Review Kuma Noodle Japan - Victoria

Good food, good service. The Miso soup ramen was funnily saltier than the salt/shio ramen. Could use more warm lighting in the front corner to spruce up the experience and atmosphere.

Really great Japanese restaurant. I prefer their rice don plates than ramen. I really love Curry Pork Rice, can’t found it on the Manu outside but they do offer it. Service are great. The lady served me are really nice and helpful. Waiting time for food is a little bit long but for the quality of food is acceptable. Parking is convenient. There is an underground parking which always have spaces.

Mouth watering. Pork was scrumptious. Delicious. Juicy. My belly is full and content. 10/10 ramens would ramen again

Kuma is great. Amazing broth, friendly staff (though a bit overworked at times) and generally a great experience. I wish they'd offer Onsen Tamago as an option in addition to their soy marinated eggs. That would take it over the top. I'd literally buy them a sous vide machine if they'd offer it. It would take their ramen over the top. I highly recommend dine-in vs take-out. They will offer the ramen noodles separate but every experience I've had with take-out/delivery ramen as been sub par (at every ramen restaurent I've tried so far). Even if it's cook the noodles yourself, it's just not the same. Dine-in, get the whole experience. See the dragon ball z drawings by kids. Keep this place alive, it's a gem.

I know a ramen place legit if there is a cauldron constantly boiling behind the scene. They had one. However, don't order karaage since mine came out very dry. Other than that, everything is great, even better than some places back in Tokyo.

I only went here twice when I lived in Victoria. I had the beef don the first time and ramen the second time. Both were good. My friend has said that this was the best ramen he's ever had, so make of that what you will lol I wish I could have come here more often, but whenever I tried to stop by they were always closed by coincidence, unfortunately. Hopefully I'll get to eat here again, one day.

Delicious! I had the Miso Noodle Soup and my partner the Beef Egg Don. They were both exactly what we wanted tonight. We both loved our dishes. Service was friendly and prompt, the restaurant was cozy. Definitely going back again.

First time going there today I ordered Miso Ramen and it was very good Would recommend :) Btw, the menu link is not working and photos on google maps is outdated

Very nice food, so delicious, I tried my first Ramen there. The music is so nice and gives a Japan vibe ^^

I seriously love this place and go whenever I can. I always get the bbq miso and fried rice. The miso broth is out of this world, so rich and delicious. The fried rice tastes just the way my mom makes it so maybe that's why I like it! It's a really down to earth place so if you're looking for fancy date night this isn't the place, but I'd take Kuma over Bao or Ghost Ramen and yes even Ramen Arashi literally every time.

This restaurant is like stepping though a door to Japan. Service was great, fast friendly staff. The food was amazing. Miso BBQ was wonderful.

It's good, not great for what you pay. <br/>The bowls are a decent size but paying $1.50 for a spoon full of canned corn or any of the other a'la carte toppings is a bit much...<br/><br/>A $10 bowl can quickly turn into a $20 meal if you want more than broth, noodles and the base topping(s)

Definitely love the garlic ramen. If you like garlic and scaring away people with garlic breath it's a must have. I can still taste it days after.  Taking .5 off because they don't have any tonkotsu ramen :(

It reminded me of the small authentic noodle resturaunts in Vancouver. Small steamy space. I like it.<br/>I can't pronounce the menu items names so ordered by picture.<br/>I wasn't in the mood for noodles and had a rice lunch dish with beef and a fried egg.<br/>Really good. Fresh ingredients and a healthy meal.<br/>I will return and try a noodle dish.<br/><br/>Solid value.<br/>

Ive been going to this place for a year or so, and quite frequently as I live in the area. Food is great, my favorites are the steak don and corn ramen. The management and service seems to be getting worse as this place catches popularity. I've spent twenty minutes in line waiting to pay. Every time I've gone recently it just seems to have slowed down to a crawl, I really wish they would add a server or improve their payment process. Despite this, it is probably the best ramen place on the island, and I continue to endure the wait on behalf of the food.

Best ramen on the island by far! The broth is soo flavourful and the noodles are perfect. I literally could eat this everyday. Only tiny complaint is the egg is generally overcooked. Still amazing.

My favourite ramen place. Though there isn't many ramen places on the island, this one captures the Japanese flavour that I miss in Canada. Even my mother (who is native Japanese) loves this place. It's rather small but if you can get in you're in for a good meal.<br/><br/>Update:<br/>Management has changed and the last time I was served the noodles were undercooked and lumpy.

The ramen here is in huge portions - you really get what your money is worth! I often order the salt flavored corn ramen. The noodles are wonderful and the corn adds a nice texture. The broth is definitely very salty, but I enjoy it.

2nd visit today, just as yummy as the first. Ordered soya broth with noodles & kimchi. Delicious! Great size, tender noodles that don't fall apart (my peeve). Would go back any time. Kid loved it too :)

Their don buri dishes are good. I wish they would put more meat in them. Their ramen dishes re delicious although I found them a bit salty for my taste. But people love coming here and it's always packed so give it a try

This was my favorite meal within a 3 day visit to Victoria. It's about 15 mins away from downtown. There are a few comments on here about the food being too salty... and I can confirm that to be the case. I loved the way it tasted, but I know I have an above average salt preference. <br/><br/>Not sure if that can be fixed by asking the waiters to add more hot water?? If I ever visit Victoria again I'll be back!

One of the best ramen places in the city for sure! The prices are great and service is always good. If you like kimchi the miso ramen with kimchi is the best soup on the menu!

I've been spoiled by the abundance of Ramen in the lower mainland.... Visiting the MIL (mother in law) this is the only place on the island that serves legit Ramen.<br/><br/>Tastes mediocre, way too salty if you ask me. I witnessed the waitress bring back untouched glasses of water from another table and poured it back into her serving pitcher.....uh, a whole new level of extreme cheapskates not to mention how unhygienic. I didn't touch my water yet and after witnessing that I don't even want to know what may possibly go in the broth. My MIL had the kimchi fried rice.....why is there kimchi fried rice at a Ramen place I am so puzzled. Regardless, the kimchi fried rice was mediocre...its like what I make at home for my husband when there's nothing left in the fridge except for eggs and kimchi. Nothing to rave about. Nothing worth coming back.

Too salty but still good. We tried the salt ramen and miso ramen a few months ago. Both were way too salty, but I added water and still managed to enjoy it. The miso is a darker miso than if you ordered miso soup somewhere else. I would give them another chance.

Not open. Today was Canada Day, I checked their website and they said that they were open. But when I got there they were not open. They should update their site saying that they are not going to be open on Canada Day.

Good noodle.. I dined here alone a few weeks ago and was very impressed. I ordered the kimchi ramen and the only thing I could complain about was how long I waited. Even with the wait (probably twenty minutes) I was very satisfied and will be returning whenever I am in the neighbourhood. The broth was flavourful and the bowl was filling. I did not find it too salty, then again I am a chef who prefers when my food comes to me fully seasoned, as opposed to adding salt at the table. A new favourite of mine 8/10!

Improving!. I guess this place has been improving despite the negative reviews that was spreading around the Japanese community in Victoria. Their ramen is better than before. <br/><br/>In the kitchen, there seem to be two guys who make fried rice. When the old guy makes it, it's too peppery, and when the younger guy makes it, it's good.<br/><br/>They are pretty fast at serving, and quality is pretty decent for the price. I come back here regularly.

Quite disappointing. I was disappointed by this restaurant. I ate there for the third or the fourth time, but ended up in failure. <br/><br/>Their ramen is substandard. Japan does way better than that. <br/>Their soup is flavourless, and, as others pointed out, salty. <br/><br/>The picture of Chicken & Egg- don probably tells a lot about their presentation of food, and that they are forgetting about some important things in their business. <br/><br/>I have many more things to say but will refrain from writing it on here. <br/><br/>You have to see the truth yourself...because it could be just me.

Excellent ramen but way too salty. We used to eat here every week when we lived across the street. The noodles are great and the ramen flavourful, but if you're prone to hyper-tension, you might want to ask them to water the broth down. I love salt, but the soup here is too salty. They need to tone it down a bit. It's excellent otherwise!

Service is going down. I've been here about 6 times. Tasty food - but due to being over seasoned.<br/>My most recent visit, the pop was warm, they did not have ice, the cashier didn't really know what was going on, miso soup was super salty, meat in the ramen was still cold and the cost is fairly high for what you get.<br/>Service and food quality continues to go down. I will not be dining here again. I hope the service improves since we don't have any other Raman noodle shops in town.

Loved it!. I went there for the first time today and it was fantastic! I spent time travelling in Japan, and this is the first time I had ramen that tasted like real ramen since I came back! It was a delight and I'll be coming back asap. Plus, it's so reasonably priced!

And I hope you like Ramen too. So great to finally have a dedicated Ramen place in Victoria and even better that it's actually delicious. Living downtown I rarely ever find myself in the Shelbourne/Cedar Hill area and have been meaning to go to Kuma for so long. Now that I finally have I feel like that's a couple years I wasted and I will make that trip any day of the week! After eating at Kintaro in Vancouver so many times my bar has been set very high, and although Kuma is not on Kintaro's level, it's certainly in the same hemisphere and well worth going out of your way for. The broth and noodles are both excellent and I like to order the #4 with 'extra bbq' in it. Also as an added bonus they have possibly the best Gyoza I've had in all of Victoria and their Kimchi was no slouch either. Ramen (like Pho) is just one of those ultimate comfort dishes that really soothes the soul and makes you feel like you can take on the world. Get down to Kuma immediately and slurp away!

Love it!. Can't find a better bowl of soup noodles in town!

Awesome! How did we not know about this place sooner. It was great. Good service fast and great food. Can't wait to be back

This place is the real deal. As far as dollar for dollar goes, there are not a lot of restaurants in Victoria that can compete with Kuma. For the flavours and portions that you get the price is pretty amazing. The noodles are great, but don't be afraid to try the Steak Don which is amazing.

"Soul Food" is how I would best describe Kuma Noodle. Quick, tasty, souk heartening soup. I've been in a few times now and it's always consistent. The last time I went, I'd had a really long and terrible work day and felt down in the dumps. The warm, salty Miso broth and perfectly cooked noodles put a smile on my face. The fried rice is excellent too. I almost don't want to tell anyone about this place so I can keep it to myself but people need to know what real ramen is about.

The smal place is the best place. The rice menu is fabulous.

Filling and Tasteful. As a white male, I am pretty inexperienced when it comes to authentic Asian dining. My average noodles consist of Mr. Noodles but as I have gotten older, the appeal of boiling instant noodles and microwaving food has disappeared. The service was polite, with them bringing a menu to our table and starting us off with drinks. Impressive for a rather small-scale restaraunt that they actually serve you personally. The food took a little while, but it was worth the wait. I ordered the Egg & Chicken Don and put a fair bit of pepper on it and wow, it was fantastic. I've found with a lot of asian dishes that call for egg, it's often just tasted like egg on-top and was unappealing. However, the egg mixed fantastically and was delicious. The chicken was perfect and the rice was just sticky enough to be usable with chop sticks. By the end, I was almost full but wish I had more to eat because it was delicious. The Miso Soup on the side was a bit much for my taste, but my friends who enjoy Miso Soup seemed to like it. I feel very satisfied with the food at Kuma Noodle, it's as affordable as Young Young's Tea House, but the food is much better. I say, stick to Bubble Tea at Young Young's, but go to Kuma's if you want some real asian dining on a budget. For under $10, you can get a drink and a filling meal which is an excellent deal. I wouldn't compare this to the likes of high-end asian restaraunts like Don Mei's for example, but as a casual asian diner, it is absolutely fantastic and I would love to go there again.

When I told the girl at the front I was vegetarian she recommended the curry rice. Three bites in I realized it had meat in it! The chef made me something else but I will not be going back. Good thing it wasn't an allergy, can't see them lasting long with that kind of lax service.

Not the worst miso ramen I've had. Broth was much too salty, and didn't have that rich, deep flavor profile you get from the real ramen masters in Japan. The service at Kuma was excruciatingly slow, despite the presence of just a couple of customers. We waited a good 30 mins for our noodles, which in Japan would be cause for owner to commit seppuku. It was especially annoying that take-out orders placed well after our order were prepped and delivered before ours. Victoria has no dedicated ramen place downtown so Kuma is better than nothing and I can see why some locals might think this an exotic Japanese noodle experience. Trust me, it ain't.

Just like a real shokudou in Japan. What is a shokudou, you ask? Shokudou literally means "lunchroom". It's the side of the road diner where you stop for lunch. Like that side of the road diner, the food quality isn't great and the waitress leaves something to be desired (the young make up one... she acts like she doesn't want to be there). However, the value is pretty good. You get authentic, shokudo quality food at a decent price and quick. This isn't a bad review at all. The guys cooking the noodles are very polite (in Japanese and English). At the factory I worked at, the shokudo wasn't great but I ate there every day!

Good ramen priced right. I've hit this place a number of times and have not been disappointed once. I usually get the basic soya ramen but have tried most of their menu. My only criticism is the kimchi sidedish, not worth the money and I make better kimchi! I'd love to see them do a really rich tonkotsu ramen one of these days. I like the efficiency of ordering at the front counter and then having the dishes delivered to your table. If they got a robata grill and some cheap beer I wouldn't complain either!

Decent and fairly authentic Japanese fare. The noodles are in their ramen are chewy and don't taste like the instant stuff that some ramen restaurants use. <br/>All of the three soup types can be a bit salty on some days but taste authentic enough and yet again, not like it came from a package of instant ramen.<br/><br/>There is a little container of what tastes like spicy miso found at the tables that is wonderful if one enjoys spicy food. Give it a try if you have the chance.<br/><br/>The gyozas aren't bad, taste a bit like they are frozen, premade gyozas though.<br/><br/>However, I personally feel the best dishes that they have <br/>are the fried rice (Which can be a bit sticky sometimes, a hit and miss I suppose) as well as the katsudon/BBQ-don. <br/><br/>The fried pork chops in the katsudon that they make is delicious along with the chashu found on the top of the ramen and in the BBQ-don. However, the portions of meat has been decreasing as time goes on.

Okay. Well, it was cheap lunch, but it was just okay. I tend to like my food generously seasoned, but I found the broth quite salty and the pork extremely salty. Husband had the katsu don and had similar feelings.

Great Little Gem in Saanich!. I tried Kuma for the first time a few days ago, and loved it. I ordered the soya ramen and gyozas. The ramen tastes very authentic with a flavourful broth and lots of noodles. There were slices of bbq pork, half of a boiled egg, and bean sprouts. Very tasty, will definitely be back again. The gyozas were cooked perfectly with a crispy outside, and soft, juicy inside. Just perfect! Another great restaurant to add to the fast-growing list of great Asian restaurants in Saanich, along with Tropical Island and Pho-Ever.

The food was decent and soup base a bit salty. The prices DO include tax, although it says 'tax included' on the menu, maybe it has changed since then.

Not bad for being the only ramen place in town. But also not totally awesome. However the ramen is cheap ($7.25 for a big bowl) and comes with standard toppings. After living in Vancouver and Japan, I'm picky about ramen and I'd give this place a B- . the noodles were really chewy and it was a bit spicy - I think they might have added some togarashii to the broth, which I've never seen before. The egg was completely hard boiled which I also haven't seen but it was fine. The people who work there are actually Japanese so service was quick and attentive. I'll go again next time I'm in town but I'd sure like to see someone here give a ramenya a try downtown.

Nice alternative in the area. In the past few years, the UVIC-Gordon Head area was dominated by the Young Young tea house, which I and most people think it is very poor. Now that many residents or UVIC students can hang out at the ramen shop instead of Young Young. Also, a traditional authentic ramen shop is new to Victoria, which makes it very attractive. Although the soup base, and preparation methods and efficiency still need some work, it is getting there after three months of operating. In reference to grumpyspoon, i totally agree with him that it is very difficult to prepare vegetarian ramen. According to Kintaro ramen in Vancouver (without a doubt the best in BC), it stated that no alternative for vegetarian as the soup base is made out of pork meat and bone in order to produce the great taste of the soup base. So even though there is a vegetarian ramen at Kuma, the soup that the ramen chef put on does have trace of animal fats in it. This can only be avoid unless there is another soup base that is made entirely with vegetable. However, i do find it hard to beleive that the "vegetarian" ramen has chicken in it, though i never tried vegetable ramen at kuma. Nevertheless, this place offers decent ramen noodle in a traditional japanese ramen shop setting.

Mouth-Watering Ramen. Kuma Noodle Japan. The name leaves something to be desired, I have to admit. Perhaps simply shortening it to "Kuma" would work. <br/><br/>The not-so-eloquent name, coupled with a hidden location might make this restaurants early days rockier than need be. However, don't let these things deceive you. <br/><br/>Kuma is plain and simple a fantastic Ramen Bar a la Japan. The atmosphere is sparse, almost Spartan. A long low bar walls in the visible kitchen, a few tables and booths dot the remainder of the floor. A strange Japanese-style Slot Machine stands at the entrance, one of the few decorations in the place. An order counter, marked with the adorably over-zealous statement "Please Order Here!!" stands center stage. <br/><br/>The menu is simple, and easy to read with both English and Japanese text for each item. Displayed prices include tax. A Kuma there is not neverminds about how much you are going to pay - a welcome relief from the guestimation of most establishments. The food is relatively cheap, from seven to ten dollars, but the taste experience provided is anything but.<br/><br/>Simply put: Fantastic. A soup, a comfort food, a filling meal, a flavour explosion - take your pick, they all fit the description.<br/><br/>Not only is Kuma, to the best of my knowledge, the sole Ramen Bar in Victoria, but it is also accurate to its models in Japan in style, price and delicosity. And yes, I did just make up a new word to describe the wonderful taste house within that ceramic bowl of ramen.<br/><br/>Kuma is truly delicious and extraordinarily worthwhile experience. Go soon. Go often. Tell your friends. You'll probably see me there.

This meal is one that does not need any further tampering with. The noodles were succulently delicate, tasting like they're home made. And the sesame oil was wonderfully scented like in how an import product should be. The way it mixed with the broth teased my tastebuds, I did not leave a drop behind. Had there have been any, even in James bowl, it'd be gone!

The only dedicated ramen restaurant that we know of on Vancouver Island is Kuma Noodle Japan. Located on Cedar Hill Cross Road in Victoria’s Gordon Head neighborhood, Kuma is situated in the same strip mall as popular Brannigans Restaurant. It’s a small shop with only a few tables so placing a take-out order is often a wise choice. Kuma’s menu is limited to four types of ramen topped with barbecue pork (Soya, Salt, Miso, and BBQ) and three types of Vegetable ramen with a choice of veggies, corn or kimchi. Rice bowls, pork cutlets (tonkatsu), and curries are also offered alongside side dishes such as gyoza and fried rice. Sure, it’s no Benkei or Santouka , but if you’re craving ramen in Victoria, then Kuma just might give you the fix you’re looking for. Kuma Noodle Japan #215-1551 Cedar Hill Cross Road, Victoria, BC (250) 590-3398