First Look: Kuru Is a Tiny New Japanese Restaurant From the Roslyn Thai Team

West Melbourne’s Roslyn Thai is one of Melbourne’s most exciting cafes. But the first thing Sapol “Pol” Deoisares and Busarin “Rin” Rojkaranwong (Roslyn’s husband-and-wife owner-operators) want people to know about their new venue Kuru is that it’s not Roslyn Thai 2.0. “My brand is a tight cafe. So, they expected me to open another cafe,” says Deoisares. “But [Kuru] is totally different.”

For starters, it’s decidedly a restaurant – not a cafe – with a focus on lunch and dinner. Both Deoisares and Rojkaranwong previously worked as chefs under David Thompson at Thai restaurant Long Chim. “A big question for me is what I can do rather than Thai food,” says Deoisares, who was weary of cannibalising his own business, given Roslyn is just a two-minute walk around the corner. He decided to draw on another kitchen experience, his time as head chef at now-closed St Kilda izakaya Ichini, and open a casual Japanese restaurant. 

The menu features Japanese curry; shio ramen; and otsumami (small plates usually served with alcohol, like tapas) including chicken karaage, beef tataki with garlic ponzu and mustard seed, and baked miso eggplant. There’s also a range of teishoku (set meals with a protein, rice, miso soup, and pickled veggies) including a tonkatsu set and a grilled fish-of-the-day set. Deoisares sources ingredients for both Kuru and Roslyn from the Footscray Market, which he visits five times a week. With suppliers, “you don’t see what you get. So [I’d] rather drive out and get what I want.” 

Rojkaranwong’s baking skills have made Roslyn as popular for its exceptional layer cakes and traditional desserts as it is for its Thai breakfasts – and she’s in charge of sweets at Kuru, too. But here, there’s only one dessert option: matcha Basque cheesecake, made with Uji matcha from Matsu.

The restaurant occupies the former Fummi Fummi space – a location Deoisares and Rojkaranwong know intimately, having previously lived in the adjoining apartment building. The couple, still local to the area, say they’ve created the 20-seat Kuru for the neighbourhood. The space reflects this intimacy, balancing a crisp, modern aesthetic with the warm approachability of a traditional Japanese eatery.

For now, drinks are limited to iced teas and soft drinks such as ramune. But with a recently approved liquor licence now in hand, Deoisares will soon add sake and Japanese whisky highballs, hoping Kuru will become a local favourite for late-night drinks and otsumami.

Kuru
125 Rosslyn Street, West Melbourne
0466 423 362

Hours:
Mon 9am–3pm; 5pm–9pm
Tue to Sun 11am–3pm; 5pm–9pm

kurumelbourne.com