Umami Burger in NYC Misses the Point : Amazing hamburger!!!

in #food6 years ago

Here it comes. A beloved, cult burger chain from the West Coast announces the imminent opening of its first New York City location. Anticipation builds. Food blogs speculate endlessly, poring over every minute construction detail. It's an In-N-Out Burger, right? We should be so lucky! No, it's that other West Coast cult burger spot, Umami Burger, which opened its first location (of many many more planned) this summer on the lower reaches of Sixth Avenue in the West Village. Maybe we're lucky, though. If this were an In-N-Out, I doubt we'd ever fully recover.

New Yorkers can be territorial bunch, and its a rare outsider who can come to town and dodge the sharpened knives of local eaters. So Umami chief Adam Fleischman may have stepped on his sword when, as part of a fawning New York magazine article, he said, "NY has some OK burgers," and threw down the gauntlet. This is simply not done. (Imagine a woman fainting and my monocle falling to the ground.)


If the Original ($12) is the pinnacle of umamification, then we've got problems. While it more than succeeds in terms of advertised "umami" flavor, with a deeply flavored shiitake mushroom, overly sweet, roasted tomato, caramelized onions, house ketchup, and Parmesan crisp that quickly softens, the burger has little else to offer. Lacking anything to balance the toppings, like mustard or a pickle, the burger was boring and one-note. Surprisingly, I did not hate the sweet bun (almost like a Hawaiian roll) stamped with a distinct "U" (in case you were wondering, it does not stand for "underwhelming").


Let's talk about this patty. The sear is an admirable deep brown, but ultimately lacks depth. Though formed in a ring mold, the thin, pre-formed six-ounce patty barely holds together. While this is fine for a steak or a roast, it does ground beef no favors. It's hard to ignore when as soon as I picked my burger up for a first taste, half the patty escaped from the bun and landed on my plate.



Once (if) you can get past these issues, the Manly Burger ($12) is your best option. Served with beer-cheddar cheese, bacon lardons, smoked-salt onion strings, house ketchup, and mustard spread, it has the traditional elements of a burger, and is far better for it. Though the same issues plague the patty, overall it's better balanced and far more satisfying than Umami's namesake.


Sides are a mixed bag. Under no circumstances should you order the "artisan crafted" fried pickle spears ($4) with jalapeño ranch. Having lived in the South, I've been on the fried pickle beat for a long time, and there's no legitimate argument for spears above chips. All you get is underseasoned batter and a big bite of hot pickle. As a chip, fried pickles are divine; as a spear, they're useless. Likewise, the smashed potatoes ($4.50) with roasted garlic aioli, have been done better elsewhere (try them with the burger at Roberta's).


Thin fries ($3.50) evoke a classic fast food fry, but the four dipping sauces arriving in fussy spoonfuls are forgettable.

I know I'm in the minority on Umami Burger, but after multiple visits it just doesn't hold up against similar burgers in its price range (hello again Brindle Room) or even the far superior, and slightly cheaper Shake Shack. Ultimately, umami is a component of a whole rather than an end in itself. It doesn't succeed as the entire vision. Like someone overloading a dish with bacon or fiery chilies, the end result is one-note and, frankly, misses the point.


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