Umami Noodle Bar — Restaurant in Bangor

I'd like to preface that this review is reflective of my personal opinion and not Umami's. If anyone is considering listening to Mrs. Susan Peyerl's review of Umami, it's important to be aware that she left quite a bit of info out of her review. Specifically the info that would make her look bad. Believe what you want to believe, but let me fill the public in with the missing information. All the broths are made ahead of time, not to order, so there is unfortunately no way they can make them without oil. That's how most restaurants operate to be able to accomodate for the amount of customers that come in. The rice noodles are going to come clumped up if there is no broth. Rice noodles clump up when they dry out. Normally it is not a problem because the noodles come with a broth over them to keep them from drying out. The amount of veggies they have in the bowls is not ever going to be huge handfulls unless specifically asked and paid extra for. Restaurants have to keep a budget for everything in order to turn a profit and buy more ingredients, so the amount in the bowls is guaranteed to be controlled depending on the price of their produce. The small bowl of cabbage she got was definitely more than what is normally given for orders, because she specifically asked for it on the side. Again, all of her order was "dry" because the noodle bowls normally come with broth, yet she requested no broth. I do know that when she did ask for a sauce, she did not specify what kind of sauce she wanted and would not clarify to the server when asked what type, so trying to keep true to the customer's preferences of no oil, the server brought out a sauce they thought would have the most flavor and the least oil content. The meal her husband asked for was made exactly how it was ordered: white rice with fried chicken, cabbage steamed on the side. There were no instructions given for any type of sauce, broth, or anything else that would moisten the meal, so of course, the food was "dry". As for the limited menu, I'm not really sure what she meant because Umami has 11 boba tea options, 4 different appetizers, 6 different Signature bowls, and a Build-your-own bowl option with 27,404 different combinations (and thats only if you pick one item from each category, even though you can pick as many from each as you'd like). I do agree, the tables are sticky and I do believe the issue is being address as it is assumed to be the type of sanitizer that's used. Having worked at a few restaurants myself, I'm familiar with the type of sanitizer normally used to clean tables, and it does tend to be sticky on certain types of surfaces. Depending on the type of surface, sometimes you can get away with spraying it with windex afterwards, but it doesn't work for all surfaces unfortunately, which may be the case here. Yes the surface may be sticky, but I for one would rather it be sticky and sanitized than not cleaned at all or wiped down with just a wet rag. The final piece that Mrs. Peyerl left out was that she not only gave the server a very detailed and quite demanding description of how she absolutley needed her food to be cooked, but she also BROUGHT IN HER OWN TOFU AND OIL FREE BROTH that she wanted the restaurant to cook. I personally feel that bringing your own food to a restaurant, demanding that the restaurant not only cook your personal food you brought from home, but also cook their food off of their own menu different and in a difficultly executed way than it's usual is VERY rude. It's also not safe for the restaurant or it's other patrons to cook outside food. If you have demands so severe that you not only bring part of your meal from home, but are so specific that you are basically asking the chef to make something that doesn't really exist on the menu, AND has to be cooked differently than how it is normally cooked at the restaurant, then you should either get a personal chef or stay home and make it yourself. (Gluten intolerances, allergies and things that are easily accommodated for are not the type of "different" I'm...

This incident occurred in early October 2016, I held off on posting it because I was hoping to speak with the restaurant manager first, as I had previously had many pleasant and positive experiences at this restaurant. However, being unsafe with allergies involved is an automatic 1 star for me.

At lunch on this visit, one of the service people decided to throw a highly unprofessional hissy-fit? tantrum? because I sent my food back because it had sesame seeds, and when my boyfriend ordered our food he had said no sesame seeds on both (I was outside with the dog). She insisted that he had only said on his (both our friend and my boyfriend confirmed he said both), and gave me attitude for wanting it remade. I'm sorry, I don't want to sneeze on my boyfriend and have him break out in hives. If you make a mistake, especially an allergy related mistake, that's a pretty big screw up. In this case it would have been a semi-okay screw up, since I wasn't the allergic one, but seriously, own it and move on. Eventually I got my remade bowl back, but then had to return it because the meat had sesame seeds stuck to it, as if they had taken the ingredients from my allergen-covered bowl, rinsed them off, and then used the contaminated ingredients to 'remake' the bowl. I went inside and spoke to the manager, quietly, as this was a restaurant we had been to several times, and until now everyone had been friendly and understanding of my boyfriend's allergies. I spoke to the manager about the blonde haired girl's behavior at the counter and to show him I still had sesame seeds on my food. I got my money back, but I ended up having to go without food from what had been my favorite restaurant, on a day when we went there to help me cheer up because of my cold.

Later on that day, I found out that when I had left to go back outside where my other friend and dog were, the blonde haired girl went into the kitchen and threw a more elaborat tantrum. I have no idea what her problem was, or what she had against people with allergies, but she was, reportedly, shouting so loudly in the kitchen that in the dining room people could hear her yelling about how 'people who had allergies that were 'that bad' shouldn't even be at the restaurant, or go out to eat at all'. Again, I was outside, so I heard this from my boyfriend and one of our friends who was inside with him. After learning of it, I attempted to contact the restaurant the next day, both by phone and on yelp, got told I would be hearing back from a manager on the phone and never heard anything, got no reply on yelp back then, or the other times I have attempted to...

While visiting in the US for a few days, my Partner and I decided we would try some local spots that caught our interest. Umami just so happened to be one of these locations

The atmosphere is lovely, the decor is very pleasant, and to our amusement a movie played off on a screen to the side. Customer Service was fantastic. Our waitress was bubbly and friendly, and checked up on us often to ensure we were enjoying our time at the restaurant.

We ordered between the two of us Scallion Pancakes, Gyoza, Drinks (I a Boba, and my Partner a Soft Drink) and made a Build your own Bowl Ramen. Our total was 77$ after tax.

The Scallion Pancakes were alright, they were delightfully crispy, but had a very clear oily fried flavour to them, and seemed to lack overall flavour otherwise, aside from your occasional spotty bite of green onion.

In my opinion, the Gyoza was the best dish we had received. Juicy, crispy, and delicious we ate those the quickest out of them all. However the portion did seem rather small for it’s almost 10$ cost.

Lastly, our noodle bowls. Though the presentation is simply beautiful, and aesthetically it is easily some of the most gorgeous food I have had the pleasure of consuming- The dish falls short after that. My broth was bland, and lacked any body of flavour, the noodles were sticky and over cooked, and much more reminiscent of an instant ramen noodle than that of a homemade ramen shop. The Pork Belly I had added to my bowl was deprived of it’s usual smoky, well marinated flavour, and instead tasted of oil. I was unsure if it was fresh, or perhaps something re-seared to use. I will give it points for being tender however! The dish was not horrible, but with the areas it lacks, it is not something I could see myself ordering again without knowing clear improvements have been made.

Overall, this was not a bad location. The environment was cozy and friendly, the staff was polite and helpful- but the food was ultimately underwhelming. I would like to come back to this location, as I feel it has a lot of promise. However, I would be trying another main course, and maybe some different appetizers to find what in my opinion would be the best of the best Umami Noodle Bar...