Last month, I was invited to try Umami Burger‘s 9-Course Tasting Menu challenge! I gathered up three poker buddies and descended on Umami’s Hollywood location on a cloudy Saturday afternoon. Two and a half hours later, we had worked our way through 3 appetizers, 8 burgers, 3 full-sized cocktails, and 2 small pours each of real sugar soda, beer, and wine!
For me, the highlights of the tasting menu were the Manly Burger, the Hatch Burger, and, of course, the Cheesy Tots. The Truffle Burger, Ahi Tuna Burger, and Umami Burger were also good, but the Greenbird and Cali Burger kinda got lost in the mix. The Throwback Burger was disappointing, only because the twin patties were too well done–they’re supposed to be medium-well but were way past that. Also disappointing was the usually-great onion rings, which were very unevenly fried.
On the drink side, the small pours didn’t really allow us to get a good idea of the wines, and the sodas seemed a bit flat. I did enjoy the samples of Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout and Victory Golden Monkey, surprisingly the only two beers in the tasting. The winners, though, were the three full-sized cocktails: the Maple Bacon Old Fashioned, the Spicy Mezcalrita, and, my favorite, the Blackberry Swizzle.
I’ve eaten at Umami Burger many times before, and nothing on the food end really took me by surprise, except maybe their consistency at cooking all of their burgers perfectly medium-rare (except the Throwback). On the drink end, the cocktail program did surprised me, and I’ll definitely have to keep that in mind next time I go to my local Umami Burger.
Below are a few more burgers from the tasting menu. Check out my Instagram feed for the rest of the food and beverages!
Thanks again to Umami Burger for the invite!
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Umami Burger
1520 N Cahuenga Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 469-3100
http://www.umamiburger.com/
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