I say half because that’s all I saw when I went to pick up my take-out order last week from Kuno.  It went from a food truck to a brick and mortar restaurant. For now there’s only take-out, joining the roster of well-intentioned dine-in restaurants that offer take-out only.

You walk into the bar and behind one wall is a fairly impressive kitchen designed and outfitted by the  former would-be tenant, a BBQ joint that never opened. The other half behind another wall is the dining room, which I didn’t see since given Covid restrictions you can’t walk past the front reception desk that holds hand sanitizer and a credit card payment reader.

The place looks like it will be very attractive, and I could imagine a lively bar crowd forming when we can all jam together unrestricted..  I’d go there in a second to dine at the bar where there are some 10-12 seats just waiting for bodies to fill the chairs.

Kuno is the latest in Asian cuisine restaurants to open in Portland, It’s about a half mile away from Jing Yan.   It (see review ) is more broadly Asian whereas Kuno is  decidedly Southeast Asian street-food.

Nasi Goreng

Of the three dishes that we took out, none were bad–good enough but hardly exceptional.  I especially took issue with the Nasi Goreng, Malaysian style fried rice with chicken and vegetables topped with a fried egg.  Perhaps at a sit-down restaurant the  yolk would still be runny, to coat the ingredients with sauce and moistness.  Here the fried egg was solid yolk.  I think restaurants doing take out only should not attempt the fried egg ingredient, which won’t make it home all that well.

The fried chicken sandwich, however, did  travel well; it included French fries that were still crisp when we unpacked it  5 minutes later at home.  The chicken had the usual Asian slaw and chili mayonnaise. It was very good, crisp and moist within.

Fried chicken with fries

The Char Kway Teow was my favorite dish of the three.  Here was stir-fried rice noodles with shrimp, Chinese sausage (which you don’t see very often on menus here) bean sprouts, scrambled egg and chili.  The sausage added some nice sweetness and texture to the dish.

Char Kway Teow

If I have any complaint the flavors needed more zip.  The food is not spicy, and there are many other dishes shown on the online take-out menu that looked quite appetizing.  The restaurant is located along an grubby strip of Cumberland Avenue just north of  Franklin Arterial intersection. It’s a streetscape that’s kind of creepy after dark, but you can park right in front of the restaurant and walk right in, though be careful of the icy sidewalk, which might be cleared by the time you read this.

Kuno, 166 Cumberland Ave., Portland, ME https://www.instagram.com/kunomaine 207-747-5090; online ordering  https://order.online/store/Kuno-865267/en-US/?hideModal=true&pickup=true

Rating: 3 stars with great potential

$$$: Very moderate

Parking: On street but there’s an adjacent empty lot, which  would presumably offer parking.