kurumac — Restaurant in Sydney

Let's throw it back to a wonderful Japanese-inspired cafe in Marrickville called Kurumac! From what I hear, it's quite the community favourite. Not hard to tell given the lengthy waiting time on a Saturday lunch. The word cafe might suggest some degree of "Asian-fusion" brunch dishes on the menu, but what they serve is anything but! You'll see other diners munching on triangle onigiris, or slurping on beef udon and somen noodles. It's actually very reminiscent of the types of food you will see eaten at lunch hour in Japan. I was on a mission coming here though. I HAD to try the chirashi don. I love any sort of chirashi. Kurumac's had a fan of light torched, gorgeous slices of salmon, cubes of tuna, prawn, scallop and salmon roe. Not too much to say about this besides that everything was really fresh and you'll probably enjoy this immensely if you love your sushi. I loved the touch of detail with the tempura flakes between the fish and the rice. I was told the must-order here was the spicy cod roe melt. Indeed, it was really nice! It wasn't spicy per sei, but there was a thick base layer of crispened milky toast underneath topped with a creamy, decadent mix of mentaiko mayo and light melted cheese. The cod roe flavour is great - it certainly makes you want to explore cod roe used in other dishes. I'd recommend sharing this between two. We also ordered the nori ben, which had crumbed yellowtail, fried mackerel, grilled salmon, pickled greens and seaweed. That yellowtail meat was fabulous. Extremely tender, and what a delicious (mayonnaise?) sauce to go with it! Beware that rice bowl servings are pretty big so they'll definitely fill you up. PLEASE NOTE also that this visit was earlier this year, so some of the dishes on the menu may have changed seasonally or are unavailable. It's just the way some cafes roll. If so, you might find good success with any of their other dons or the mazesoba, which I've heard great things about! 📍 Kurumac Cafe,...

I'm gluten intolerant so before ordering asked what they had which is GF. The waitress said the assorted sashimi was the only item, she said it straight away and seemed very confident, I confirmed that's all you have which is gluten free, and she said yes. When it arrived I ate a few pieces of the fish and some of the miso, but wanted to confirm the soy sauce on the side was also GF as this is often overlooked. A second waitress said no it wasn't and they don't have any as I hadn't asked. We said that I had asked what was GF and a third waitress came and said the sashimi wasn't GF at all as there was tempura pieces (under the fish which I hadn't seen) and also gluten in the soup. At first they told us we had already received the food and they would not replace it because I didn't ask for GF... But I said I had asked what they had which was GF and was told this dish was, so they said they would re-make the dish. They also said they were going to throw the first dish in the bin, so my friend said she could take it home to save the waste. The waitress then said that's fine but they will have to charge us for both dishes. I did get a replacement after everyone had already finished eating, but it was very average and didn't have any sesame seeds which were on the first dish. They did say sorry as I was leaving, but was too late as i had eaten the food and was still charged full price. Staff should be better trained on the menu and dietary requirements. They're lucky this will only cause me gastrointestinal distress and isn't a life...

(4.5 stars) The interior of Kūrumac is an exercise in minimalism: think black tiled floors, white walls and pressed tin ceilings, spartan wooden banquettes and schoolroom style chairs. If it sounds a bit austere, don’t worry, the feeling of being enveloped in a warm hug shines through in everything they put on the plates. From a simple spicy cod roe melt ($13) where mentaiko-spiked mayo. is squiggled across toasted, white Japanese bread, all the way to a more substantial noriben ($25), everything seems aimed at being comforting and nourishing. Presented on a little wooden tray, the latter dish—its name a hybrid of nori and bento—presents three different fishes (yellowtail, mackerel and salmon) in three different ways (crumbed, battered and grilled) with pickles, over nori-topped rice with a miso soup. It’s high in protein and wins for those who like diversity in their bowl lunch.

Japanese curry is a clever addition to the crumbed fish burger ($22). It isn’t cheap but it is substantial, with a big crisp katsu fish fillet sandwiched with curry, lettuce, tomato, cheese and tartare inside soft milk buns. Team it with a wonderful Mapo hojicha gelato milkshake ($9.50) for the full Japanese burger’n’shake experience. I also enjoyed the matcha latte ($5)—presented in a simple earthenware cup—as it had good bitterness to offset the milk’s natural sweetness. I look forward to returning to try the rest of the succinct but...