UMAMI BURGER

Umami Burger is a much hyped burger joint with several locations around LA. After a failed attempt to go to Santa Monica Umami Burger with a group of 8, we decided to take a smaller part of 4 to the new location in the Valley. So, we arrived at 6:30 and got awesome street parking on Ventura Blvd. Others might not be so lucky, but it works for now. After putting in our name, we were told that the wait would be approx. 30 ish minutes. My clever friend pointed out that we should go next door to the Mexican cantina there, which I reccommend for anyone who is waiting for Umami Burger there before 7pm, as they have a great happy hour margarita deal, and they give you really tasty chips. The other place is called Mexicali Cocina Cantina. They also have some sort of Monday deal which I think I might go back and try.

So finally, we get into Umami Burger. Problem #1: table situation. The chairs facing the booths are cute, they look like red king chairs, so the two men in the group felt like big men, all sitting in their throne chairs. However, for the ladies sitting on the benches, there was really no way to get up from the table besides making your friend next to you get up from her seat, if you were unlucky enough to sit next to the side of the table that was about 2.5 inches away from the neighbors' table. Problem.

So we order the Dirty Shirley cocktail. Like a shirley temple, but for adults. Bubble Up, Cherry Vodka. Okay, fairly good drink. Bubble Up is some sort of fake vintage soda, but just as bad for you as Seven Up, so I don't really know why they use it at Umami Burger other than the fact that it is probably more expensive. We order the Onion Rings, Sweet Potato Fries, and twice fried potatoes. For the main, I get the Umami Burger, portabella version. The best was the onion rings. They were really good, but I mean, they're deep fried onions! You have to really try to mess those up, so whatever there. Not the best I've had, ever. Sweet potato fries were a bust. They covered them in brown sugar. Made them way too sweet. There was about a quarter cup of brown sugar left in the dish after all the fries were gone. The twice fried potatoes looked bad but were actually good. But, there isn't really that much that was notable. The burger definitely has a different taste. Good. Solid burger but, I don't know. No one's jaw was dropping to the floor here about how AWESOME they were. I think the whole business is overhyped.