[Cupertino] Kumino China- Haochen Liu's next adventure

For some reason, by reading the 2 threads, I find the first Kumino’s positioning more convincing because it was all Asian crazy fusion (not so common) and it was more modern and fun. I fear the new one, people might think it was just another Chinese place.

Nice report! Terrific photos of the plated foods.

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The place, other than using some Chinese ingredients, is really not Chinese, but pan-Asian. Just like we don’t call Momofuku a Chinese place.

Then I wonder why they added China in their name of restaurant. The interior decoration now is very Chinese too. Maybe it is because of the joint venture constraint imposed by the investor?!

Thanks @sck for the report! Now I want that uni chawanmushi even more! Still very curious about the duck & the $$$…

the duck does come three ways- the half duck comes with two bowls of duck shoyu ramen, some duck buns and duck lettuce wrap. So there’s a bit of effort involved.

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Thanks, hope someone tries it & can provide more input on the high ticket. We’ve had duck 3 ways at a couple of other places & if I remember, a whole duck was around $40. Very curious about his prep…

You should go try it :stuck_out_tongue:

I will, but other dishes sound more interesting to me… I liked the warm eggplant salad at the old location, so would want to try the current eggplant dish. Will have to gather a couple of friends who liked the old place…

Nice. Look forward to your report too.

For the chawanmushi, I know how to do the egg custard at home, and I can get uni myself, but just don’t know what he put into the sauce…!

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I think the investor probably just said to the chef, ‘here’s a location that’s not doing so well and could use a refresh in the concept, and i don’t really want to spend any more money on decor or equipment. Interested?’

There is a similar case in Paris, a young Chinese chef, used to work in a 1 star restaurant, quitted and open his own restaurant. He was doing very well with his wife in a tiny space, excellent cooking, cuisine was refined and precise and quite unique. The space was small but clean, it was full every night. He moved to a bigger place, I went there maybe 2 years after for a visit. When I entered the place, I thought I had the wrong address, the place was indeed big, but empty with only 2 or 3 tables for night, the restaurant was not well situated, the food didn’t resemble anything that I remember, but stuff you find everywhere in Paris. Fried food were soaky. The place smelled bad and probably reused the decoration of the previous restaurant. There seemed to be some kind of curse. The chef was not motived anymore.

Sometimes need to be careful with the decoration (and investors)!

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Kumino China tweaked their menu slightly now compared to when they first opened.

Creamy cod bone soup $6: really good. loads of cod bones resulting in a very rich, intensely seafood-y and flavorful soup. For $6, its really good value. And its great for a cold and rainy evening.

Pork pot sticker $10: This time we tried the version without the truffle oil, and it tasted fairly similar, and it tasted good.

Same dan dan noodle as last time $17. Hmmph already $2 increase.

Thin slice angus beef rice: $17. I think I’d stick with the noodles as the flavors of the rice bowl didn’t quite stand out, since the flavors came mostly from the marinated beef slices and the runny egg.

Black sesame stuffing white and purple rice ball soup. Tasted house made, with really good and al dente rice ‘skin’. Better than store bought versions. Enjoyable. We were comped this, but tipped more to offset.

Good news is that the duck now only requires a 2 hour advanced notification. And we were strongly recommended to order the duck so we are going to come back and try it. They said they hang the duck and slow roast it. Duck is getting more expensive though, $10 more than soft opening price for the half…!

Anyone tried?

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Wow, haven’t been, but, am now going to go soon. That menu looks good and your photos have definitely piqued my interest, thanks. Please let me know if you have room for me to join when you next go.

Uni Chawanmushi. Single serving $15. I’ll be back, delicious. the rest of the menu looks like fun,

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Yeah the chawanmushi is seriously decadent. At some point I will be back for the duck, for sure.

Some new-to-us items:

Seafood stew with tomato. Creamy and a tad sweet, with some shellfish, salmon and asparagus mixed in. Decent.

Some sort of stirred fried veggie and potatoes, including sprouts. Decent.

Still have to try the duck.

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Unfortunately the Kumino China location is now Shanghai No. One. Does anyone know where Haochen Liu is cooking now?

Any update?

There you go.

https://www.bqrealtygroup.com/agents/130-haochen-liu

This is one of the more disappointing end to a career in the kitchen. But, given life as a chef sucks in the last few years and real estate is booming in the same time period, the chef is probably doing better in feeding his family as an agent.