Tag Archives: onion rings

Umami Burger: Welcome to NYC

19 Sep

All of my California friends have been singing the praises of Umami Burger for quite some time.  When we were in San Francisco at the end of our honeymoon in June, we stopped by and really enjoyed our meal.  It was just weeks from opening in NYC, and this summer, we got our first Umami Burger in Greenwich Village.

We stopped by just a few weeks after opening (and after the 3 hour waits were supposed to be less and they had reportedly fixed their reservation system).  We checked in and they took our name and number down on an iPad, saying it would be about 45 minutes.  They said they would text me when the table was coming ready, so we went out to find a happy hour drink.  I was immediately texted with a link to see my place online (digitally) and saw we were about #15 in the list.  About 35 minutes later, I got a text that our table was coming up.  We wrapped up our drinks and walked back over, sliding into our high stools on the top floor almost exactly 45 minutes after first arriving.

A lot of reviews are panning the decoration, but I saw nothing wrong with it.  (Though I can’t say it was very memorable)

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The Umami Burger menu is similar in all locations, however, there are (“secret”) specials for each location.  The specials in New York are a 5 spice duck burger (which they were sadly out of when we were there), a French dip burger (which I didn’t hear anything about and forgot to ask about when we were there), and cheese tots.

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We were greeted by a (very enthusiastic) waitress who proceeded to tell us what “umami” means in a speech she must have rehearsed in the mirror a few times.  I was sitting at a table with fellow food fiends, one of which went to culinary school.  So it felt a little like being a tourist in my own food city, but we went with it.

They immediately came out with 3 umami sauces.  I don’t remember anything notable about them.

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We decided to split a whole lot of sides so we could try as many as possible.  First up were the fried pickles. (They came with a jalapeno dipping sauce that I couldn’t eat).  I enjoyed them but nothing too special.

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Truffle cheese fries.  I wanted these to be crispier.  The taste was good but the texture couldn’t stand up to the cheese sauce.

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Tempura onion rings.  Yummy and not too greasy.

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And then the secret tots.  I was somehow expecting tater tots with a cheese sauce, but instead these actually had the potatoes mixed with the aged parm and cheddar in the tot itself.  Quite delicious.

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And then onto the burgers (stamped with the trademark “U” on the bun).  I went with the Original (parmesan crisp, shiitake mushrooms, roasted tomato, caramelized onions, and house ketchup).

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This burger was awesome.  Everything I want a burger to be.  A good, substantially fluffy bun that is toasted and has good flavor with a burger that tastes meaty.  Then the toppings all blended together for a great texture and flavor that was, yes, umami.  It just fills your mouth with greatness.

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Mike and the other man at the table went with the Manly burger. Beer cheddar-cheese, bacon lardons, smoked-salt onion strings, ketchup and mustard spread.

He says it was delicious and that it’s better than shake shack.

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A manly burger that lived up to its name.

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And if you think we would leave after all that indulgence without trying the special desserts, you have another thing coming.

The ice cream sandwiches are made with Brooklyn’s The Good Batch cookies and artisan ice cream from Blue Marble (also from Brooklyn).

We split 2 flavors.

The first was a double chocolate peanut butter cookie.  Chocolate waffle cookie with chocolate peanut butter ice cream (very good in flavor but could have used some chocolate sauce or added texture).

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And a peach vanilla brown butter.  Yes!  I loved this.  The brown butter sugar cookie was fluffy with a crispy edge and a nicely balanced sweetness.  The ice cream inside reminded me of being a kid and going to the local homemade ice cream store.  The chunks of peaches were delicious.

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I can’t imagine not liking this place. What could possibly be bad about a well cooked burger with delicious ingredients, merged together with the express purpose of bringing out the savory flavors?  Sure, there is the novelty of “umami” that people like to hate on. But hell, if it tastes that good, be as cheesy as you want to be.  I’ll eat it up.  (And those ice cream cookie sandwiches are a great finale to the meal).

I’m a big fan. I’ll be back and looking forward to trying that duck burger.

Total Nom Points: 8 out of 10

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Restaurant Week Summer 2013: Kutsher’s TriBeCa

3 Aug

We went to Kutsher’s TriBeCa when it first opened and had a pretty good meal with pretty lousy service.  Looking back on our last meal, a lot has certainly changed in the food, and our service this time around had no faults (and was actually quite lovely with a friendly waitress).

The space fits well in TriBeCa with a modern, industrial look.

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The restaurant was not busy at all, but it was a Tuesday night.

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The menu is quite large, but the Restaurant Week menu, while limited, had a good selection from around the big menu.

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I saw that they had homemade Apple Pie soda on the menu and had to try it. Sure enough, it tasted like apple pie you can drink.  I really enjoyed this.  (Mike wound up making up his own drink by combining this with bourbon. It was awesome).

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One of our friends started with the wild Alaskan cod gefilte fish. Gefilte fish is something typically relegated to Passover dinners where kids turn their noses up at it with exclamations of “ewwww” while many adults secretly can’t wait for Passover to come again just to have a reason to eat it. Gefilte fish is typically described as a fish cake, but that really doesn’t explain it at all. It’s a wet lump of fish parts, basically.  It took me years to even agree to try it again, and now I actually enjoy it.  But not more than once a year.

ANYWAY… back to our meal.  The combination of the gefilte fish with beets was nice, but the horseradish (typically served with gefilte fish) was a bit much for me. I’m really not a fan of horseradish, however, and everyone else enjoyed it.

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I got the latkes, which last time were only fair.  Comparing this to the picture from last time shows VAST improvements.  These were crispy and the bits of potato that were hanging off reminded me of potato sticks.  Last time they were a bit soggy whereas this time they were crisped up nicely with a great potato mixture inside.  The apple sauce on the side was also thick and nicely flavored.  I wish the sour cream was a bit more sour, but it was still good.

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Mike ordered off the Restaurant Week menu to get the crispy artichokes because he knows I absolutely love artichokes.  Last time, we LOVED this dish.  This time, it was pretty good but not as great as last time.  The crispy parsley was missing and the artichokes didn’t have enough crisp. But I never would have faulted this dish had it not been so outstanding last time.

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Both of our friends got the salmon off the Restaurant Week menu.  They both enjoyed this very much.

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I got the brisket off the Restaurant Week menu.  I was having some camera trouble and it looks like I somehow failed to save a picture of it!  (Damn)  It came over a BBQ sauce that was quite good and the meat was flavorful without being overly fatty.  I have a problem where all brisket is compared to my grandmother’s brisket, which means all brisket is fair at best.

Mike went off the Restaurant Week menu to get the burger.

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This came with a fried onion ring filled with cole slaw on top of a cheeseburger and latkes on the side.  It was a bit big once the onion ring was on top, but he said it was a nice juicy burger.

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We also got some matzo crusted onion rings on the side.  These were well seasoned and the matzo crunch was nice.

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For dessert, our friend got the coconut cake which he loved so much he refused to share it (just kidding, he offered, but not convincingly).

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And I got the rainbow cookie ice cream cake. I loved this in theory, but it was missing the signature almond flavor that make rainbow cookies so good.  The ice cream inside was also a bit lacking in flavor.  It would have been nice if this had been strongly almond flavored to bring it all together.

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One nice thing that Kutsher’s TriBeCa did is give out a “Dine Again Card.” This was the first time I’ve seen this, but it was a nice touch and really brings the entire purpose (in my opinion) of Restaurant Week full circle.  The goal is to get you to try a new place (or try a place again that was so-so in the past to give it a second shot) with the hope that you will come back.  Why not give people a reason to?

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As far as Restaurant Week goes, I wouldn’t say this was my favorite meal. But I think it was a good value for what we got and I’m glad we got to try it again and see that the kinks have been ironed out (at least on a Tuesday night).  I enjoyed it and would happily return (especially for free latkes!)  This is the perfect place to bring the family when they’re in town. A little fancy, but a little bit of home and what we all grew up on.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

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Southern Hospitality- Hell’s Kitchen

20 Apr

This week’s theme appears to be lunch in the “West of Midtown West” region.

Southern Hospitality was first opened by Justin Timberlake and friends in the UES.  A second outpost recently opened in Hell’s Kitchen, on 9th Ave and 45th Street.

When I checked in on Four Square, I was informed that there was a special where first check-ins were awarded with a free pitcher of beer.  I showed the waitress, and she informed me that I had checked in at the wrong Southern Hospitality (WHOOPS!) but they would honor it anyway.  The guys at my table were pleased.

The interior is massive and decorated in a very fun, southern, barry way.

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We went out for team lunch and ordered across the menu.  There was a BBQ chicken chopped salad.

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A side of… something?

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A cheese steak that wound up being quite disappointing when the orderer failed to read that there was cheese SAUCE on it.

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Some BBQ salmon

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A plate of smoked sliced brisket (which was questionably brisket) with a side of succotash and collard greens.

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And I took a dive and tried my very first chicken and waffles.

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They came with a side of mashed taters, which were fair at best.

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While the chicken looked over-breaded and over-fried, it wasn’t bad.  But it certainly wasn’t the best I had.  I understand why people like this combo (turns out syrup and fried chicken are delicious together), but I wasn’t impressed.

Turns out, no one else was either.  Nothing stuck out, nothing was particularly good, and nothing was worth going back for.

Sorry JT.  We’ve had much better BBQ, even in NY, elsewhere.

Total Nom Points: 6 out of 10