kuru Japanese restaurant

My second visit to this beautiful place… just next to my residence & great service. Had ordered a takeaway for dinner- Kobe beef & matcha ice cream. Enjoyed each morsel but did not like the small part of the tomato. Rest great.. attended by a Nepali girl who was there last year too.

Had a great dinner at Kuru. The staff were friendly and helpful, food was top notch and everything was reasonably priced. Couldn’t ask for more, I would recommend you try this place out if you get a chance.

Update. Just as good as last time. I bought a friend and they were blown away.

I loved every bite. The quality was superb and the quantity was satisfying and fair for the cost.
The hospitality couldn't have been better.

Just a warm experience with wonderful service. So fresh the fish and sushi….perfect.

Fantastic service and food we got the 2 person banquet $65 a person and it was well worth the price.

Food was fresh and extremely tasty with great presentation. And they even got the rare level correct on the waygu.

Service with a smile and on the ball.

Thank you for an excellent dining experience, will be eating here again when I am next in Sydney.

A much welcomed new find for fresh and modern Japanese cuisine! Friendly and efficient service coupled with good quality sashimi platter, fresh crunchy soft shell crab roll, delicate black cod and tasty eel omelette fried rice! We hope to be back again soon!

Kuru took over a vantage point that had previously been adorned by my favourite Vietnamese Restaurant, La Saigon. It took me a while to come in to eat here, even though I live near by. St Leonard's spoils you with options, but once I did, I knew it would be a quick favourite.

The price is right, you can have a full meal for $20 or come with friends and gorge on a banquet of dishes for under 45 per person. And the dishes taste awesome.

Nicely made, nicely presented, it's one of those places where none of the dishes gave me a reason to not like it. Crispy soft shell crab was a favourite till K had their Godzilla salmon and rice dish that was perfectly spicy and yum. It's a place you can go with friends for a dinning night out and it feels more expensive than it actually is. Great value.

Lunch time is discount time, with their specials under $15, and you don't need to order more (unless you want to :D ).

Jump in to Kuru and like me, you will jump in again and again.

The food and the ambiance are only surpassed by the kind, gracious, and attentive staff. Overall a welcoming and accepting experience, where service is efficient and responsive, and the food high quality and delicious Japanese cuisine. Excellent service.

Fabulous food! It was beautifully presented and very tasty. Warm and welcoming surroundings. Excellent service with just the right amount of attention in pleasant surroundings. At the end of our meal, they gave us complimentary green tea! Would prefer to lower volume of the background music.

Birthday dinner for 8 on a busy Saturday evening and a first time visit to Kuru. Wise to book ahead. We all enjoyed the 13 course, $65 banquet menu (minimum 4 people required) which was excellent value - a perfect balance between price, quality and portion size. The banquet option allows for a choice of mains and we selected four each of the Teriyaki Salmon and medium rare Wagyu Beef Steak, both of which were delicious. Other dishes included Edamame, Renkon Chips, Miso Soup, Prawn Gyoza, Fresh Oysters, Salad, Soft Shell Crab, Prawn Tempura, Sushi, Sashimi and Ice Cream. Service was extremely efficient and courteous. Beer, wine (a Leeuwin Estate 'Prelude' CabSav at about twice retail price, which is very reasonable mark-up) and a dry Sake to accompany - all good. A glass of Umeshu (plum wine) for $11 was too small a serving in my view although does not detract from my 5 star rating. Overall, we were all very satisfied and we will return. Kid-friendly, plenty of street parking spaces and wheelchair friendly. Closes at 9.30pm on a Sat. A welcome addition to the North Shore.

We had recent dinner at this promising restaurant near business area of St. Leonards train station. Since this is our first visit, we wanted to try a few items from their extensive menu options. Hence, we chose the $45 / person banquet menu for 2 customers. It included miso soup, edamame and fried soft shell crab with spicy mayo as opener. It also included fish carpaccio and mixed of sushi and sashimi (salmon belly, squid and fatty toro tuna). The main course included some choices like wagyu beef steak and grilled saikyo-yaki miso style cod fish. The desserts were a small scoop of Japanese style green tea and black sesame ice-cream for each person.

All dishes prepared with good technique and fresh ingredients. We really love all of them, especially the fresh fishes used in sushi and sashimi and carpaccio. They also used good, marbled wagyu cuts for the steak and great black cod for the grilled miso fish.

The place is quite spacious and has good decoration / ambience. The customer services from staff members were great as usual in Japanese establishment.

On another visits for Saturday dinner, we ordered their wafu mentaiko pasta and special not on the menu tonkatsu omuraisu with demi-glace sauce. These dishes are common yoshoku or foreign-influenced menu in Japan and they taste very good, and we love the creamy pink pasta and demi-glace sauce on the omelette rice. We also tried their flounder fish tempura and sushi sashimi set and washed with the premium, cold Suntory beer (very recommended).

You may pay with credit cards, but the real deal is a 5% discount if you pay cash for meals with minimum $40 spending which we happily applied for our dinners. The only downside is the strict street parking restriction around the restaurant, but after 6pm weekdays or mid-day Saturday should be OK.

The wife wanted Japanese and I wanted one we haven't been before, that's when I came across Kuru. Since it was the first time so I booked for an early dinner (6:15), but when we got there the restaurant was already half full.
The waitress was nice and attentive in answering some of our questions, and once the order was taken food came on fairly quickly and consistently.
Now to the food:
The starters were above average with nice flavours. The soft shell crab with wasabi dip was delightful.
The assorted sashimi was nicely cut and fresh.
Grilled dishes were exceptional, especially the ox tongue, cooked fully yet still nice and soft. It's the same with the grill squid.
Dish of the night for me though would have to go to the flounder tempura, lightly coated batter deep fried perfectly to give the crunch when you bite into it yet the fish inside is still soft and hot. My only regret was that I was so full from the many dishes ordered that night that I could not finish the fried fish bones (also edible).
Overall I have to say my wife and I really enjoyed our meal there and will definitely go back there again.

Had a fantastic meal tonight. The staff were amazing. Very busy place- and they stayed super friendly and top class. The food was great, and the venue is gorgeous. Wish we took a photo to share!

Came here for lunch and the restaurant is cosy and clean. Ordered Banquet for 2ppl, with $45 per person, we get 9 course meal which includes Sushi& Sashimi, Edamamme, Miso Soup, Sea Urchin Carpiaco, Softshell crab, and 2 selections of Kuru special. We went for the Wagyu Beef Steak and Marinated Balck Cod.
Food was nice and the price is reasonable, given the Kuru Special itself cost $30 each, the banquet price is actually worth of money.
One down side is we found some fish bone on the cod. Overall, it was a nice lunch.

I have been to this restaurant several times. The furniture and fittings give the ambience of a Japanese restaurant. The food is Japanese. It is as close to authentic Japanese food according to a Japanese friend who had lunch with us once when he visited Sydney.

They have vegan options.

Food: Fresh, Tasty and well-presented!
Service: very friendly and quick!
We really enjoyed our dinner there and will definitely COME BACK for MORE!

Special thank to the head chef (Owner) for coming to our table and making sure our experience in the resturant was pleasant!

Kuru is amazing, we have been visiting this place for take-out since the lockdowns in March 2020. As you can see the food is lovingly prepared and so so tasty. My favourite is the vegetarian omulette rice. The miso soup isnt bad, and I really like the Tomago as well

They have the best omurice in north Sydney. The service is great. But if you go during busy hours, the wait is long.

Lovely place, they were really attentive, especially one of the waiters dressed in white shirt. They ran out of miso soup and the chef made a new complimentary one for us. The sushi and sashimi were spot on with very fresh seafood. The goysas were very cripsy abd chicken katsu aswell. Definitely recommend for a relaxing evening .

Delicious food, friendly staff and a great atmosphere.

This place is not your tradition japanese restaurant. It is a Japanese x Modern Australian Fusion cuisine done really well. The chicken omelette rice had plenty of flavour and really stood out from other Japanese restaurants. The sukiyaki wagyu udon noodle soup was very different (in a good way) to what I would normally expect to get at other restaurants. The wagyu beef was diced into thick cube (traditionally it is thinly sliced into strips) and soup broth was rich in flavour. The serving portions were a good size for one person. The atmosphere was nice and cosy, given the strong winds and cold temperatures outside. The staff were a pleasure to chat to a well.

Overall, a great restaurant and I will definitely be going back there again.