KURA - Robata & Sake — Restaurant in Melbourne

Nestled in Brunswick’s vibrant dining scene, Kura Melbourne stands as a testament to gorgeous Japanese cuisine, offering a dining experience that's as superb as it is immersive. From the moment you step inside, you're greeted by an ambiance that perfectly blends contemporary elegance with traditional charm, setting the stage for an unforgettable meal. The restaurant’s minimalist design, accentuated by warm tones and subtle Japanese motifs, creates a serene atmosphere that feels both sophisticated and inviting. It's the kind of place where every detail has been thoughtfully curated, from the sleek, open kitchen to the meticulously set tables.

Kura Melbourne’s menu is a journey through Japan’s rich culinary landscape, featuring a delightful array of dishes that marry classic techniques with innovative twists. But Kura Melbourne isn’t just about sushi or sashimi. The restaurant’s robata grill adds a smoky depth to a range of dishes, from succulent skewers to tender meats and vibrant vegetables, which is the main reason we booked to dine here. The presentation is as impressive as the flavours, with each dish thoughtfully plated to showcase both its artistry and its taste.

The creamy sea urchin tops perfectly seasoned sushi rice, enhanced by a subtle hint of wasabi and soy. The wood-fired edamame, charred to a smoky crisp and seasoned with sea salt, offering a satisfying crunch and rich umami flavour. We indulged in sweet corn with miso butter, grilled to a golden finish and lavishly coated with savory miso butter for a decadently sweet and salty experience.

We experience the irresistible negima skewers, featuring juicy marinated chicken thighs and tender leeks, grilled to smoky perfection as well as enoki mushrooms wrapped in pork belly where tender mushrooms are enveloped in crispy, caramelized pork belly, delivering a mouthwatering blend of flavours. The unique grilled firefly squid skewers were tremendous and provided a sweet and smoky taste.

For an adventurous bite, we savoured the chicken testicles skewers, grilled to perfection for a rich and unique flavor. The eggplant skewers, grilled and smoky, were an umami-rich treat, and we enjoyed succulent unagi skewers of grilled eel for an elegantly rich taste. Finally, the tsukune skewers with juicy chicken meatballs served alongside a creamy onsen tamago, offered a comforting and flavourful fusion of textures.

For those who appreciate a good pairing, the sake and wine list is meticulously curated, offering a range of options that complement the menu perfectly. The staff, well-versed in the nuances of the cuisine, are both knowledgeable and attentive, ensuring that every aspect of your meal is tailored to your preferences.

If you’re seeking a dining experience that’s as memorable as it is delicious, Kura Melbourne should be at the top...

Honest review. I found the most mind-blowing food in all of Melbourne. The food was absolutely spectacular, the staffs were super hospitable, they were knowledgeable about their food and sake and knew what they were doing. We came here for our anniversary and had the best dine-in experience. We ordered the Omakase with sake pairing and a few other add-ons.

Sake: The sake were paired to go with the food, started from light-bodied to heavy-bodied. You can tell the staffs here are really passionate about their sake. With every sake that was brought out, Michael told us the back story, from the making of the sake to the ingredients, which I found really interesting and made the experience whole, also giving us an idea of what to expect in the sake. If you’re not much of a drinker like me and have sweet tooth, you can get house cocktails like Yuzu Margarita and Genmai Sour, best best.

Best recommended food: My most favourite was the Toro nigiri and Uni. The toro was rich and creamy and literally melts on your tongue the moment it lands. And if you’re a Uni lover like me, the uni here was fresh and had the umami creamy texture which tastes like no other. Totally blew my mind.

Skewers: Then we had the skewers. The beef intercostal, chicken thighs, and pork belly were my personal favourite. Smoked to perfection and the meat was juicy and tender. If you wanna try something new, definitely the Chicken testicles, and Chouchin. As weird as they may sound, after trying them, I understood the reason why they were so popular 😂. The texture of the testicles was interesting, creamy and bursted in your mouth, same with Chouchin as well, with a little hint of interesting taste which was hard to describe. I loved it so much I had 2 more of those 😂.

Mains: For the mains, we got the 12 hr Braised Beef Short Ribs paired with Miso Sugar Loaf Cabbage. Rather than the mains, my personal favourite was the side dish, Cabbage 😂. I loved how the sides were paired to compliment the mains. The beef short rib was so tender and juicy, served with maple soy glaze, and before the fattiness overpowers, it was balanced with lightness of the whipped tofu and sesame paste purée of the cabbage, which I think went amazingly well.

Dessert: Lastly, for desserts, we had the Icecream sandwich. The icecream was made from Genmai Cha and snuffed in between crispy waffle. We paired it with Yuzu shu, and if you have a sweet tooth like me, this’ll make your day

Overall, I had the best dine-in experience at Kura. The friendly staffs made our anniversary night more special. I’d definitely come back and would love to try the rest...

I was very excited to find this little cozy Japanese restaurant in Brunswick when I was looking for a place nearby for my partner’s birthday dinner. The service was on time and the waitress was friendly. Also, quite an interesting experience to be able to watch your food being prepared right in front of you, they were very well synced, which is important in a small kitchen :) very clean and organised too.

We ordered the 7 meal course plus the specials (sake and deboned tebasaki with gyoza filling).

For food, I got quite disappointed with the first dish: edamame: I think the idea was to be warm and a little bit charred but it just tasted like burnt and it was bitter… 0/10 not pleasant at all.

The oysters and the salmon sashimi were nice but quite simple and the mini tomato salad was ok, I couldn’t really taste anything from the tofu purée and chives oil, just the yukari and shiso on top of it. Maybe I had high expectations of a WOW moment.

For the mains, it was more miss than hit… the best skewer was the beef one, both chickens were burnt and the pork belly was quite dry, I was hoping for juicy pieces but I understand how easily skewers can go wrong.

We ordered the Southern Ranges Flank Steak for the large meal and the highlight was the wasabi salsa, the meat was juicy but quite though, and I couldn’t really bite it so I had to eat the whole piece and struggled a bit to chew it. It would be nice if it was cut into smaller bite pieces (let’s consider that we did not have a knife to cut it).

Now the miso soup really hit the spot, it had the perfect balance of miso, water and dashi and reminded me of my mom’s misosshiru