The quaint Japanese eatery is called Kemuri, and it’s nestled within a small set of shops along the busy Pappas Way thoroughfare. During his three-year tenure at Paper Daisy at Cabarita’s Halcyon House, Hiro also ran a street-food stall at Miami Marketta under the Kemuri name, but recently set out to create his first bricks-and-mortar space. After scouring the coastal areas for suitable sites, Hiro instead decided to take over an Indian restaurant in the thick of Carrara to bring authentic Japanese-style eats in a relaxed setting to the central suburbs.
At Kemuri, pillow-soft bao and piping-hot handmade gyoza are the heroes. While bao isn’t traditional to Japan, the buns, which are made from scratch on site daily, are jammed with fillings like deep-fried eggplant with aburi miso to give a subtle Japanese lean. The small-yet-efficient kitchen champions local producers across its concise food offering – the sweet braised pork belly comes straight from Byron Bay, the free-range karaage chicken comes from the Glass House Mountains, and all fresh ingredients are sourced from local Gold Coast and Northern New South Wales farms. In case you’re wondering (we’re sure you are) the liquor licence is coming, at which time Hiro will let loose with some of his favourite drops – until then, it’s BYO.
Keen to check it out? You’ll find opening hours, location and contact details for Kemuri over in our Stumble Guide.
