kuuraku

had lunch here on a saturday. we were cordially welcomed by staff with japanese greetings as we entered the restaurant.

menu is filled with hard to pronounce japanese names but it was easy to figure out what ingredients were used.

chopsticks were given which i tried and failed miserably. for starters we ordered wasabi yaki, butabara and tori kushi course. butabara was amazing.

tompei yaki was lip-smacking good! so we ordered another one. their ramen noodles and ebi tempura were good.

overall diningexperiencewas great. kuuraku is a good restaurant serving japanese cuisine in chennai.

i am new to chennai, and i've been trying to find good east asian or pan asian restaurants for a while now. i went excited to try this place and this still went beyond expectations. we had wanted a light dinner meal so ordered the chicken nanban, buta skewers, buta belly, annin tofu, shiratama zenzai. the skewers were a tad bit overcooked but merely by a few seconds and i'd have liked it a bit rarer. however, it was an absolutely lip smacking experience. their wasabi is the best i've had on many years. the desserts were brilliant. their service was extremely world class and i feel it is completely worth the money. i will be going again to try out everything on their menu. thank you for theexperienceand keep up the good work, team kuuraku!! ^.^

was here for dinner on a sunday, booked reservation through zomato pro for 4 members. booking was quick & modification of reservation was also easy. was pretty excited when we got seated because of the ambience & also the private dining area that we got. the menu was extensive & self explanatory with pictures (it was very helpful to make an independent choice as we didn't need anyone to help), but there was no one to take orders. after 20 mins of initial excitement we started looking out through the door so that any one could notice us,but our attempts were unsuccessful.

i had to go out to the reception to remind them that we were waiting, a person dressed in kimono appeared (yeah authencity!) we quickly ordered teppan gyoza, chicken nanban, crunchy ebi roll( sushi), kawari dane kushi course ( we initially ordered tori kushi course but the staff advised us that, it consisted of the not so usual parts of chicken like heart, gizzard, tail etc so we safely avoided it)

another good 20 mins passed by, gyoza arrived tasted good with the soy sauce and garlic sauce they served, but that wasn't enough. we started to have the garlic sauce & soy sauce since the other three starters took some more time. upon reminding, all the three arrived together. all the starters were good, while having the starters we ordered the main course.

for main course we ordered, katsu curry with rice and 2x half portions of kuuraku ramen. again nothing to complain. desserts were below average, we ordered baked cheesecake & something caled shiratama zenzai, vanilla ice cream in a thin rice wrapper. could have avoided it but no avail.

to spoil the ambience, there was a youtube channel which was conducting an interview. the person was too loud, even though they were seated in a room which were two rooms away from us. mood killer for all.

overall, theexperienceof japanese cuisine was good. the bill was around 5k , with zomato pro we paid rs 4k (20% pro offer, good offer!). only disappointment was ,very very slow service. i would really like to know whether this is how japanese cuisine actually works?! we arrived by 8pm and left by 10pm, eventhough the restaurant wasn't crowded at all.

clear and sharp taste in all the items we tried. had ordered broiled pork belly, stuffed egg roll, prawn tempura, assorted yakitori, spicy pork ramen, a dessert whose name i can't remember now & cocktails. yakitori was a first timeexperienceand it hit the right notes for us. service was very nice and timely. we thank mr. mondal for the proper recommendation about the cocktails and the little game made those even better. it was our once a month date night venue and we couldn't be happier 😊😊

a must visit for anyone wanting toexperiencejapanese cuisine. humble staff and delicious food! had a lovely time!

it was an amazing diningexperienceright from entering the restaurant till the moment we leave. cheerful and courteous staff always serving with a smile🤩. delicious food😋 with lovely presentation. we loved ebi tempura, karamiso tsukune and satsuma age 😋. i always wanted to come to kuuraku and i am glad that i did 🥳🥳

tldr: ambience that teleports you to japan. delicious food that entices your tastebuds. service that matches japanese hospitality and attention to detail. an all-roundexperienceto 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 trulyexperiencethe 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.

tori kushi course was good , teppen gyoza was delicious , fried chicken was amazing , little disappointed with ramen noodles could have been bit more .
overall a good japanese diningexperience, with japanese ambience , greetings and salutations in japanese and ofcourse with a lot of japanese people dining here ..

we loved the ambience and the aesthetic of the restaurant. the entireexperiencefelt very authentic and not at all forced. the service was impeccable and the food was amazing. the ebi roll was particularly good and the skewers were very flavorful. the menu has a lot of options. we'll be coming back again. oh oh and the fish cakes are to die for. bring your chechis here ;)

stumbled upon this place on zomato and was i suprised . a neo traditional japanese approach to the ambience and diningexperience. the staff are very courteous and welcoming . the sushi was fantastic , very well done ! some of the best i've had in town .
my ramen dish was a pork based one altough i personally felt it could've included a little more meat . all in all it's a goodexperiencewith awesome food ! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

the staff is incredibly courteous and friendly. the service andexperienceis very authentic. as soon as you step in, you're transported to a very different world. it doesn't feel anything like a restaurant in chennai! of course the food is also equally good and authentic. my only gripe would be the quantity of food. the portions were quite small. other than that, this place is a must visit.

i visited kuuraku while staying at hotel green park and i had an amazing experience. the food was delicious, the service was great, the ambience was perfect and the decor made me feel like i was in japan. at the end, a staff even offered to charge my boyfriend's phone which had ran out of battery during our dinner. greatexperienceoverall.

wonderfulexperienceand amazing ambiance, first time trying out the mango beer and coke beer which was really good

authentic japanese diningexperience. being a japanese food fan i have had in all japanese restaurants in chennai and this one is definitely the best . the karage and the pork egg roll were the best. the yukimi daiduku stoke the show completely . the ambience made us feel like we were actually in japan . would definitely visit again .

an absolutely beautifulexperienceat kuuraku. i have visited a few other japanese restaurants in the city but nothing of this sort to my senses has it struck. the staff here are courteous and efficient, always with a lovely smile on their face. one feels immediately st home with that warm welcome greeting in japanese. the promise of authenticity begins there and ends till the very last meal you have. architecturally, the place has impressed me at the core. quite literally can one feel in the heart of a quaint japanese town, in a warm little izakaya. coming to food, well, one can feel the warmth and dignity with which the food has been prepared and i consumed the meal, enjoying the burst of flavour in every little detail. in overall, myexperienceat kuuraku was heavenly and i will find myself here quite often.