NJ hotel restaurant makes USA Today’s top 10 list

🍣 USA Today put out a list of its top 10 hotel restaurants in the U.S.

🍣 A New Jersey hotel restaurant makes the list

If you’re a foodie and traveler, you don’t have to go far for your dream destination.

USA Today put out a list of the top 10 best hotel restaurants in the country, featuring the best cuisine, often led by award-winning chefs.

While hotel restaurants from Georgia, Delaware, California, New York, Michigan, and Tennessee are featured, a New Jersey hotel restaurant is on this cream-of-the-crop list.
Not only did it make the list, USA Today ranked it as the third-best hotel restaurant.

Kuro at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City features upscale, contemporary Japanese dishes made from a combination of ingredients that are locally sourced and imported from Japan.

Kuro offers the freshest sushi, sashimi, hand rolls, premium A5 Japanese Wagyu Beef, tempura, fresh seafood, salads, a variety of Robata Charcoal Grill skewers, delectable desserts, and cocktails.

Shingo Inoue is the executive sushi chef at Kuro. Born in Osaka, Japan, Chef Inoue has more than 40 years of experience at some of the best sushi restaurants in the world. He has been with Hard Rock Atlantic City since its 2018 opening.

Kuro's executive chef is Leslie Daniel who has over a decade of culinary experience from around the country. He, too, helped open Kuro in 2018. According to Kuro's website, Daniel is affectionately known as "Chef Too Hype" in the kitchen because of his positive outlook and love for the culinary arts.

Some menu favorites include Wagyu Lollipops (sesame seed, and aonori), Miso Eggplant (tamamiso, and sesame), Chicken Negi (yakitori, scallion, and Sancho pepper), and Seabass Nori (bonito flakes, and roasted garlic aioli).

Desserts include a chocolate hazelnut bar, Japanese-style doughnuts, a mango Swiss roll, matcha swirl cheesecake, a yuzu tart, and more.

The restaurant serves Japanese imported and local craft beers, Japanese whiskeys, shochu (distilled liquor), 30 brands of sake, and 110 wine labels.

The cool thing about its cocktails is that they cater to five basic tastes: sweet, sour, umami (savory), salty, and bitter. Each cocktail served at Kuro’s represents a Japanese number or color.

Examples include:

Sweet: Shi (blackberry jam-infused tequila, ginger, and pineapple)

Sour: Daidaiiro (blood orange and rosemary rum, shochu, lime, and shiso)

Umami: Hachi (mushroom bourbon, mirin, black pepper and lemon)

Salty: Pinku (vodka, mezcal, watermelon, lime, and ichimi salt)

Bitter: Rabenda (chamomile and lavender Japanese gin, crème de violette, and lemon)

Kuro’s is open four days a week: Sunday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. It is closed Monday through Wednesday.

Reservations are advised.

To check out what other restaurants made the USA Today list, look here.

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