Umami Noodle Bar

1. I have been eating at Umami for a number of years. This is where my fiancée and I had our first date out together. We were so disappointed by the food tonight. The portion were alot less then what they used too be. We couldn’t even use all the broth for our ramen in the small container we received it in. We got home and our food looked like a frozen meal warmed up. We had to put our Ramen into another bowl just so we could try and break up the pasta sticking to itself. My yellow curry was so disappointing barely had any flavor. The whole menu seemed to be reworked for the worst; increasing the price for the food all awhile making the portions smaller. They added bobba tea which is a nice flare but it doesn’t make up for the lack of flavor in the food. Ramen bowls used to come with a single piece of seaweed, the cherry on top. But now it is something you need to pay extra for. The fire roasted corn which is something I always added to my ramen bowls is now just corn from a can no flavor just bland. I honestly don’t think I will return for ramen again. I always talked up how Umami was the best ramen restaurant in Maine and now I can’t suggest it for anything. Maybe the Boba tea, but I can’t suggest it for ramen anymore. It breaks my heart writing this post, 💔 I do hope they eventually improve.

2. The soup base here lacks flavor, and the food is generally underwhelming. The presentation of each dish looks delicious until it reaches your mouth. The portion size and taste is not worth the cost. The tonkatsu here is basically mushroom soup with a side of scallions.

   The service here is embarrassingly bad, we waited 2 hours from start to end. The restaurant only had a few tables, but the server really struggled to get anything done in a timely manner.

   Definitely don’t let the photos fool you, there’s no flavor in the food.

3. Unfortunately, I can’t give zero. I decided to give it a try after a several year hiatus. The “base” bowl is supposed to come with plentiful carrots and sprouts. It did not…. it was literally broth. I was asked to turn 180 degrees to retrieve my bowl from the server, as apparently it is too difficult to come all the way to the table. Our requested add ons didn’t come out, and we were overcharged for what we did get. ($11.95 plus three is $14.95. The tea on the menu is $3.50). When I asked for a refill, I was charged again. This was then removed, but I never got my refill. In fact, I never was asked how anything is.

4. I had high hopes for this place but it let me down. The noodles and broth were bland and the vegetables that I added to it didn’t look like it was cooked in with it, just placed on top. The photos make it aesthetically pleasing, but when I ate it, all I could taste was flavorless soup. It wasn’t worth the 25 plus tip that I paid for it, other then the customer service. My waitress was sweet and made sure to come and check on me, but I quickly asked for the check cause I didn’t want to have to finish it.

5. What a gem this place is. We heard great things about this place and wanted to try it out while visiting friends in the Bangor area. We went in the evening (around 7pm) for dine-in. The atmosphere was great. The service was great. The food was EXTRODINARY! Fresh and delicious. We all shared appetizers (Gyoza). Yum. Yum. We all ordered build your own noodle bowls with broth. Mine was DEVINE! See photo. I ate the entire thing. Mine had pork, ramen, egg, broccoli, and so much more. We left at 8:30pm with full bellies. We can’t wait to go back to Bangor and eat at Umani again.

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