tldr: ambience that teleports you to japan. delicious food that entices your tastebuds. service that matches japanese hospitality and attention to detail. an all-round experience to be had.
full review: we both love japanese food and planned a dinner visit to kuuraku for my birthday. easy way to reach here is to navigate to hotel green park. don't put kuuraku location in navigation! google maps took us to some tiny lanes where we ended up at a dead end. the restaurant is located in the basement of hotel green park next to forum vijaya mall on arcot road, vadapalani.
as soon as you enter, you get a warm welcome from the staff where they all welcome you in unison from wherever they are. the decor will straight away take you to japan and you will forget that you are in chennai. there are few tables in the center and private cabins with japanese sitting around the periphery. we got one of the cabins. it had kind of a traditional setup with low seating (not on the floor but on low chairs). we felt comfortable in our seats. the table had wet napkins to clean our hands, set of chopsticks and a button to call the steward.
we got all the dishes that were recommended in the menu. there is a reason they are recommended, they are absolutely fantastic. this is all what we had - tori kushi course (5 assorted chicken yakitori skewars), crunchy ebi roll (prawn tempura sushi roll), teppan gyoza (chicken grilled dumplings), aburi chashu (broilled pork belly), ebi tempura (prawn tempura), garlic rice with chicken, kuuraku ramen (pork belly ramen noodles) and finished with affogato (vanilla ice cream with espresso coffee poured over). i also had british empire beer to sip on. everything was absolutely delicious! the texture, taste and even the dipping sauces were scrumptious. the standouts are broilled pork belly, prawn tempura and ramen. you might think affogato being an italian dish doesn't fit in the japanese cuisine. you are right, but it is available (also tiramisu) as there is an italian restaurant right next to kuuraku called piccante. we will give that a try someday.
the service was quick yet we had time to relax and enjoy our dinner. angao served us with a smile and was extremely courteous. as we were sitting low, she would also kneel down when taking order so as to be at the same eye level. you also need to take off your footwear to sit inside the cabin. these details makes you truly experience the japanese culture. this is precisely why it is important to pay visit to such places and not just order on online food delivery services. all of what we ate and drank costed us rs. 3,730, which is totally worth it.
when we were done, agao was at the door to see us off with assortment of candies and wished us good night. all the staff again thanked us and said goodbye in unison. we left with belly full of delicious food and heart full of love, already planning our next visit. thanks to my lovely wife for making my birthday dinner so special.