Dining with Natalie: Kuro by Konbu

As a native of culinary melting pot Malaysia and the daughter of a restaurateur, UG student Natalie Voo knows her food. Every other week, she reviews Groningen’s student-friendly dining scene. This time: Kuro by Konbu.

When Kuro by Konbu first opened, I’ll admit, I was suspicious. Kuro came from the same folks who brought us Konbu Streetfood, Konbu Jiro, and Nabi Café. While I enjoyed Nabi Café’s matcha, the food across the board at these spots always felt a little… off, like the culinary equivalent of saying konnichiwa (‘Good day’) but with a Dutch accent.

I am pleased to report Kuro is a massive hit, and has already cemented itself as my favourite restaurant in Groningen (for now).

Perfection

We ordered the mango salmon, burning dragon, miso eggplant, unagi nigiri, salmon wasabi cracker, and crispy tuna rice. The unagi nigiri was a dream—smoky, fatty, melt-in-your-mouth perfection.

The salmon wasabi cracker was so fresh and paired with a crispy nori (seaweed) cracker that made me briefly question if this was true love.

And the miso eggplant– oh my God, that umami miso eggplant. I had ordered it as eggplant is much more difficult to perfect compared to other vegetables but here? It was salted perfectly throughout, meaty with a perfectly caramalised miso glaze. Stunning. No notes. And the rest of the sushi was excellent.

Too hard

The one dish I didn’t vibe with was the crispy tuna rice, mostly because the rice was a little too hard for me but then again, I had burnt the roof of my mouth a few days prior, so my credibility here is soft, at best (unlike that rice).

Ambience was nice – dark interiors and mood lighting, with traces of the ghost of the terrible Mexican restaurant it replaced (talk about a massive upgrade!). Service was perfectly friendly, fast, and attentive.

The only red flag was that we were the only table there. And I’ll be damned if this place closes down because of their lack of marketing. So listen up: if you trust me at all– Kuro is the place to go. Easily the best sushi and Japanese food in Groningen. Don’t sleep on it, people. Now go ahead and book that reservation now!

Dutch