Kura Japanese (Research & Union)

Sunday night and we didn’t feel like cooking … so we called Lauren to see if she wanted to join us at Kura Japanese (Research and Union), which is nearby her house.  I had heard that Kura had expanded to add 5 (I believe 5) teppan tables and two tatami-style tables and I wanted to check it out.

When we walked in, we got a tatami table right away and noticed that the expansion added lots of room, especially in their bar area.  We were not in a position to observe the teppan tables and chefs – so I’ll have to save that review for another time. The place was about half full – about what you’d except on a Sunday night. The remodeling was nice – spacious and lovely.

We ordered our drinks and spicy edamame, along with a couple of rolls (the lobster roll and another one which I’ve not forgotten now what it was called – and their menu is not on line so I can’t look it up).  The spicy edamame was really good – that’s a definite Do Again – but I was a little disappointed with the rolls.  The rice was not sticky enough to hold it all together and each slice fell apart too easily, especially when dipped in soy sauce.  Also, the fish pieces where quite thin – I’m used to a bit fatter pieces of fish from our usual sushi joint (Jun’s).  The plus side: the rolls’ slices were just a bit thinner than usual, which made them easier to enjoy. Did that make any sense?

Just a note, too … Mike had ordered green tea – and when it came, the cup was so hot that he couldn’t even hold it. Ouch! Hot tea is one thing, but burning hot in a hot cup – not good.

Anyway, after we polished off the edamame and rolls, we ordered a couple of more rolls – one was the Special Rainbow Roll and another one that I’ve since forgotten (bad Sandy!). Same comments as above … fish just a bit skinny and rice fell apart. All was tasty – just not firm enough together.

Granted, I’m no sushi expert, but I think overall, I’d rather go to Jun’s – a bit more generous slices of fish, a little cozier (either the Dublin Jun’s or West Side Jun’s) and the variety of rolls at Jun’s maybe just a bit better … I’ll have have Mike take me to Jun’s so I can write a review of it …  Although Kura does have dragon eggs, which Young Mike likes!  So – overall, there’s pluses and minuses to Kura. Given a choice, I would opt for somewhere else for sushi, but it wasn’t bad enough that I would protest if others wanted to go there. Do Again?  Yes, if for nothing else than the spicy edamame … but I would skip the rolls and try something else off the menu.