Wow, just wow….Kuru surpassed our expectations by a longshot. For a Saturday night, this was actually our backup option. We were so glad fate sent us this way. Located a short 4 mins walk from St Leonards station on a somewhat quiet road contains this Japanese culinary gem. Ranging from your standard Japanese entrees, sashimi, tender meats and masterful desserts. We’d love to share with you our foodie experience.

Yakitori – Wagyu Beef ($8) and Ox Tongue ($9)

The yakitori dishes we ordered were the Wagyu beef and the Ox-tongue. What stood out for us the most was definitely the Ox-tongue. Each skewer consisted of two deliciously seasoned thick cut pieces that had perfect consistency throughout. The cuts retained all its meaty juices that actually just melted in our mouths. The wagyu beef skewer on the contrary wasn’t as standout surprisingly as the ox-tongue, whilst still enjoyable it was a bit more on the drier side.

Assorted Tempura – $20

The assorted tempura consisted of two prawn pieces and five vegetables (capsicum, sweet potato, pumpkin, mushroom and eggplant). The tentsuya (tempura sauce) given as a side dipping sauce was extremely light and refreshing. There are also toasted sesame seeds in the sauce, adding an aroma and a slightly nutty taste. The batter lightly covered the prawns and vegetables – you know it’s good when the tempura is translucent as it won’t be overly oily and the batter will not overpower the ingredients. My personal favourite for the vegetables was shiitake mushrooms – it was so savoury, chewy and juicy at the same time!!

Assorted Sashimi – $39

This beautifully prepared assortment of sashimi set out in a large rounded plate was one of our favourites. The plate had 3 pieces of salmon, tuna, kingfish, snapper, scallops and a single serving of oyster and the irresistible scampi. The scampi was a personal favourite, its soft texture melts in your mouth whilst retaining its subtle but delicious flavour. It was topped with roe that complimented its flavour almost perfectly. The snapper was a surprisingly delicious, as we would normally not order this as a sashimi. It was extremely soft, mild and delicate. The scallop was extremely soft, creamy and sweet. Overall all the sashimi was of high quality and was well balance – extremely worth it for the price!!

Katsu Chicken, Cheese and Avo Sushi Roll – $11

Yes, this sushi sounds like a basic one…but OMG it was so perfect for such a simple roll. This was absolutely faultless, we couldn’t say no to a dish with cheese in it. The sushi roll included tempura battered crumbs sprinkled on top with katsu sauce drizzled on the plate . The chicken was undoubtedly top quality. We have often experienced dry pieces of chicken in our sushi, but this definitely was not one of them. The chicken was very crispy, tender and cooked to perfection. The cheese layered on top of the roll was flavourful without overpowering the rest of the ingredients. Everything in this dish exceeded what we were expecting, would definitely come back for it again next time.

Matcha mousse – $7

We really enjoyed the matcha mousse. It started off borderline frozen and hard to slice into however, so I would recommend waiting a good 5-10 minutes so that your spoon can cut it through. It is your standard matcha mousse but the recipe was just about perfected. The creamy flavour and smooth texture was on point.

Chubby Macaron – Kaya Toast ($4) and Strawberry Milk ($4)

By far, the Kaya Toast is one of the best macarons I have ever had (and trust me on this – I have had many macarons before, and nothing comes close to this unique flavour). These macarons are a lot chubbier than the standards one, in which a lot of filling is sandwiched in between the two outer shells. It was a bit hard to bite in as you had to open your mouth wider hahaha. However that did not bother us because the flavours were all on point! Something really special about the Kaya Toast Macaron is that it does not contain the basic macaron shell. Instead it uses two biscuits to hold together the meringue, Kaya jam and a buttery vanilla cream filling. All the fillings complemented well together, melted in our mouth and was just perfection! We liked how the Kaya Jam was very subtle and did not overpower the overall taste. The flavour of the biscuits had a vanilla taste topped with a light sugar glaze, which reminded us of Arnott’s Lattice biscuits. We have never had such a unique flavour Macaron – and is now one of our favourite desserts we have ever eaten.

The Strawberry Milk was very milky, creamy and had a subtle strawberry flavour which was delectable. The only downside to this macaron was the blue food colouring on the outer shell, which made our hands and lips quite blue. It was easy to get rid of when we had other foods to wash away the colour. Other than that it was extremely tasty!

We would also love to try to other flavours such as raspberry, banana caramel and blueberry. They have special flavours weekly and monthly – so we are extremely excited to see what other flavours will come in store. Kaya Toast macaron is a must try, if you ever come to this restaurant (hopefully its not just a limited time only flavour – or else you better get in there quickly!)

OVERALL

Service – Hands down some of the best service we have received in a long time. The staff were very friendly and attentive. Moreover, they always had a smile on their face that made us feel very comfortable.

Decor – Dimly lit with unique Japanese style artworks on the walls.

Flavour – on point in just about every department. Tender meats, fresh sashimi, flavourful desserts and uniquely delectable desserts. Without exaggeration everything was superb

Price – About $50 per person including drinks. An absolute bargain it was considering quality we received.

Wow Factor – The kaya macaron….hands down the best thing ever.

Final verdict 9/10 – Kuru exceeded our expectations in almost every way possible. We highly recommend the Kaya toast macaron. We would come back for that alone…that’s how next level it was. On top of that, don’t miss out on the ox tongue skewers and sashimi set. We will be back again!

Kuru Japanese Restaurant, St Leonards

Shop 3/6, 16 Atchison St, St Leonards NSW 2065

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We are always happy to have a casual chat about up and coming places around Sydney. Check out some of our other reviews below 🙂