Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Ted's Montana Grill? No thanks. I'm not sure if anyone from Montana eats at one of his places. (He's not the most popular guy in MT.)

I went last week, and whiule I was a skeptic beforehand, I'm now a believer. I think this is on the very short list for best burger in L.A (with the Kobe at Lucky Devil's being my other current favorite).

A couple of gripes:
1) As at Lucky Devil's (and Father's Office), the "pre-packaged" burgers get in the way. I frankly didn't want either the "Umami" burger OR the "SoCal" burger - but instead just a burger, medium rare, with cheese so as to be able to judge the burger on the taste of the base components, and not accessories. I felt compelled to order the SoCal burger, but next time I will request the butter lettuce, sauce, etc. to be left off. I don;t think they brought much to the table.

2) The fries, the fries, the fries. Maxcriden, your pictures indicate that at least for a little while they ventures away from the ultra-thick fries. I wish they had continued that experiment. I don't 4 or 5 "fries" that taste more like mashed potatoes with a crispy covering. This place really needs some version of traditional fries. Why is it such a problem? Not everything on the menu needs to be groundbreaking.

3) No wine and beer/corkage. I'm sorry, but the 5 dollar corkage needs to go if they're not going to have wine or beer available. If you're bringing a $40 bottle of wine to a steakhouse, which already has its own wine list, $5 corkage would seem like an excellent value, but this is a burger joint, and all I want is a glass or two of beer or wine. If I need to go across the streeet to buy a beer, I shouldn't have to pay an additional $5 to drink it. That's just ridiculous.

Great review but I disagree about the So Cal burger. My wife had the Umami and I thought my So Cal burger was way better after tasting hers. She liked mine better too. Killer onion rings, but not a fan of the house ketchup with anchovies. I think I'll sneak in some good old Heinz ketchup on my next visit!

Here are my totally amateurish pics from today's jaunt to Umami:

Umami Burger and Fries:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxcriden/3363682793/

Umami Burger, sans top bun:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxcriden/3363683063/

Mexican Coke and Abita Root Beer (both with real sugar, I think--yum!):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxcriden/3364503980/

Market Salad with Manchego (by request), Mandarin Oranges (that or baby tangerines, I don't recall which), and Chili-Chipotle Dressing:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxcriden/3363683091

Just arrived in LA for the first time in 3 years, and the first place I go? Umami Burger, just as any devoted Gambuto reader might. It was really superb.

I still say it's a regrettably named restaurant with a product that, while it may be very tasty, likely has little more umami than any other burger. It's like calling your restaurant "Glutamate Receptor-Pleasing Burger," "Delicious Burger," "Savory Burger," etc. The word "umami" is no more unique to their restaurant and burger than "sweet," "salty," "sour" or "bitter."

@pthom: Yeah, that was so incredibly confusing. "Words" are so hard to make out sometimes.
@serious1: People who draw analogies from "Dharma and Greg" episodes (yeah, I searched your commenting past, punk) really have no business commenting on the literary prowess of others.

Nice post, Damon.

I ended up coming in on Sunday, just before they ran out of hamburger meat (oh no!) Me and the partner ordered a blue cheese burger and their house specialty Umami Burger, with the intentions of sharing. He liked his so much, he refused to share though, which is a pretty high recommendation.

The bun was absolutely incredible, just a little sweet, soft, but with enough heft that it absorbed the juices without falling apart. And that was important, because that was the juiciest hamburger I'd ever had! A crispy, caramelized outside had a wonderful, medium well interior that just leaked meaty, perfectly seasoned juiciness. I thought I cooked good burgers at home, but now I have to go back to the drawing board: this place entirely redefined what a good hamburger is to me.

Really wanted a chocolate malt afterwards. :-) That would be just divine.

They just opened an 8 oz. Burger Bar here in South Beach. Hopefully it is a little better. Problem for them is that there is a great neighborhood dive bar called Dewey's a block away that makes a fantastic burger.

@pthom: The So Cal burger was good, but not as good as the Umami burger..?

@Lorenzo,

Umami is imamu backwards. Imamu is Swahili for "spiritual leader". That should clear it up for ya.

Ok, i gotta try this very very soon. I'm hearing good things about the onion rings too. Can't decide whether to go w/ the house burger or the Stilton. And how cool that the owner is on SE! Oh and someone please explain the kogi joke to themangiatoilgatto :)