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11 reviews for Kumare Restaurant & Bakery
11 reviews in English
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Review from Marjorie D.
Vancouver, BC
4/11/2012
One of my new favourite Filipino restaurants to go to. Their dishes are seasoned just right and I like choosing from a menu, not from a buffet-line type area. Our dinner for two people consisted of:
Garlic rice (large): Tasty rice, well cooked. We weren't really sure what a large was until I saw a big bowl at a nearby table.
Chicken kare kare: Always a favourite. I love the peanut sauce. This one was cooked just right. The chicken was nice and tender and the vegetables weren't overcooked.
Crispy pata: The perfect crispy skin - nothing tough or hard to chew on. The meat was okay but a nice dousing of soy sauce + vinegar made it good. The kare kare sauce was a good complement for the crispy pata.
By the end of dinner, we had some leftovers. Maybe about a cup of rice, half the pata, and half the kare kare. As I write this post, I'm still feeling full and the thought of being able to eat the kare kare tomorrow makes me even more full as I imagine its peanutty deliciousness. Mmm...
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Update: Too much MSG in the food. It's what makes the food good and it's also what made me lethargic for two days. -
Review from Rose M.
Vancouver, BC
3/6/2012
People have tried over and over again to do a Filipino restaurant in a non-buffet style environment.
And failed.
Enter Kumare, in Richmond. Extensive menu but I have never really gotten past the first page where you'll find their all day mother-loving breakfast-silog menu. $8 gets you garlic fried rice or pandesal, coffee and your choice of tocilog, langonisilog, tapsilog, and bangusilog-which I didn't know existed until I saw it on the menu and then realized, bien sur, of course such a thing would exist. I just never called it bangusilog. I just called it the most fun you'll have with a spoon and fork. -
Review from Alison S.
1/30/2012
"What's a Kumare?" I asked my Tagalog-speaking boyfriend. "Dunno," he shrugged back. Google translate is similarly stumped.
We ordered the grilled squid (inihaw na pusit) and beef karekare, with a large bowl of garlic rice. Everything came out fairly quickly and we dug in.
The squid was very good; I think The Boy ate about 2/3 of it. Sad face for me! It's marinated in something like a sweet-soy garlic sauce and stuffed with red and green peppers and onions. The karekare was also tasty but a little heavy on oil and a little light on oxtails. My boyfriend said that the food was not "too westernized" and still tasted authentic.
Overall I was pretty happy with our meals. The decor of the restaurant was more upscale than the cafeteria-style Filipino places that are more common. You're not paying street-food prices here, but I think Kumare does a good job at trying to do for Filipino food what Banana Leaf has done for Malaysian food (i.e. updating it and upscaling it.).
I agree with Dru C. about the bathroom sinks; I had a temporary mindfreak moment. -
Review from Bush waker S.
Burnaby, BC
4/27/2012 1 Check-in Here
This my first time experience trying out Filipino food. The over experience was great. The service is fast and the food was ggood & tasty. However, I do find the portion and price is a bit high.
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Review from S D.
Coquitlam, BC
2/13/2012
I've been to this restaurants a few times now and will never go again. Each time I order an item from the menu, for example, the pancit lang-lang which used to be one of my favorite items on the menu, the taste is different! Sometimes it's delicious and other times it's tasteless!! And recently, I ordered the kare-kare, which again was one of my favorites, tasted so bland. I don't cook and I'm sure I could've cooked a better dish.
Worst of all, the portions are small and the service is horrible. Not only are they slow but they also make you pack your own food! I mean, we're already paying more for a dish, and make us pack our own food, when there isn't any other customers.
I ended up having to wait 5 minutes to pay the bill, which is pretty long when you're standing in front of the cash desk doing nothing but waiting. On top of that, I noticed not only did they mess up on the order on a person who had ordered take out, who was in front of us, but when they packed the food, the sauces were all leaking in the plastic bag!
Absolutely horrible. Mediocre food and shitty service. Sorry but I would rather go to Little Ongpin, which is on no.5 and Cambie, where the food is way better tasting, and worth the money and the service is so much better! -
Review from Dru C.
3/10/2011 4 photos
A good looking restaurant with mediocre food. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the place as my friend says it really reminds her of the typical Filipino family style restaurant.
The decorations of the place was duked out in typical IKEA furniture. They tried atleast, and I appreciate that, so they get points for that. The layout of the resturant is what I do not like. Entering you see the kitchen and the "barista" table like place with the bakery goods. I don't seem to like that, but it was interesting and different. The washroom had the weirdest sink ever, you must see it, it was an eye spectacul.
We ordered the Pork Sicsig, Chicken Pandan, Pad Thai and the Lechon Kawali. (The lechon kawali really reminded me of Cha Siu Yok) but for sure the Pandan and the Sicsig was AMAZING. I can say these were my favourite dishes of the night. All these dishes amazingly mixes well with white rice, and it made the rice taste better. The only downside is the sauce was not as special as I thought. Just a lot of oil, garlic and onions used.
It was really really heavy in oil, but the food was sizzling hot. The food was well made, but I just dislike how the style it is made in. It could just be the origin of the style it is made, but I don't like it as much as I thought I would.
The good side is that the place is well kept, clean and tidy. Good atmosphere and a very cute waiter, who is not Filipino but very hot. :P -
Review from Raymond O.
Vancouver, BC
1/16/2011
This is a Filipino restaurant that recently just opened around two weeks ago. It offers basic Filipino cuisine in small portions as a trade-off for slightly better ambiance than the others.
Actually reminded me of Rekado that practically did the same - a better-looking restaurant with smaller portions. Guess what? They closed.
My thoughts:
- There was a pretty limited selection of items down to the desserts
- They don't have the typical "Fresh Lumpia" (fresh spring rolls) on the menu. - - The "Crispy Pata" (deep fried pork leg) was unavailable.
- How did "Pad Thai" sneak up on the menu???
When you think of Filipino cuisine, you think of eating with friends and family. You think of generous portions for family-style eating. You order a big bowl of rice and selections of meat, fish and vegetable dishes that everyone can partake in.
In Kumare's case, the portions are ridiculously small especially the "Lechon Kawali" (deep fried pork belly). The side sauce comes in small portions as well that you're bound to ask for more.
The Kare-Kare (peanut-based oxtail stew) is known to have a thick soup base due to the abundant use of pureed peanuts and generous vegetables and oxtail. Again, their soup base was watery thin and you had to fight for ingredients.
I would understand if they wanted single-serve portions. If they do offer it as a combo meal like the other Filipino restaurants provide. Otherwise, if you were to offer the typical dishes then don't scrimp on portions or ingredients.
The desserts are made in-house. We tried the Sans Rival (cashew nut based cake which is crunchy and creamy) and weren't surprised to find yet again a very small portion. It was good though. I can only wish it was double in servings. Actually, everything should have been doubled for the price they charge.
They have a person directing the flow of the orders which looks impressive until we experienced messed up timing of orders. Our fried rice came out in now time. In fact it arrived 20 minutes ahead of the main dish. Which meant the bowl of rice was just sitting there by our table almost forever. Our friendly waitress took notice and apologised a couple of times whenever she happens to pass by our table and see we still didn't have any other food.
Finally one of the dishes arrived and we could start eating with the not too warm rice. And then it took another 20 minutes before our next dish was served. We asked in case they forgot and they were just pretty much backed up. But if portion sizes were small, what is there to be backed up? Too many tables ordering more than one of the same dish to satisfy the whole family?
Honestly you don't need someone directing the flow of food to the tables if you're just sending them out without proper timing on what table came first and what food items they have or don't have. And if they don't, then how long will it still take?
The only good thing I can appreciate is the amount of rice bowl we ordered and the very friendly service we experienced with our server.
Other than that, it's something I'm willing to experience once. After that I'd rather go back to Pin Pin (along Main) and LIttle Ongpin (in Richmond) which offers the same pricing structure for way more portions. I'll deal with a not too chic ambiance if only to have the exact kind of dishes in more generous portions for the same price. -
Review from Tracy P.
Vancouver, BC
2/27/2011
As a Chinese-Filipino who's never been to the Philippines and had to suffice on stories of delicious street foods from her parents, I was excited to try a Filipino restaurant. My mum had recently eaten there and thought I'd like to try it.
I was impressed by the small, but clean and sleekly decorated establishment. Dark wood paneling, funky lighting fixtures. It kind of looked like a bubble tea restaurant.
There was a big pile of ensyamada and pan de sal freshly made and ready to buy, in addition to some Filipino desserts and beverages.
I love full size glass bottle cokes and sprites. I love that they had them.
The menu had ample selection and my mum vouches that it "tastes like home". I ordered the palabok and it tasted just like my mum made. Decently sized portion, in my opinion.
My boyfriend ordered the chicken karekare, and again, it tasted just like my mum used to make, except it was a little runnier. Still tasted delicious, though.
The calamasi juice was refreshing and sweet. Sometimes Goldilock's is a bit bitter.
My mum ordered the bistek tagalog and it was AMAZING. Beef was flavourful and tender, due to the marinating in calamansi juice. I LOVED the garlic rice as well.
The dishes are simple but delicious and the ensyamada (we bought 6 to go) are denser than Goldilock's and a little heavier on the butter and cheese.
ONE thing to note. They have some kinks to sort out, service-wise. We went at a fairly slow period, maybe half the restaurant full, yet my boyfriend's dish came very quickly but cold. In general, the food came out extremely quickly, which made me suspect a lot of their food is already pre-cooked and just being kept warm. -
Review from Haley H.
Richmond, BC
5/3/2011
It's okey food! Very small servings, pancit bihon wasn't that good my moms cooking is better.
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Review from Sharlene V.
Vancouver, BC
8/8/2011
This is the best Filipino restaurant in the Lower Mainland, hands down. If you have never had Filipino food before, I urge you to try this out. Granted it's not a 5-star establishment but compared to other Filipino restaurants out there it might as well be. It's very clean, well-priced and most of all absolutely delicious. So delicious that my son who doesn't normally eat Filipino food actually likes the food here. Every single thing we've had so far has been outstanding, and our goal is to eventually try everything on the menu.
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Review from Tina P.
Richmond, BC
2/6/2011
Kudos to the kumare staff. This is a small, unpretentious filipino restaurant that isn't trying to turn wannabe cactus club. Their service is good, friendly and quick. The portions are just right, if you don't have a voracious "patay gutom, takaw mata" typical of some folks who consume food like there is no tomorrow. The food taste truly Filipino, particularly the adobong tostado, yum!!! Washrooms are clean, servers in clean cut black, and bakery counter well laid out. Lots of parking too! Price is very reasonable, and good family & friends atmosphere. I would definitely recommend.
