Niji - Cumberland, British Columbia

Anna P.

Loved it! We will definitely be back next time we're in Cumberland.

The food was really delicious. We had the special wings which were super crispy and flavorful. I had the chicken soup. It was a very rich broth with the most beautiful (bright pink!) soft poached pickled egg, lemongrass chicken, and lots of veggies. There was clearly a lot of care and thought put into the dish. The little enoki mushrooms seemed to have been marinated before going into the soup as they had a ton of flavor. The presentation of all the dishes was very special as well.

The service also couldn't have been better. We felt so comfortable right away. Our server was so friendly and attentive and made sure we had everything we could possibly need.

Overall this is a lovely little restaurant - great addition to Cumberland's little downtown! Added bonus that it's open Mondays when the whole town seems to shut down!

Logan A.

We had a wonderful meal here! The restaurant is thoughtfully decorated and has great ambiance. The server made us feel very comfortable and was attentive and well-humoured. The dishes were carefully and beautifully presented, and the food was fresh and delicious. We appreciated the tight, creative, and good-value menu. They had some awesome kombucha selections too. We can’t wait to return to Niji, and wish them all the best in business!

Dean R.

First off, I’m not a big soup person. However was with people that were. We ordered a few different items, some soup and non-soup. Found the quality to be decent enough and the flavours were ok, but nothing really wowed us there. Service was alright, but certainly not caliber of nearby food spots.

Elise

Our group thoroughly enjoyed drinks and dinner at Niji. The cocktails were inventive and interesting. The menu had so many choices and we had trouble narrowing down our order. Every item was really delicious and very thoughtful in both presentation and layering. The bibim guksu was such a creative dish and I enjoyed every single bite.

Shawn W.

My girlfriend and I dined at Niji tonight. It took 30 minutes to get our starter—six chicken wings—and about an hour to receive our two bowls of noodles. However, since it’s a newly opened restaurant on a Friday night, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. The service was reasonably good.

We ordered the Tan Tan Noodle Soup, Thai Chicken Soup, and chicken wings with spicy Korean sauce as our starter.

The chicken wings were good, with a flavorful sauce that wasn’t too spicy. Both noodle dishes were presented well. The broth for the Tan Tan Noodle was pretty tasty, but the Thai Chicken Soup was overly sweet, with the coconut flavor dominating everything else.

The biggest disappointment was the noodles. Despite using different types of noodles for the two bowls, both were overcooked and mushy, falling apart when picked up with chopsticks. I ended up eating mine with a spoon. For an Asian restaurant that specializes in noodle dishes, this is a major issue. Haiya!

I might come back to try the Korean cold noodles and the Soba, hoping they’ll be better.

S. C.

Our party of four was warmly greeted by the manager and seated promptly upon arrival. Unfortunately, that’s where the prompt service ended. Once our drinks arrived, we ordered appies and our main dishes, but didn’t get either until the people around us (who were seated well after us) received their meals. There was obviously a significant delay putting our orders into the kitchen and/or *in* the kitchen but there was no communication with us regarding the delay. It would have been a nice gesture to offer complimentary drinks and/or a small appie to tide us over but it wasn’t until someone in my party flagged down our server that she told us she didn’t know why our food was taking so long.
Once the food DID arrive, it was awesome (I had the Tan Tan Noodles and they were fantastic!); it was just unfortunate we had to wait so long and the delay wasn’t properly addressed.

Lincoln Z. S.

It’s not easy to create a new restaurant, let alone to operate one. I have lots of respect for people like the Niji folks, who are doing that and trying something new in a small town. Fortunately, Cumberland attracts lots of outsiders who want to eat at attractive and interesting restaurants.

Niji definitely needs some tweaks, however. For one thing, one is assaulted by the noise of the room as soon as one sits down. It is difficult to have a dinner conversation under such circumstances, and Niji hasn’t adequately addressed its small space by softening the acoustics.

I have mixed reviews of the food. The dumplings we tried, which were a special that night, were excellent. The “Korean” wings, however, were smothered in sauce, and the sauce did not taste homemade. It tasted like it was out of a jar.

I agree with other comments regarding the mushy noodles in the soups, which are the restaurant’s main feature dishes. Since the restaurant relies so heavily on these soups as its main courses, the noodles really should stand out. They don’t. But the taste of the soup we tried was good, and with a few changes, it could really become an outstanding meal.

The house cocktails were not great, tastewise. They are anything but subtle and they need attention. Getting water at the table is also difficult, and this is made harder because the water bottles Niji uses are too small, so one has to ask for more water repeatedly. In a busy restaurant, this just makes everything more complicated.

Niji is still tweaking its formula, I’m sure, and even though I didn’t love the experience of eating there, I do see a lot of potential for the restaurant to become a really great place to dine.

Andrew W.

Great spot for Asian inspired flavours. Tried the peanut noodle bowl, soy ginger wings, cucumber salad, lettuce wraps and beef dumplings. Everything was super flavourful and I would go back for the wings alone. Service was good too, friendly and efficient.