Umami Noodle Bar

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.

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.

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 has to offer!

We wanted to try a new restaurant and saw Umami. We started with a gyoza appetizer which hands down I will say it's the best gyoza I've had in Maine. For a meal I chose to try the pork tonkotsu ramen. The broth was awesome very flavorful but not overwhelming at all just delicious, mix in the perfectly gelatinized egg yolks and a melt in your mouth pork that kicks with a tasty flavor. My wife chose to build her own bowl with a curry broth which she has deemed a staple for the next time we stop in. Great boba tea and sake! Will definitely be back!

Honestly. We'll start with the good. The location is good. It's very central and walkable. Parking is street parking but there tends to be lots of options with ample time to park and eat. The interior is well done with well spaced tables. The concept itself of a build your own noodle is good The execution is alright. We ordered 2 bowls. Both broths were good, reasonably flavored. The noodles were kind of where this fell down. I ordered the ramen and the other was egg noodle. The ramen noodle was not springy at all and reminded me of a instant ramen style noodle. The other was egg noodles, these were better they had more chew and generally were good. The proteins were also a mix bag, the tofu was not bad, but it felt very hastily assembled and not fresh as it looked like it should be crispy and hot but was more spongee and slightly warm. Beef was had in the ramen noodle bowl as well, this was also evidently premade and was dropped in as it was also not very hot. Lastly both bowls were ordered with a marinated egg, this was good but again the temperature it was served at was cold, however if they had been able to atleast come upto temp in the broth it would have been good as it was otherwise a good soft boil. I will say the food visuals were good. Combine this with the fact that in the end the bowls were a a bit expensive and the overall size of the dishes were small was a let down. Lastly cutlery, the plastic bowls I actually liked, chop sticks also good, but the soup spoons were just jagged and far to floppy.

YOU GET TO MAKE YOUR OWN BOWL!!! WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED?!? The new additions are great. Staff is amazing. The Chive Dumplings are To. Die. For.

Loved the chill atmosphere and all the windows for natural light and people watching. The food was also incredible and they have lots of healthy options :)

Ayooo they recently changed up everything and it's absolutely worth the wait. The rice bowls are 🔥 The chive dumplings too! I spent way too much but i ate it for 2 days.