Seafood noodle. Broth got depth from the slow simmered tilapia plus soy sauce. Seafood- mussels, scallops, shrimps, salmon- tasted like seafood. The highlight was, ironically, the fried perhaps rice or some sort of carb strips.
I think a seafood noodle is pretty hard to pull off in general. Prefer the pork based noodle more.
Looks like the same dish changes with the season too. This is the spring version of the garlic noodle with asparagus. I think they change the cut of meat for the bbq pork too as its drier now.
They added salmon tartare, vegan tofu rice bowl for the spring menu. I had been wondering how they will change with the season. The food tends to be heavier and is perfect for winter. I’d prefer lighter items for hot weather. Though this is no different than other restaurants with static menu like ramen joints. Though the chef has the skills to pull off a seasoning menu if he desires to.
An acquaintance from Tianjin says that a few of the dishes reflects elements of Tianjin cuisine, which makes sense given where the chef came from.
The potato salad was delicious. Thinly sliced, slightly crunchy potato, enoki and a little bit of sliced tofu skin mixed with a peanut sauce with a slight heat from the chili oil produced plenty of umami.
Their spicy beef noodle soup base, which tasted Korean, contained a hint of Chinese herbal medicine in it, in a good way. It was delicious as usual. The leftover soup from a takeout was saved for as the gourmet soup base for a future bowl of Nongshim ramen at home.
The kimchi in the beef/ pork noodle soups were a welcome addition.
The new soupless chicken noodle is a very welcomed summer addition. Came with wood ear, grilled chicken thighs, and a just-cooked egg on top of ramen. Seasoned with a very mild and nuanced garlic type sauce. The dish was delicious, and almost salad like if the ramen wasn’t there.
Went for the first time today. Had a pork belly bun and spicy beef dan dan noodles.
The bun was really good. The meat was tender and flavorful and not too fatty (I’m not averse to fat by any means, but it’s nice to have a balance). Probably could have used more cucumber and a bit more of an acidic component, as the amount of meat is very generous. Would order again for sure, though I’m curious about the other buns as well.
The noodles were excellent. As sck nicely describes above, it’s a creative take on dan dan noodles. Good flavors and similarly to sck, I found the shank slices to be particularly notable in texture and flavor. It seems that a lot of care goes into every component of this rather complicated dish. Wouldn’t hesitate to order it again but the lure of trying other dishes may be hard to overcome.
Highly recommended.
I am glad you like it.
The chef likes to experiment though, sometimes for the better, sometimes less so. Like the garlic noodle, this weekend’s rendition was a bit sweet and less garlicky to me.
I have yet to try the fried eggplant dish. Someone said that that’s the dish that got the chef promoted to line cook at Manresa…
Love the posts and pictures! Sounds like another place to check out. Will post when I get a chance to try!
This is somewhat near my office so I’ve dropped by a couple of times for lunch. Tastes are excellent, prices are good, so the seats fill fast. Not a terribly bad thing. After this post I’ll swing by a few more times, but I can only sample so many dishes since I eat alone.
I wonder if anyone has a comparison with Dohatsuen on San Antonio ( more traditional, although a little pan-californian because of Korean touches, I think ). Although I work around the corner, I was very put off by the “japanese tapas” on the sign - now I’m in love with their ramen. Specifically the broth, the noodles are a little so-so.
Kumino is temporarily closed and is moving to (looking for) a different location, according to its website.
ETA:
Oh no, I’m sorry to see this! Would have loved to have that eggplant dish again before they closed…
Hope they really are looking for a new location & that it’s midpeninsula. Will try to do their email thing for updates.
My guess is that their lease is up since the restaurant I believed opened 2 years ago in October. With the previous struggling grocer out and Safeway in, my guess is that foot traffic for the mall is up and the landlord may be raising their rent.
I signed up for the updates too. And despite having eaten there a bunch of times I still haven’t eaten the eggplant dish!
Truly hope you’re right & they will reopen in a new & better spot. It was always busy so I don’t think lack of business was the problem. Maybe he decided to go back to “fine dining” a la Manresa?
Wasn’t rent. Rather its the restaurant being too small. I was told that the new restaurant will still be in the South Bay
Yes, it was a tiny space! Hope they find a good spot & continue to make interesting food…
Great news! I messaged Kumino months ago to ask them about their reopening plans and finally the chef said they are almost ready. They will reopen as Kumino.China at 19634 Stevens Creek in Cupertino, in the same mall as Liang’s Village.
They will soft open in early October with a different menu. I found their website later and looks like they keep some of the popular items and add a few new ones. Really looking forward to it.
Thanks for the update, looking forward to trying it! Uni chawanmushi!!!
They just opened today!
Just looked at the menu again: noticed the whole duck is $96. Really curious about such a high price… Want to try the place, especially still want the Uni Chawanmushi!!! Sounds delish to me.
But compared to The Morris’ duck at $120, its actually cheaper…!
