Kuma Inn

Kuma Inn is a rather non-descript Phillipino fusion restaurant on the outskirts of Chinatown.  I walked right passed it the first time because it is not on the street level.  There are stairs behind an unmarked open door that lead to the restaurant on the second floor.

The hostess that "greets" you (I say greet in quotes because she is surly and unwelcoming) would not seat me until my whole party arrived, which would make sense except for the fact that the restaurant was empty (there was one pair dining in the corner when I first arrived).  I had requested a 7:30 reservation but was told I could only have a 6:45 reservation.  I find this odd because when we left after 8pm, there was still over a handful of empty tables.  While I was waiting for my husband, two women without reservations were actually turned away.

Conversely, the servers were lovely.  What they lacked in English proficiency they made up for in smiles and attentiveness.

Most of the dishes are served tapas style and are meant to be shared.  Despite working within the confines of a tiny kitchen, the items arrive at your table rather quickly.  The menu is very pork centric.  When I asked the server to have chicken instead of pork in the stir fried noodles, she said no, that they did not have chicken (despite the fact that there is supposedly chicken in their paella type dish).  I let it go.

The best thing about Kuma Inn is their BYO policy.  You are charged $5 corkage per bottle of wine and $1 corkage per bottle of beer.

The food was very hit or miss, some of our dishes were down right bad, some were average, and then we found a few superstars.  So between their BYO policy and standout dishes, Kuma Inn is worth a casual night out.  To help out you guys, I will give a short list of What Not To Eat as well to help you avoid some of my pitfalls.

What to Eat:

Start with the Grilled Baby Octopus with pickled bamboo shoots.  I've never had pickled bamboo shoots before so this was a nice surprise.  I enjoyed the slight crunch of the bamboo shoot and the tart taste from the pickling.  The grilled octopus was lightly marinated in Phillipino spices and grilled to perfection.  For a tapas size, this was actually a pretty good portion.







For an entree, we went with their specials.  The first was the Grilled Whole Dorado.  This flaky, white fish was the best dish of the night.  The fish is marinated in a blend of Phillipino spices and served whole at your table.  The dorado was light yet satisfying.







The final success of the night was the Skirt Steak special.  The steak was prepared medium rare and didn't even require a steak knife to cut into.  The tender meat had been marinated in a thick onion sauce and covered in sweet onions.







What Not To Eat:

Avoid the Coconut Rice and the Stir Fried Noodles.  I have even included a picture of the coconut rice so you understand why not to order it.  It looks like the chef just dumped a cup of coconut milk on top of steamed rice.  This is not how coconut rice should be prepared and/or served.  The taste and consistency was all wrong






The Stir Fried Noodles had the right consistency but the taste was terrible.  I was unable to identify what horrible sauce the noodles were tossed in and put them aside entirely after a few unappetizing bites.


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