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Real ones will remember Kuro Kare's original outlet at SMU's School of Information Systems in Bencoolen. The eatery used to serve up hearty Japanese mains like its signature 36-hour slow-cooked curry and udon at wallet-friendly prices around $10. Now, it's moved to a new location: an 18-seater located in the quiet basement of an unsuspecting mall in Clarke Quay. The concept here takes inspiration from Fukuoka's yatais – casual food carts lined along the streets serving comfort food and alcoholic drinks.
The brains behind Kuro Kare are Aidan Wee Yang Zheng and Chef Ho Bing Rru, from the founding team of the former fine dining restaurant Fleurette. By day, the joint offers lunch sets like curry rice, chazuke and various rice bowls, with nothing above $20 and prices inclusive of GST and service charge. The Iberico pork tonkatsu curry rice ($16.90) is a bestseller (also available for dinner), featuring a 250-gram portion of acorn-fed Iberico, breaded in nama panko and fried to order. There's also the option to add three pieces of aged salmon sashimi, white miso soup and unlimited genmaicha with a $5.90 top-up.
By night, the menu switches up a little. Compared to its humble beginnings at SMU, you can expect heaps more creativity at Kuro Kare 2.0. Back then, it was hard for the duo to whip up anything too special, given the emphasis on keeping things affordable for students. But with the steady office crowd and more grown-up customer base at Havelock 2, they've got plenty of room to play. Yes, the curry is still a mainstay even for the evening menu, but there are also daily blackboard specials that sometimes appear for only one day. "Nothing is off-limits – if we see something incredible at the market across the street in the morning, it can be on our blackboard specials by night," says Aidan. He describes his cooking style as "defined by a Japanese base elevated with local and European techniques".
If you're popping by for dinner, start with the 'kaya toast' ($12.90). It reads like an oxymoron, but hear us out. This inventive appetiser is a nod to Singapore's iconic breakfast, presented on all-too-familiar hawker centre plates, except that the usual kaya butter filling is swapped out for negitoro (minced tuna belly) and avocado cream. On the side: a soy-marinated onsen egg that stands in for the traditional half-boiled eggs. The thin brioche slices are also doused in butter and break apart with a satisfying crunch.
We're also fans of Kuro Kare's potato salad ($8.90). Don't let the name fool you. There is nothing healthy about this addictive bowl of disc-shaped USA russet potatoes, deep-fried twice in bacon fat for a crisp exterior and fluffy middle, and finished off with a slightly sweet house sauce. The 'siamtiu' wings ($11.80 for two) are another good shout – deboned, stuffed, deep-fried and doused in a green, Thai-style dressing, together with a piquant chilli sauce on the side reminiscent of chicken rice chilli. Wash down all the grease with a drink – the chiller is stocked with everything from sake to highballs, umeshu and off-menu pours.
Check the tiny board above the counter for the day's specials. We got lucky: the kitchen was serving a rare oyster blade cut during our visit, brushed lightly with a smoky-sweet sauce and grilled over binchotan charcoal, then topped with spring onions, fried garlic chips and simple condiments of wasabi, salt and lemon. Our favourite combination? A dab of salt and a squeeze of lemon. Oh, and if you spot the bone-in pork tomahawk on the menu, order it too. The thick, fatty cap is the best part, and it's nicely sliced into bite-sized chunks, each charred perfectly and melt-in-your-mouth tender, enjoyed with wasabi, mustard, salt and pickles on the side.
Time Out's rating: 4/5
With so many bangers on the evening menu, the curry rice admittedly plays more of a supporting role. The gravy sits on the darker side and has a more intense depth and light sweetness compared to Japanese curries we've tried elsewhere, while the Japanese pearl rice on the side comes dusted with a layer of furikake for an additional hit of umami. But after a run of heavy, punchy dishes, from the negitoro toast to the pork tomahawk, the curry's flavours get muted. The fix: come by for lunch if the curry is your priority, and make dinner reservations if you want a taste of elevated plates with hints of fine dining expertise.
Kuro Kare is open from Monday to Friday, 11.30am to 3pm and 6pm to 10pm at 2 Havelock Road, Havelock 2, B1-32, Singapore 059763. Do note that prices for dinner are subject to GST and service charge. Book a table here.
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