable) curry rice which apparently doesn't come with the fucshia-colored pickles that meat plates get. The curry itself is thinner than the rich, gravy preparations at other places and has a strong note of ginger, both of which were acceptable but not my preference.

Alongside it I got karaage (popcorn chicken) that was unevenly cooked. Some pieces were crunchy, some not, and a few seemed undercooked. It came with a mayonnaisey dip. Would have been nice to have soy sauce or white pepper available but there wasn't a hint of condiments anywhere.

Overall, not terrible but I won't be returning. If you plan to dine in, order online beforehand. There's no counter or table service so you have to do it from a mobile device anyway once you get there... then wait. With no way to tip the person who took my order, brought it to the table, filled my water, and bussed the dishes (me), I set it to zero. Any other amount would be too high since there's literally no way to render less service and still provide...