A quick heads-up before heading to the review: we are a group of Asian girls on a group trip to Calgary-Banff-Jasper during Victoria Day in May, so our taste is a bit subjective :)
1. Seems like Kumama is just a new restaurant in Jasper, as I couldn't find it in any top food recs/TikTok videos/reviews/Reddit. We just found it randomly on Google Maps, but surprisingly, the quality turned out to WOW us. Personally, Kumama is the best one we've tried in our whole trip (even beating Ten Foot Henry, Anh Tu's Kitchen, Arashi Ramen, and The Raven Bistro!). It's about 10 mins driving from the town (free parking), so the price is more reasonable than ones in the town area. We were hyped about the menu online with tuna, bison pasta, elk tartare, etc., but unfortunately, those popular dishes are quite seasonal & unavailable when we visited.
2. The menu itself is pretty short & simple (which is an appreciated point to individuals rarely having fine-dining or eating out like me lol), but the quality made up for it. We can see the fusion in the menu: both Western and Eastern influences, which we haven't seen in any restaurants. The combination sounds strange, but it worked haha. We ordered the cauliflower (with Korean gochujang), campanella, fried chicken, pork belly (like jok bam in Thai), and beef short ribs (no alcohol as we were driving after). Tbh, everything was from good to WOW :))) while the price ranges from 15-35 CAD.
3. What really made the experience even perfect was the absolutely excellent customer service. EVERY staff member was helpful, smiley, nice, warm-hearted, super kind and welcoming. They proactively helped us walk through the menu (maybe as we looked a bit lost lmao). Big thanks to the manager James, shoutout to Beth and the adorable guy from Mississauga as well! *wink* Y'all made us feel so welcome!!! I suggested them to promote more on TikTok as they deserve more recognition!
4. The atmosphere was so cozy with yellow lighting, like a small pub with little chit-chat here and there (but not noisy/bothered), definitely suitable for a small gathering.
5. Kumama has a takeaway food section with a wide range of local food: snacks, sandwiches, drinks, chips, jams, etc. We bought a few for breakfast the next morning as we would leave the town early, didn't expect much, but the food, again, amazed us. One of the best sandwiches & apple chips in Canada, I could say :))) (note: not paid for this review lol)
The overall experience is really amazing, as one of my friends said, 'u just receive this type of customer service/attitude in the expensive fine-dining restaurants, or at least not this price range'.
Q Z (艾瑞丝)
Try the Benny and breakfast sandwich. The ingredient Is sooo fresh. The Benny used Danish pastry as the base, and eggs are cooked perfectly with fluidity. Love this restaurant, will come back for more)
Monika Lê
My family and I dined here for both brunch and dinner - we were all surprised at how absolutely delicious our meals were, something we weren't expecting from a restaurant attached to the lodg
A quick heads-up before heading to the review: we are a group of Asian girls on a group trip to Calgary-Banff-Jasper during Victoria Day in May, so our taste is a bit subjective :) 1. Seems like Kumama is just a new restaurant in Jasper, as I couldn't find it in any top food recs/TikTok videos/reviews/Reddit. We just found it randomly on Google Maps, but surprisingly, the quality turned out to WOW us. Personally, Kumama is the best one we've tried in our whole trip (even beating Ten Foot Henry, Anh Tu's Kitchen, Arashi Ramen, and The Raven Bistro!). It's about 10 mins driving from the town (free parking), so the price is more reasonable than ones in the town area. We were hyped about the menu online with tuna, bison pasta, elk tartare, etc., but unfortunately, those popular dishes are quite seasonal & unavailable when we visited. 2. The menu itself is pretty short & simple (which is an appreciated point to individuals rarely having fine-dining or eating out like me lol), but the quality made up for it. We can see the fusion in the menu: both Western and Eastern influences, which we haven't seen in any restaurants. The combination sounds strange, but it worked haha. We ordered the cauliflower (with Korean gochujang), campanella, fried chicken, pork belly (like jok bam in Thai), and beef short ribs (no alcohol as we were driving after). Tbh, everything was from good to WOW :))) while the price ranges from 15-35 CAD. 3. What really made the experience even perfect was the absolutely excellent customer service. EVERY staff member was helpful, smiley, nice, warm-hearted, super kind and welcoming. They proactively helped us walk through the menu (maybe as we looked a bit lost lmao). Big thanks to the manager James, shoutout to Beth and the adorable guy from Mississauga as well! *wink* Y'all made us feel so welcome!!! I suggested them to promote more on TikTok as they deserve more recognition! 4. The atmosphere was so cozy with yellow lighting, like a small pub with little chit-chat here and there (but not noisy/bothered), definitely suitable for a small gathering. 5. Kumama has a takeaway food section with a wide range of local food: snacks, sandwiches, drinks, chips, jams, etc. We bought a few for breakfast the next morning as we would leave the town early, didn't expect much, but the food, again, amazed us. One of the best sandwiches & apple chips in Canada, I could say :))) (note: not paid for this review lol) The overall experience is really amazing, as one of my friends said, 'u just receive this type of customer service/attitude in the expensive fine-dining restaurants, or at least not this price range'.