Umami Burger

Ariel and I went to Umami Burger last night. I will go ahead and say it was delicious, but here is an item by item breakdown with my final opinion at the bottom:

Pickled Plate - We started with this appetizer that consisted of all things pickled: peaches (which the waitress identified as pears), cucumber (obviously), hearts of palm, fennel, and one other thing that I cannot recall. The pears stood out for their texture which was soft but interesting; the pickles were not good at all and far too sweet; and the fennel was the only thing that I would say was good.

Sweet Potato Fries - I love me some sweet potato fries. When they are on a menu I order them. This craze started a few years ago and so far the best ones are at The Counter with a close runner up at Father's Office. Umami probably delivered the best ones yet. They were perfectly fried and had a sprinkling of sugar (maybe brown sugar, not sure) that made these more sweet than they need to be. With the added garlic aioli these were excellent.

Socal Burger - This is a very basic burger with lettuce, tomato, some other spreads and carmelized onions. I did not notice the onions at all. The burger was good but a little too salty. There should have been more onions to cut the salt and balance out the flavor. The actual patty was delicious though and charred to perfection.

The Umami Burger - The eponymous menu option really brings it. Toppings include a little piece of portabello mushroom, a baked parmesan lattitce, a baked tomato, and some type of aioli. The center of this burger, where all of the toppings were located, really tasted like nothing else (Umami means "the fifth taste"). Those few bites were transcendent. The edges of the burger, like the Socal, were charred perfectly but were over seasoned and too salty.

Bottom Line - I would go back for the fries and Umami burger but mainly to try some of the other options. I like that they use creative combinations of items on their burgers. I do not like that they have no other items beyond a turkey burger. And never order the pickled plate.