Recon: UMAMI @ FRED SEGAL

Santa Monica, CA


It was a slow work day and when lunch finally rolled around Florence said she felt like a turkey burger.  Immediately my ears perked up.  “You know I write a burger blog, right?” Within minutes we were in the car on our way to Umami Santa Monica- the one connected to Fred Segal.  Florence called her sister Storm (named after the youngest Misfit in Jem and the Holograms) to meet us there.  We sat outside on the family style benches enjoying the palm trees and California sunshine. 

Florence opted for the special: a turkey burger BLT with avocado.  I went for the Manly Burger: red meat with cheddar cheese, salt onion strings and bacon lardons.  Storm, who’s off meat at the moment, had the shrimp salad.  Her salad came out first, piled high with taro strips and four large grilled shrimp, one in each corner of the plate. It was a lovely presentation, however the shrimp weren’t peeled, which was more of an annoyance than anything and when the couple sitting next to us asked about her dressing she said, it’s like there’s “wet cream on my salad.”  She wasn’t in love with it, but the taro strips were a nice touch.  

Florence felt like the burger itself didn’t have much flavor, but everything around it did, which kind of balanced it out.  The bacon on both our burgers was ‘bacon lardon’ which means its cut into small, thick pieces.  My burger came out oozing juice.  The flavor was excellent, and the salty onion strings stood out and added to the texture.  The mustard was a little strong for my taste, but the sweetness of the bun helped tone it down.  Umami doesn’t stack its burgers with sog-prevention in mind, so towards the end, the bun had absorbed a lot of the juice.  We were nicely satisfied after, but not overly stuffed- and thank god because these are tight jeans!

The hand cut fries on the menu were apparently no longer an option, but they offered up cheesy tater tots as a replacement, which we definitely went for.  I don’t think the waitress finished describing them before we said, ‘Yes, please!’ It was a Liz Lemon, “I want to go to there,” moment. They were crisp, salty and cheesy with an element of creaminess.  The perfect little size, served with a small pot of umami ketchup- which, I swear to god, is just ketchup with the word umami in front of it.  Florence described the tater tots as “fried mashed potato goodness” and I am inclined to agree!  The couple with us offered to let us try their sweet potato fries and we eagerly reached over to steal a nibble.  They were nicely salted with a crisp exterior and our lunch mates absolutely loved them.

I ordered a ‘Mexican coke’ as bottled cokes have come to be called in America.  The real difference, as my father insisted I point out, is that Mexican coke is made from real sugar cane, while American coke has high fructose corn syrup, but I'd be surprised if restaurants were actually using this information as a guideline. I haven’t had regular coke in ages, so it was extra sweet and delicious.  Florence had a sparkling English water called Hildon and Storm ordered plain water that came out in this flexible glass, with an indention specifically for your thumb, and while they were charming to look at, not so charming to drink out of.  Our sociable friends across the table loved their iced teas and definitely needed refills.  Umami also has a few Japanese beers and rootbeer floats, which you probably saw in the review of Umami Urban. 

   

Clientele was a mixed bag: friends, family, and young professionals off on their lunch breaks.  The Santa Monica location had greater menu variety with more burger options, and while the staff was helpful, they weren’t the best.  Our waitress was covering the entire outside area, so I suspect she was a little ‘in the weeds’ as they say.  They were accommodating of requests though, and always pleasant.  Cost is what you’d expect: around $10-12 for burgers and sides range from $3-5, so just under $20 per person with tax and tip.  Latching on to Fred Segal was a great idea for the boutique burger joint and I would highly recommend a day of shopping punctuated by a delicious meal with the fifth taste, Umami. 

UPDATE: UMAMI

Dear Westsiders, 
Looks like Umami is just about ready to open their Santa Monica location at Fred Segal!  Get excited...

Recon: UMAMI

1st bite: “It’s like a salty teriyaki?”  2nd bite: “Is that soy?” 3rd bite: “kind of a zingy tang…” 4th bite: “I give up! The only word for it is Umami.”

Umami Urban is situated in the new hipster center, Space 15twenty. {http://www.space15twenty.com} Amoeba music is right across the street, and a gigantic, brand new Urban Outfitters is there as well- the fanciest one I’ve seen.  Look for metered parking or pull into one of the many lots in the area.   

My darling friend Samantha Peacock joined me on this excursion, and being an Umami veteran, she knew exactly what she wanted: the SoCal Burger and sweet potato fries.  Being an Umami virgin, I opted for their original, a Kombu #1: Umami Burger, regular fries, and roasted garlic aioli for dipping.  We both polished off a couple Nakhon beers, which complimented the burgers well.  When our burgs came out, I have to say, they looked pretty cute.  Perfectly round, a wee bit tall and very proud. 

The Umami burg comes with mushrooms, an oven dried tomato and what I call a ‘crispy flavor wafer.’  I took off the mushrooms (sorry, mushrooms and I ain’t friends) and I enjoyed the unique flavor of something I had simply never tasted before.  The flavor wafer added excellent texture and the meat was juicy and pretty pink in the middle. (Apparently they’re always like that so if you like your burgers a little more cooked, just ask.)  The bun was buttery and soft, and it did get a little soggy, but only because it was absorbing all that juice from the meat!  While eating it, it was on the messier side, but I’ve certainly made bigger burger messes. Halfway through I was over the tomato, and replaced it with a nice spread of the roasted garlic aioli.  While meat, bun, aioli and flavor wafer might seem like an odd choice, the mix was delish!  Samantha let me steal a bite of her SoCal burg and I have to say I really enjoyed the flavor combo of the butter lettuce and the cheese. 

The regular fries came hot, extra crispy and salty- my favorite kind of fry.  The sweet potato fries weren’t quite as hot, but they had a nicely flavorful exterior and weren’t too sweet, like most sweet potato fries I’ve had.  The garlic aioli was just one of several condiments you can have- you get one condiment per fry order- and it was very well done.  Excellent flavor and texture, it contrasted well with the fries and, alternately, with the burg.  I kept remixing my bite order: burg, beer, fry, fry, fry, burg, beer, burg, fry- just because the flavors played off each other so well. 

The atmosphere was mellow with a nice buzz of conversation for background noise.  With exposed brick walls and scratched up concrete floors I definitely got an industrial vibe, but the furniture and displays were modern and pop-y.  I liked the marriage of Japanese flavors and aesthetic simplicity to a classic American meal and architecture.  The layout was open and the mostly glass walls look out on the shopping area, making the space feel bigger than it actually is.  It’s the kind of place where your server will leave you in peace until you wave him down.  You’re not constantly interrupted, which made me think it would be a good place for a date.  I looked around and sure enough there were a few couples scattered about, but the crowd was mostly young hipsters.

They have a smaller selection of beverages, but good, quality ones.  I enjoyed the Nakhon beer, but a cocktail called ‘Rocket Pop’ also caught my eye.  Beer, wine, cocktails, and the good coke from Mexico that’s made with real sugar cane all graced the menu. 

We paid about $25 each which I felt was reasonable.  I felt like we were paying for the experience of the novel concept, as well as the food and drink.  It’s important to note that the menus vary at each location -to the point that some locations have completely different fries, like Jenga logs- and not all the locations serve alcohol.  I don’t know that I would crave it, but it’s the kind of place you’ll want to bring your friends to when they come to visit La La Land. 

Umami Urban

1520 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028