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June 14, 2014- By Steven E. Greer
I tried out the new Umami Burger in Hudson Eats. Previously, I gave a poor review to the first New York location in Greenwich Village, but I quite often reverse my judgments. I was hoping to write good things about ours, but cannot.
First, their construction design is terrible. The sign is in dark red, but they have no lighting focused on it. The entire menu board is also in the dark. It makes me wonder whether the Los Angeles owner has ever been to this location much.
When I ordered, I was rudely presented with a receipt to sign, which is unnecessary. It’s a scam to get people shamed into tipping the staff, despite it not being a table-service location. This really irks me, because the owners should pay the staff higher wages, not transfer that responsibility to the patrons.
I got the classic burger and fries, which cost me $16.88. With a drink and tip, it would have been a $20 meal. Across the street, Blue Smoke offers a full restaurant service hamburger and fries for $14 plus tip. And, oh by the way, Blue Smoke’s French fries and burger are the best on the area.
When I order the burger, the cashier was instructed to say, “The Chef recommends it medium rare.”. Chef? It’s a grill cook hidden in the back. Give me a break.
The toppings on these Umami Burger are what are supposed to be the gourmet differentiating factor. They use the word “truffle” a lot. It is not real mushroom truffles. It is that gasoline-concoction-that-should-be-outlawed “truffle”.
The thin and nutritionless French fries from Umami Burger are not to my liking. They are worse than the new Shake Shack fries. The “Tempora Onion Rings” are so greasy, that my stomach became nauseated.
Umami Burger is a cheap attempt to one-up the original “better burger” concept at Shake Shack, and it fails. Their meals are insultingly costly, pretentious, and devoid of nutrition. You would be better off buying your family a box of cupcakes from Sprinkles and some meat from Mighty Quinn’s.
