This is my 500th review and I wish I could say it was a winner. Unfortunately, all I can about Umami Burger is this: Overhyped. The level of excitement for this L.A. based burger chain has been totally out of control - with lines of upwards of 3 hours when it first opened. Luckily, the hype has died down because when Janet and I went it was practically empty. I actually didn't realize that it was a sit down restaurant with waitstaff. The burgers here have been compared to Shake Shack and In and Out, so I thought it was a fast food joint so I was surprised to find a host and waiter when I walked in. Janet had ordered the truffle fries while she was waiting for me, so I dove right in since I was starving. The fries are the skinny salty kind and covered in a creamy truffle glaze and served with 4 different dipping sauces: ketchup, creamy garlic, spicy aioli and some other sauce that I can't remember. The fries were nice and crunchy without being overly dried out. So it was a decent start to the meal. The menu obviously is all burger based, but they do have a good variety of different types of burgers from beef burgers, to turkey burgers, to to veggie burgers, to an ahi tuna burger. I do love myself a good tuna burger but I felt like I couldn't come here and not order a beef burger. So Janet and I split the truffle burger and the manly burger and an order of the smash potatoes. What I didn't realize until later was that they had a secret menu here (a la In and Out) and I wish I had asked about it!
The burgers came out pretty quickly and I wasn't super impressed with the size and presentation of it. It was kind of a small, flattish burger with a pretty heft bun. The bun is quite soft (there is a trademark U burned on the top of it) and tasted great but there was a bit too much bun to actual meat for me. The truffle burger was essentially the same truffle cream from the fries on top of a burger. It was juicy but it was too rich and salty and just seemed like not hearty enough of a burger. Meanwhile, I thought the manly burger would resolve that issue since it had onion rings and bits of bacon lardon in it. It was definitely also a rich burger, but again, I wasn't overly impressed by it. The onion rings were small and didn't seem that crispy and it just didn't have that manly feel to it...more like a pre-pubescent teenager. I didn't really care too much for the smashed potatoes either, which were exactly how it sounded - small potatoes that have beens smashed flat and served with more spicy garlic dressing. The burgers were super messy and the bun could have been a bit stronger to hold in the juices and other mess that resulted from eating the burger. With all the carbs and truffles I ate, I was so full yet somehow managed to finish off the night with a piece of key lime pie ($8) for dessert. It tasted just like Steve's Key Lime pie from Red Hook and honestly it was probably the best thing I ate there all night.
The service was a bit slow with them forgetting my water and something else a few times, but they were nice about it and apologized when they realized they forgot it. This isn't to say that I hated it there, it's just that it was so overhyped that I couldn't really enjoy myself. Maybe it's an East Coast vs. West Coast thing but I still like Shake Shack better and if you want a seriously manly burger, the one I had at Distilled really took the cake. Total bill: $28/pp with tax and tip.
Photo Credit: Yelp
1 comment:
Jalapeño ranch!
Post a Comment