fancy burgers

Burgers are all the rage. They have been for me for years, because yes, they are my favorite food. But I'm very particular about my burgers. I like a simple one with quality meat (grass-fed Angus is my preferred), onions (raw, grilled, or caramelized), lettuce, tomato, and some sort of sauce (not too much, just a touch to mingle with the juice from the burger to lubricate the whole experience). Notice I did not include cheese.

The restaurant burger rage is all about making it fancy. Putting all sorts of stuff on it. I just had the Umami Burger finally. I had been to the Los Feliz Umami months ago for their happy-hour only $5 Smash burger, which is closer to my kind of burger (though it does have house-made? American cheese) with caramelized onions. I went back tonight, craving a burger, and deciding between the Smash and the Umami. I decided to go with the Kombo #1 with the Umami burger, fries, and house Nakhor beer ($15, $2.50 savings over individual prices). The burger is seasoned with the umami fifth taste stuff that I barely understand. Then on top there were caramelized onions and shiitake mushrooms, oven-dried tomatoes (which I couldn't taste), and a fried crepe of Parmesan, which totally overpowered the whole thing. But then again, I think Parmesan cheese tastes like a fart. I'm standing by that. The burger wasn't bad, it was just too much going on. The brioche bun was very good and the fries were exceptionally crisp (the way I like them). The garlic aoli dip for the fries was good, but it's no Oinkster aoli. The texture was a little rubbery, in fact. Next time I want a local, quick-fix high quality burger, I'll go with the Smash. The gentleman sitting next me had it and it smelled a lot better than mine did.

Another fancy burger people go nuts over that I just had to try was Father's Office. I went to the Culver City post nearly two months ago so forgive my memory. Again, another fancy-ass burger loaded with so much you can't taste it all. And this place will not let you substitute or remove. I can understand the no substitution bit, but the fact that they won't remove anything at your request is going a bit overboard. Another excellent brioche bun and perfectly crisp fries with tasty aoli. On this burger I do remember there was blue cheese, bacon, caramelized onions, and possibly mushrooms. There could be something else, but like I said, you couldn't taste it. I swear I never tasted the bacon.

They are gourmet burgers to be sure, but just not my thing.