Umami Noodle - Bangor

After I couldn't get soup delivered from my favorite Italian place I decided to give Umami a try. I was not disappointed! The chicken and pork broth was so flavorful, the udon noodles had the perfect bounce to them, toppings were on point and the gyoza were *chefs kiss* delicious! Will definitely be back.

They make the sweet broth good and it is great, they have soba noodles for vegan option

Umami Noodle Bar is Generally pretty good, but yesterday, the noodle dish tasted of soap, and the meat was boiled bland. Don't expect me to tip anymore.

My heart aches for this place. I've been a customer for years and every time I drove through Bangor it was a mandatory stop. Even if I wasn't hungry I'd get an order of the Ramen or Udon Noodles with the yellow curry and veggies. It was consistently flavorful and welcoming. However, over the last few months the quality has been in decline. I've gotten soft boiled eggs that were cold. Noodles that were either stuck together or lacked integrity and would fall apart. Broth that was barely heated. Declination of quality in the flavor. Not to be picky, but they even cheapened the quality of the provided chopsticks. If I could flash back to two years ago this would have been a five star review, no question, but after the last three visits I don't think I can go back. Yes, I gave it three tries because I really wanted my bad experiences to be a fluke. Everyone has an off day, but I feel like they are struggling to recover. I will probably give it one more try just to make sure and I'm only indulging a fourth visit because this place used to be a cornerstone for my Bangor visits and I miss that quality so dearly.

Somewhat disappointing take on a modern ramen joint. We stopped in for a midweek lunch, and the counter person was very polite and helpful. I ordered a miso ramen with some typical add-ons (chashu, tamago, etc. , and we looked for a table to sit down at. The place was empty, but most tables were still dirty and sticky, so we had to switch spots a couple times. When the ramen arrived, it somehow just looked off. Normally miso broth is cloudy and rich, this seemed watery and separated. The noodles were very similar to what you'd find in a packet of Top Ramen, and the tamago (egg was still cold and liquid in the center. I will give credit to the chashu; the pork was thick and fatty, and was probably the only thing that stood out. The overall flavor profile seemed more like a generic attempt at ramen, rather than the genuine article. As a visitor from out of state, maybe I'm spoiled for choice living in a major city that's a culinary destination, since this is a smallish town in central Maine, but even without other competition, I would expect better ramen than this.