Dining Out, Dinner, Greenwich Village, Lunch, Manhattan, Quick PostKerry Alaric CheeseboroApril 20, 2014aioli, braised, bun, burger, burgers, caramelized, chain, cheese, crisp, Dining Out, Dinner, dipping, fries, garlic, Greenwich Village, ketchup, Lunch, mushroom, mushrooms, national, onions, Parmesan, Quick Post, restaurant, roasted, royale, sauces, Shiitake, short rib, short ribs, tomato, trendy, truffle, truffled, umami, Umami Burger, villageComment

Umami Dearest?

[mappress mapid="244"]

MY GREAT FRIEND AND NEIGHBOR Gina has been aching for months to introduce me to newly popular, now national burger "chain", Umami Burger.

A burger purist, of sorts, like me, Gina and I share the same aversion to "(over-)complicated" burgers, prone to all these extra and exotic toppings that, more often than not, overwhelm and hide the flavor of the actual burger itself.

But while she was on the West Coast, she was converted when her friends insisted she try the "original" burger, at the original Umami Burger. And Now was her time to convince me, as she brought down to the West Village (AKA Greenwich Village) to try one of their burgers for myself.

Umami Burger

We decided to split two burgers, the aforementioned "Original" (with caramelized onions, shiitake mushrooms, and a parmesan crisp), and their "Royale" (with braised short ribs and house truffled cheese). If those ingredients weren't enough, the burgers also come with—count 'em—four dipping sauces as well: garlic aoili, house ketchup, chipotle-based "El Diablo", and a jalapeño ranch.

For starters she also chose the Cheesy Tater Tots—she has a huge fan of the "plain" Tater Tots out west—and the "Smushed" Potatoes.

The Royale Burger

Umami Burger

Umami Burger Dipping Sauces

Cheesy Tater Tots

"Smushed" Potatoes

Sure, they were busy for late lunch—we sat at the bar to avoid the 30-minute wait for a table—but that didn't really excuse us getting the burgers first. That being said, the burgers were very good.

As expected, the parmesan crisp on the "Original" added a pleasant textural crunch to each bite, as well as providing another, flavorful hint of salt. Also as expected, yet a tad unfortunate (to me), the richly seasoned short ribs, though tender, did kind of cover the taste of the nicely juicy medium well patty, it's slick sauce being the last thing I tasted instead of the beef.

My host Gina was disappointed with the cheesy tots, claiming they were not nearly as delicious as the non-cheese version she had out West. (I found them to be barely discernible from the frozen store-bout variety), but the twice-fried "smushed" potatoes more than made up for the tots in taste.

The diner next to us was kind to let me take pics of his Duck Burger, which he ordered with (the seemingly very popular) Thin Fries, his order made "manly" by the addition of bacon, crispy onion strings, and cheese. He claimed to be a big fan of both.

"Manly" Thin Fries

Good burgers often become popular, but popular burgers aren't always necessarily "good". There's plenty to like ate Umami Burger, and I'm sure I'll try one again, if only for the curiosity of trying one of their other burger "creations" (and only if I find myself in that neighborhood when in the mood for a burger).

And as grateful I am that my friend Gina introduced me to this place, I will probably still prefer a great simple burger over a greatly creative one.

Bun Apple Tea!

KACNYC

UMAMI BURGER | 432 6th Ave. (bet. 9th & 10th Sts.) | 212.677.8626 | umamiburger.com |

Kerry Alaric Cheeseboro