Kurama Sushi & Noodle Express

Very reasonable prices, and a great menu.Lots of small and medium portions, with no price gouging like a lot of the restaurants in the areaI enjoyed my food! Nothing super fancy or upscale, but good taste and quality.Chef is very friendly.I'll be a regular at this location for sure!

Stopped in to try this place out a few weeks ago on my day off. The space was bright and clean snd I was immediately greeted by the chef behind the counter. I sat and checked out their menu...first thing I noticed...great prices!I got 2 rolls and some sashimi. It was all delicious and the cold Japanese beer helped to wash everything down. Service was friendly and quick. Couldn't have asked for a better experience. Will definitely be back!

Great small-scale Japanese restaurant right off of Franklin! Servers were friendly and service was super quick. The quality of the food was outstanding, and I couldn't believe the value for the money. $5 eel nigiri was smokey, sweet, soy-y and generous portions of eel. Do I maybe wish the potatoes in the curry bowl were cut? Sure, but for $7 I couldn't complain - a great, simple, traditional bowl with tender chicken and light flavor.

Definitely not the friendliest of service and food was just okay. Honestly, we came wanting to try their conveyor belt sushi but I guess the conveyor belt isn't offered at lunch time. Pretty disappointing. Not even sure it's offered at night. The gyu-don had a very minimal amount of beef and a whole lot of rice. And the rice wasn't your typical Japanese rice either. If you're wanting authentic Japanese food, this is not the place. If you're just needing a little sushi quick fix, then maybe this is the place for you. Not worth trek from Raleigh/Durham in my opinion.

Definitely among one of the worst places I've tried on Franklin. I was craving sushi and wanted to try out this place since it was pretty cheap. I went on a Saturday evening, and it wasn't too busy. There were only two waitresses running around taking orders, which was ok due to the really small restaurant space. I ordered the UNC roll and a garden salad at around 6:30 and I didn't get my roll until about 7:40. That's absurd. There was only one sushi guy in the middle making all of the sushi, so he was obviously overloaded with orders. The salad also took a good 45 minutes to come to me. How hard is throwing a bunch of greens together una bowl with dressing on it? Not to mention the dressing was so flavorless and super watery. The UNC roll (when it finally came) tasted pretty good, but definitely not worth the very long wait. Unfortunately, I was not full after this meal, so I just went next door to grab a slice of pizza. Additionally, the air quality inside was really odd. Me and my friend's eyes started burning up about halfway through our meal, and we didn't know why. My friend even had to step outside because her eyes were so watery and hurt so badly. Suspicious.Overall, I wouldn't come back here.

On a cold winter day, I wanted to try the Ramen at Karuma. The prices attracted me to the restaurant. I ordered a half bowl of Ramen for $4.50 and an appetizer of beef gyoza for $4.50. It feels very cozy & like a hole in the wall space but they seem understaffed for having to also produce to go orders. I knew when I walked in that it would not be speedy service. If you go, have patience and do not try to go for a "quick bite." I went at 12:30pm and it was pretty empty when I went but by the time I left around 1:30pm, the small venue was packed. You get what you pay for, there was nothing special about the flavors of my dishes that would attract me to go out of my way to go back to this restaurant. Im glad that I was able to try it.

I enjoyed my first time at Kurama's! They have a diverse menu and a great lunch special! I got the tuna avocado roll and the cucumber salmon roll. Both were super fresh! The only slightly negative comment I have about the rolls is that they were a little heavy on the rice... which some people might like. I also got the seaweed salad which was amazing! The service was alright. My friend's food came out about 10 minutes before mine and he had hot food that I was afraid was going to get cold. Our waitress was very nice though! The restaurant itself was a nice place to eat. You can sit at the sushi bar, tables, or booths which adds variety. A nice, cheap option for Asian food with college town vibes.

Stopped in for lunch. They were not busy at all. The server was really nice. They gave gender neutral restrooms. The restaurant was fairly quiet with soW music playing. This is my first time visiting this location. I got a lava roll and the daily lunch special. I forgot to get a photo of the daily special because I was hungry. Overall a nice experience.

The best lowkey sushi spot in the area. If you like good value for quality fish, excellent nigiri, simple and perfect specialty rolls, this is the place for you. If you come hungry be ready to order a lot, cuz the portions are modest but I feel like the pricing reflects that.

I've been going here regularly for a long time now and I absolutely love it. There are a couple considerations to make before you go: first is that the space is designed as a dine in experience. Second is that the owner, Hiro, is also the only sushi chef. It is a true "'mom and pop" place and has an amazing homey vibe that I love. It is better to go right when they open on a weekday for the best experience from what I've seen. Hiro is incredible at what he does and is a true professional. I am consistently impressed by the quality of his fish that he sells at a really competitive price. I would love if he could carry more fatty tuna...and sometimes he does! But I understand that the demand may not be there for it to be a consistent thing. The negative reviews on here kind of bother me, as I've never seen the staff overworked or seen the owner be anything other than gentle and humble. Again, this place is not designed for takeout and the best experience will be had when you go in yourself. Takeout will overwhelm this small establishment and you're really missing out on the great ambiance and the chance to meet a local artisan. They've been in business for decades and made it through the pandemic for a reason, you should go for yourself and see why that is.