Umami Burger: Undercover Food Reviews Ep. 1
Price: $$
What we Ordered: Manly, Royale, and Crispy Diablo. Truffle Fries.
Food Critics below-
Michael:
Food: 10/10
Service: 8.5/10
One of the most unique flavors I have ever ingested. Burgers, even gourmet burgers, tend to only draw from a small pool of flavor variations, and regardless of the amount of options available, tend to lack variety. Umami breaks all of these barriers, highlighting flavors and delivering variety that I rarely see in even the best burger places. The burger I ordered, the Royale, had a flavor somewhere between savory and sweet. The burger consists of a six ounce house blend patty (ordered medium-rare, by server's suggestion), braised short rib, truffled aioli, truffled cheese, and a truffled glaze. All on a signature bun branded with the Umami "U," which added a nice showman's touch. Every flavor in this burger stood out: The meatiness and unrelenting savoriness of the short rib was prominent, the truffle cheese was extremely strong and oddly, yet euphorically sweet. The truffled aioli and glaze provided another layer of sweetness, and all of this never quite stood in the way of the flavor of the actual burger patty itself. The taste is definitely not for everyone, but I found it greatly refreshing and enjoyable.
I also had a side of truffle fries. Umami's fries are thin, which I usually consider unfavorable, since the potato flavor isn't very prominent and there isn't enough seasoning that can go on the fries to make up for it; however, these fries were great for what they were. A strong but not overbearing salty flavor coupled with the unique taste of truffle was very pleasing, regardless of the mildly disappointing fry size. Other than the food, the atmosphere in Umami's Chicago location is very bright, warm, and contemporary. Definitely added positive vibes to the experience. The service was nice, but not too attentive. I prefer servers that go out of their way to make sure you always have what you want as soon as you want it, and our server did take care of us and was very kind, but they slightly lacked in terms of being attentive to us; especially on keeping up on refills, asking if we needed anything while we were waiting, and getting our bills to us in a reasonable amount of time. These were very minor nuisances however. Overall, Umami's flavors intrigued me and refreshened me so much, that I plan to make several more visits to get a fuller experience of their expansive and interesting menu. I recommend Umami to any burger lover looking for some new flavors.
Matt:
Food: 10/10
Service: 9.5/10
A savory sandwich experience like no other, Umami Burger topped many of the burger places I've personally eaten at. Excellent service, excellent food, and fair prices all leave me wanting more.