Umami Burger

So apparently when I say "tomorrow" I mean a week later! But, here is my review. Umami Burger is the hip, relatively new burger trend in L.A. They have 3 restaurants and a food truck that hangs out in the Santa Monica area. Basically, "umami" is the fifth taste after sweet, sour, salty, bitter. At least, it is according to the Japanese. Personally, I did not eat my burger and go, "Oh wow! Totally umami!" but it was good.

My friend and I went to the central location in Hollywood a week ago on a Sunday night. It's tucked into that center on Cahuenga that has the Urban Outfitters in it. We walked in and the girl said sit anywhere and the only table left was the huge cafeteria style table for 8, but still, she said sit anywhere so that's where we sat. Well, 10 min. passed and no one gave us menus. After a while a waiter came over and asked if we were alone and we said yes, but this was the only table available. Well, right then Mark Ruffalo (yes, that Mark Ruffalo) left his smaller table so we said we'd move there once it was cleared. It took them another 5 minutes to clear that table. Still had no menus by the way. The waiter just stared at us. Finally I asked the girl who we first talked to if we could have menus and she handed some to me and said, "Sorry, apparently I'm the only one working tonight." She was right. As the night went on she really was the only one doing anything. But she did soften to us and was really nice about explaining all the choices.
I ended up going with the Truffle Burger, protein style. Mary chose the Diablo Burger and Onion Rings. The onion rings come tempura fried and are delicious with the aioli they pair it with! They were a bit greasy for me, but still worth a try. My truffle burger was a sirloin burger with truffle cheese and truffle sauce. Oh My Gosh! I love truffle! It was amazing. I've actually dreamed of it since! I had a bite of Mary's burger and it lived up to it's spicy name. That sucker was HOT! Too hot for me actually. We also tried the two Cake Monkey Ding-Dongs they had that day-red velvet and peanut butter and chocolate-and while I'm glad we tried it, I probably wouldn't order either again. I'd rather get one of the ice cream sandwiches they have delivered from Milk.

Also, it's worth mentioning that they have these "meals" which depending on the combo are a burger, fries or onion rings, and beer or wine. And they were all well priced for what you got. All-in-all, while I didn't have a new taste experience, it was a good burger in a chill atmosphere and I would definitely recommend giving Umami a try!

Umami Burger- http://www.umamiburger.com/