Kuma Inn

Cool little hidden place in East Village that you might only find if you know a local. No distinguishing sign that tells you there is a restaurant inside up on the 3^rd floor. Good Philpino/​Thai food. Cash only.

What a lovely spot and a BYOB to boot — a tad crowded and loud, but affordable, great service, and delicious food. The rockstar dishes were:
— the pan-​fried rice crepes with kuma pork, which were just perfectly crispy on the outside and infused with porky goodness; possibly one of the best rice crepes I’ve ever had;
— bolognese drunken spicy shrimp with sake, kalamansi and thai chilies, which weren’t at all too hot
— sautéed chinese sausage, sticky rice and thai chili-​lime sauce which had perfectly sweet and spicy and crispy sausage, and just came together in a lovely way
— fragrant coconut rice
Our server didn’t rush us when it took us awhile to order which I really appreciated. Our group was reuniting after many years so it took us awhile to focus on the menu.
I’d definitely be back!

Yum! I heard the owner is Flipino/​Thai and I love how he brought the two cuisines together at Kuma Inn. All plates are meant to be tapas style and our waiter recommended that we ordered 2 dishes per person. The foods are super tasty here.
1) Spicy Shrimps — Love it! They used Kalamansi (which is a Filipino lemon) to make the sauce. Watch out for those spicy thai peppers cause the spice can really creep up to you. Definitely my favorite dish.
2) Chicken Wing Adobo — This is a staple item at all Filipino restaurants and I couldn’t resist ordering it. It was very tasty and tender.
3) Mussels — Cooked with lemongrass and drizzled over with a light coconut milk sauce. Very mild in taste but the sauce made my garlic rice and coconut rice so much more memorable. The mussels itself was a little bit small though.
4) Chinese sausages — they were ok, but I was surprised at how much they were charging this dish as I can get this at the super market for significantly a fraction of the price. This was probably one of my least favorite dish. The sticky rice on the side was good though.
5) Was not a fan of their spring rolls. I don’t know, but I felt like something tasted a little sour in there.
Overall, cozy place and good meal =) CASH ONLY!

First time back since the first year they opened and we all enjoyed! Great meal, great service.
Chef is Filipino and Thai — I’ve been to both Philippines and Thailand and enjoyed this food. Mostly Filipino inspired dishes on the menu.
Party of 4, made reservation in advance for Friday dinner.
Ordered a bunch of things to share, posted photos.
Coconut rice goes great with flavorful dishes.
Garlic rice goes with everything.

Genuinely nice food and people! You can pretty much order blindfolded! But do try the mussels!!!

I agree with many of the Unilocalers that the dishes here are overpriced. The reason for my belief is not based solely on the quantity I received, but also the quality. (My close friend had seen me pay $ 30 for a piece of tuna without a flinch)
The meal consists of their signature tofu, rice crêpe and seafood rice dish. Although the food was flavorful, it was not on par with the $ 10 – 17 price tag. The largest dish, the seafood rice, would barely fill a quart size container.
The food was not presented well, especially the rice, which should really go on a larger dish or a bigger bowl. If the chef or owner’s purpose is to present the food on smaller tableware in order for it to seem like a bigger portion, then, Bravo, the purpose is certainly a success.
The restaurant itself is small and can fit about 30 ppl at the most. It was very dark and the music was so loud that I was unable to carry a conversation or hear the waitress list out the daily specials. Probably not a good dating option.
The silver lining of this meal was probably the friendly waitress, who is sadly overworked cleaning and serving the whole restaurant’s customers.

This place was great. You climb up all these stairs to get to the restaurant. It is a small place. I don’t remember what I ordered since my Filipino friend ordered everything but they come out in small dishes. The service was great. I love the BYOB and the staff kept my beer in the refrigerator so it did not get warm.

When I hear tapas, I think «oh great, small plates so you’re paying more for less in the end.» And when a place is cash-​only, you expect to pay less because they’re probably not counting all their revenues (or they can’t take the minimal credit card fee).
BUT in short, the food is pretty good but very overpriced for what it is (yes, I know it’s tapas-​style). The vegetarian summer rolls ($ 8) do not have a protein (no tofu) and came with two rolls. The sauteed tofu with wood ears and thai basil was very good and had the perfect amount of spice and salt — but like I said, the portion is not worth the price ($ 10) for a small bowl. You have to order a bowl of rice separately as well and that costs at least $ 2. The rice crepes tasted great as well — think of the dim sum rice rolls but stir fried, crispy outside, doughy inside — but you really don’t get enough for what you’re paying for. Coconut rice was good. Grand Street Veggies was a medium-​sized bowl of bok choi — which was $ 10 — but was still decent.
Service was good though and the place is cozy. BYOB — and they have an uncorking fee of $ 5.
I really wanted to like this place — the food is actually pretty good. Just overpriced, especially considering it’s cash only. For certain items, you can find the same thing in Chinatown for half the price with the same portion. I don’t think I’d come here again.

This is one of the best filipino-​thai restaurant that i’ve tried so far in down town manahattan. Thanks to the staffs especially to the host :) the best!

Been there twice, generally like the place. Great for getting bunch of dishes and sharing. We ordered 7 for 3 people which was perfect. I personally liked anything with sausage the most. Pork belly was also good. I liked their green spicy sauce. Was not impressed by the shrimp, but other than that the food was pretty tasty.
Place is BYOB but note that they charge a small «corkage» fee — when I was there it was $ 1 for beer and $ 5 for bottle of wine. Also place is cash only.

SUMMARY: Went for my SO’s birthday dinner with 3 others without a reservation on a Saturday evening around 9pm. Put our names down and walked 2 blocks to the wine store to get a bottle of red and came back for dinner. Maybe it’s because I had high expectations, but I thought the food was meh and overpriced and the service just ok though the ambiance was great. The Unilocal reviews aren’t great, but several friends recommended this place so I thought it would be good — but I wouldn’t come back.
WHAT I TRIED: Crispy pork spring rolls + Edamame + Yellowfin Tuna Tartare + Tita Em’s Chicken Wing Adobo + Eastern Omelette + Chinese Sausage + Pancit Bihon Stir Fried Noodles + Sauteed Tofu + Garlic Rice
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — -MORE DETAIL — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -
FOOD: OK: I loved the Yellowfin Tuna Tartare (but super small portion). The spring rolls + chicken wings were good — not too oily. The edamame was way too sour (too much lemon juice I think). The Chinese sausage was ok (the other 3 loved it), but I thought it was cut a little too thin and overcooked. The stir fried noodles were bland, overcooked, and just not good. The sauteed tofu was overcooked and the garlic rice was good, but just like plain rice with a hint of garlic. Especially given the high price and small portion size of the dishes, I was not a fan. The noodles + rice were larger portions.
SERVICE: OK: The bouncer was very rude — I was trying to get upstairs to ask about a table and he did NOT want me to go in — not sure why. When I got upstairs, however, they were super nice about finding us a table. When taking orders though, they kept on recommending the most expensive items despite us saying that we didn’t like certain things. They were impatient as we were trying to order, and when I asked if some of the items were slightly heartier — there was a curt «no — this is tapas style.» I ended up overordering as a result.
AMBIANCE: Very cute and romantic. Like eating in someone’s romantic/​dimly lit/​cozy living room. We sat right next to the open kitchen and got to see a lot of (intentional?) stove fires. Always a fan of BYOB, though the corkage fee is a bit steep — so I would recommend either larger bottles of beer or wine.

I wanted to come here as a surprise for my boyfriend’s birthday in July since the day was supposed to be full of speakeasy spots. However, upon arrival the door was completely open with signs, which just made it just a dark, graffiti filled stairway that led to a restaurant. During the whole time we were there on the weekend, we were the only ones there and the atmosphere felt a bit strange with the dim green lights inside and the orange sun rays filling in the rest of the restaurant. Kind of felt like we were in a cheap run-​down restaurant on the 2^nd floor of an apartment building.
Anyways, the food was served tapa style and they did not fill us even though we spent well over $ 100 there. The dishes itself weren’t anything special and I probably wouldn’t go back since the atmosphere and food wasn’t anything great in particular.

I learned two things when dining here:
1) «hidden NYC gems» usually just mean dark, dingy, and up a shady flight of stairs
2) Asian tapas aren’t really a good value meal
This is not to say that we did not have a good meal. There were good dishes and mediocre ones. First of all, though I appreciate a BYOB joint, a corking fee is for a dollar a beer is pretty counterproductive. If you’re going to charge me to drink, then I might as well drink somewhere else. For a «authentic» asian fusion tapas place, their spring rolls were decent, but nothing too special. The lechon kawali was also okay, but I’ve had fresher, crispier, and more plentiful versions elsewhere. The vegetable fried rice was good, but not comparative to its price, and as were the chicken wings adobo. Our favorite thing here were the coconut curry mussels – these were amazing, and I highly, highly recommend ordering a side of rice to smother with the remaining curry broth. DELICIOUS – I was tempted to bag up the rest of the curry!
All in all, Kuma Inn is an okay place if you’re looking to try some asian-​inspired tapas dishes, however if you want some REALLY good Thai/​filipino/​chinese dishes, go to their respective restaurants.

I don’t usually leave harsh reviews but this place really deserves it. I found myself here on a Friday night with a few friends…
The décor: I’m not expecting much from a «hidden gem» in the lower east side but walking up some dirty staircase in a hole-​in-​the-​wall side street building only lead to a world of disappointment. It’s plain and ugly inside. The lighting was so bad you could barely read the menu. There was intermittent music playing and at points in the evening you hear some scratchy feedback from people fiddling with wires or something. That DJ SUCKED (jk — not really a DJ there).
The food: We had some good food, we had some very average food, and we were served some food that was disgusting. Due to the fact that you can barely read the menu with the terrible lighting, we relied on the waitress who was very eager to recommend dishes. This is definitely one of those places where the staff try to push spoiling food off as a ‘special’ to reduce inventory. It was hard to tell that the skirt steak was turning rotten over all the salt, but it was. We ordered the jumbo fried prawns and not only were they not jumbo, half of the dish was inedible. There were eight pieces of prawn on the plate, half of which were inedible fried heads filled with some black goo. The sausage was good but the serving was very small. The one dish we had that was excellent were the muscles, which we only ordered because we saw them delivered to another table. It’s also worth to note that the menu they have on Unilocal is a lot less expensive than what is actually at the restaurant.
The service: I was charged a $ 3 corking fee for corking a bottle of beer that I had opened myself. The server was inattentive. At one point we watched as multiple wait staff texted on their phones as we waited for over five minutes for our drinks. I almost had to get up and retrieve my beer from the fridge myself. And it’s not like they were busy either, just not doing their job well. The worst part was that our server was pushy, trying to get us to order dishes that were either bad or inedible.
Until this point, I’d say 2 stars. But wait, there’s more! I almost always tip over 20%. This evening, due to the pushiness, and being charged to remove my own cork, we left a ~14% tip. We left, and made it a block away, when we were chased down by our sever, asked to count out the money on the street, and explain to her why her lack of service did not warrant a 20% tip. I’m not joking! This actually happened. I don’t know, maybe she doesn’t know math, but that was almost unbelievable.
Bottom line: If you’re just dying to try your luck here, at least get the muscles — they were the only saving grace of the experience. But I will never go here again, even if it was free. Don’t go here.

Filipino cuisine is one of my secret weaknesses, so I was looking forward to knocking off yet another staple in NYC when the opportunity arose. The chef at Kuma Inn, King Phojanakong, earned his degree at the CIA before spending time in the kitchens at Daniel, Jean-​Georges, and Danube (by David Bouley) before venturing into creating a place of his own in May 2003. The restaurant’s name is a play on the Filipino word «kumain», or, «to eat» and specializes in serving Filipino-​inspired small plates, a relatively novel concept for New York City.
The space is located on an unsuspecting corner of Ludlow, mere blocks from Chinatown and the countless bars in the LES. After climbing a flight of stairs, I was presented with a dimly lit, orange-​hued room decorated with multiple bamboo-​based sculptures and structures. Tables consist primarily of two-​tops, although some simple rearranging can be done for larger groups; needless to say, I was taken by surprise by how out of place the venue was. The menu is similarly surprisingly, dotted with a fair number of vegetarian options and plenty of non-​traditional Filipino ingredients. We opted to get five plates to share, which were brought out intermittently throughout the course of the meal.
First to arrive were the Vegetarian Summer Rolls, which were probably the disappointment of the evening. The slices of daikon radish and carrots were raw and completely flavorless; a little marination or some method of softening and adding flavor to the vegetables was desperately needed, especially as the rice noodles also had no taste to them. The one saving grace to the plate was the peanut plum sauce on the side, which contributed the sole flavor to each bite. We were thankfully saved by Tita Em’s Adobo Chicken Wings, a plate of five juicy wings that are coated in an addictive adobo sauce that’s composed of rice vinegar, garlic, and soy. It makes for a dish that’s simultaneously savory, tangy, and subtly sweet, and the contrasting flavor profile it even more tempting.
The Lumpiang Shanghai fell towards the middle of the road; the thinly-​rolled spring rolls were filled with ground pork, onions, and garlic and fried to a satisfying crisp. I did, however, wish there were additional vegetables and seasoning in the filling to make for more substance and well-​rounded bite. As for the Pan-​Roasted Scallops, which I thought I would love, they were similarly «A-​OK». The kalamansi and sake-​based sauce was the highlight of the dish, contributing a citrus-​y note to the otherwise rich base, but the scallops didn’t have much of a sear on them and the fibrous greens didn’t seem to belong on the plate. We finished with the Pancit Bihon, a crowd-​pleasing dish of stir-​fried noodles cooked with pork, sausage, bean sprouts, and carrots. It wasn’t bad, but the flavor was pretty one-​dimensional and the pork slices fell on the drier end of the spectrum.
As a whole, I’d say I left Kuma Inn pretty disappointed. I’ve had more memorable Filipino elsewhere in Manhattan (and Jersey!) that doesn’t hold back on delivering the eclectic and bold flavors of the region. I suppose what Kuma Inn has as its forte, however, is a nicer-​than-​average ambiance and a dining set-​up ideal for a prolonged meal. If that should factor in your venue decision, Kuma Inn is certainly well worth the consideration, but for the slightly more adventurous, places like Jeepney, Maharlika, and Grill 21 will give you a better taste of what the Philippines truly has to offer.

Never go here!!!
I went for my friend’s birthday party and made the reservation at 6pm. The lady who hosted us told us to leave by 8 o’clock even before we were seated. she was very rude to tell us smaller party gets an only 1 hour and a half to dine for dinner. She told us we get 2 hours to eat since we have 5 people. I never felt this much uncomfortable.

Quite an overrated place. I discovered Kuma Inn on a «Hidden Gems in NYC» article. While the restaurant may be «hidden» — located on the second door behind an unassuming red door — the restaurant is far from a «gem.» Being Asian myself, and having tried authentic Filipino food in Woodside Queens, this overpriced, tapa-​styled aka entrée-​priced but super tiny entrée-​portions fail to impress me. None of the dishes tasted delicious, never mind special. There are way better fusion foods in NYC and better and cheaper options if one wishes to try authentic Filipino cuisine.
My friends and I went on a Monday night, so the restaurant was quite empty, with only 2 or 3 tables filled up. The ambience didn’t seem too special to me. Maybe the atmosphere is more appealing and we would’ve liked the food more if the place was more crowded, making the restaurant seem more desirable. It’s BYOB plus a $ 5 per bottle fee, so that’s always a plus.
We ordered the
Grilled salmon, market vegetables $ 13.50 — The salmon was overcooked, dry and flavorless. The market vegetables tasted better than the salmon itself.
Yellowfin tuna tartare with a rice noodle crisp $ 12.50 — The tuna wasn’t fresh. Please skip this dish, you’ll find better tuna tartare elsewhere.
Chicken wing adobo $ 11 — The peanut sauce and the chicken wings did not go together, but this plate was one of the better ones.
Sautéed market mushrooms with baby bamboo shoots $ 10 — This was actually pretty good. The mushrooms had good flavor.
Vegetarian Summer Rolls $ 7.5 — Summer roll wrapped with basically just carrots. A flavorless dish if it weren’t for the extra sauce.
Rice crepes pork buns — $ 10 Pretty solid but nothing to rave about
The service wasn’t spectacular, but our waitress was friendly. They were out of some dishes, and she politely apologized and suggested other options. I am glad I crossed this off my bucket list, but I don’t think I would be returning.

This place is BYOB for $ 15.
The tapas were all out of whack. It was either too much flavor or too little flavor. I don’t think my tastebuds can ever recover from this. I’ve never had Filipino food before but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t really anything like this. There was one «egg and sausage» dish that we ordered that I can literally whip up in my kitchen in five minutes. The scallops was slimey and chewy. Their crispy pork was something I can buy in any of the Flushing Chinese restaurants for better quality meat. The only thing that I did enjoy was the tuna tartare. There goes that one star.
Never have I ever felt so ripped off.
Note: This place is really dark so I just gave up on taking nice shots of the food.

I would give Kuma Inn a 3.5. the .5 is because it’s fun to have asian tapas! and it’s byobooze. :) see below for breakdown on my thoughts on the food which was A-​OK. and the location is pretty cool. i live in the hood and never even noticed it before… which makes it pretty cool.
arroz valenciana saffron rice, chicken, sausage, shrimp and mussels — one of our favorite dishes of the evening. though, i don’t think it was AMAZING. just really good.
yellowfin tuna tartare with a rice noodle crisp — very good
edamame — they season this with citrus and some other stuff which makes it SURPRISINGLY amazingly tasty.
pancit bihon stir fried noodles with pork, sausage, bean sprouts and carrots — decently good. other people at the table liked this
veggie dumplings — not worth trying
drunken spicy shrimp finished with sake, kalamansi and thai chilies — good but not standout by any means
grilled baby octopus with pickled bamboo shoots — sauce was nice but our octopus was too charred/​burnt
tita em’s chicken wing adobo, rice vinegar, garlic and soy — don’t know what this is supposed to taste like but it wasn’t DELICIOUS to my taste buds. it was only ok

OK so we totally missed the front door — it’s so hard to find! Talk about hole in the wall LOL.
First of all, it’s BYOB. How awesome is that??? It’s really dark in there but cozy and intimate. Perfect for our little triple date — girls enjoyed white wine while the guys enjoyed beer. It’s kind of like Asian tapas plates, so get a variety and share! The drunken spicy shrimp has definitely got a kick to it… that one was one of my favs. One of my other favs of the night was the tuna tartare — it was light and fresh and a welcomed change from the burgers and other heavy food we were eating on our trip to NYC (totally not anyone’s fault but mine, but I digress…)
Oh actually, I forgot about the Chinese sausage dish. That was a pretty good dish too. Well, all the dishes were good LOL. Sorry, it’s just hard for me to find food that I don’t like in NY hahaha.