Monday, March 16, 2009

Umami Burger

We finally made it to Umami Burger! Charles and I have had our eye on this place before it opened as we are into burgers lately and there's a serious dearth of reasonably priced food options near us. We both got their signature Umami* burger ($8) and shared an order of fries ($2.50).


Umami Burger: beef patty, parmesan crisp, oven-roasted tomato and shiitake mushrooms (not the most revelatory photo, but the lighting was tough)


French fries with ketchup and house sauce (a mix of dijon and maybe aioli and ketchup?)

Verdict: the burgers were awesome, the fries were not. The burgers were juicy, full of flavor and addictively delicious. I believe I had read somewhere that the fries were lackluster and mushy, but forgot all about it when we ordered, whoops!

Drink wise, they don't have alcohol, but we did enjoy an orange Crush (Charles) and an Abita root beer (me). I hope this little burger spot flourishes because I am definitely adding it to our restaurant rotation!

Umami Burger
850 S. La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 931-3000

*In case you don't know the term "umami," it is a Japanese term for the fifth taste (the four others being sweet, sour, salty and bitter); this NPR article is more informative than anything I can say.

4 comments:

nakedsushi said...

That burger looks great. The bun on top is so huge!

But the fries?! Why do they look so weird? They look underdone and cut too thick.

Marie said...

Hi nakedsushi! The bun was big, but it all smushed together nicely with the patty and toppings. Yes, our fries were undercooked and were a bit of a mystery!

Anonymous said...

Hi Marie,

If I ever come to LA, I´m definitely going to get your take on the eats... everything looks amazing...especially that burger!

Marie said...

Hi Jessica! I came across your blog recently and look forward to keeping up with Boston eats through you. I've always wanted to live in Boston or thereabouts; as someone who has never lived really cold climates, New England holds a dreamy quality for me. Thanks for stopping by!