Umami Burger-Hollywood4655 Hollywood Blvd
LA, CA
323-669-3922
Umami Burger is another restaurant in the gourmet burger catergory, that started with Father's Office. Umami is billed as the sixth sense. Umami opened a location on La Brea but I still haven't been there. But, today I found out they opened a location in the Hollywood area with a $5 happy hour burger called the Smash burger. So I braved the windy weather and made it their new location, which used to be a Cobras and Matadors. Before I review the food at Umami Burger, I wanted to tell readers of The New Diner about something I saw while walking to Umami Burger.
I saw two paparazzi scumbags, waiting outside a costume shop, about 2-3 stores from Umami. They had their camera ready and once that celebrity came out of the store, they were clicking away. What is really terrible was that this celebrity took a child shopping for a Halloween costume and these scumbag paparazzi are bothering them!! Can't these scumbags leave the kid alone? Yeah, I get it that these celebrities are out in public but that doesn't mean they have to hound this celebrity. I didn't know who this celebrity was, until I asked one of the scumbags. I also didn't mention who he or she might be because I don't want to contribute to the paparazzi scumbags.
So I got the Smash burger, $5, that comes with pickles, charred onions and house-made American cheese. I was shocked at how juicy the burger was. There was no need for any other condiments. The American cheese was melted perfectly into each bite. The burger, which was cooked about medium, is a decent sized burger, for $5 is a a steal. But the Smash burger is a no deletion or addition burger. What is on there is what you get.
Since I was at Umami, I had to get the Umami burger, $9 and thin fries, $3.50. The Umami burger is a beef patty topped with Parmesan, roasted tomato (cooking veggies unlocks the glutamate), shiitake mushrooms and onion. But it was too rare for me. I felt sick after eating this. The burger was cooked charred, burnt on the outside and rare on the inside. The toppings was a weird combination of flavors that just didn't work well together.
The thin fries were hot, crispy but very salty. They put too much salt on the fries. Next time I order the fries, I will ask for no salt.
Service at the bar is good. The bartender was nice and helpful.
I would go back to Umami burger for the smash burger but I wouldn't go back for the burgers on their regular menu. If the Umami burger is the signature burger, they missed it. They smash burger is it!!
