Locals were more excited by the arrival of these guys than anything we've seen in living memory.
Can it beat the hype?
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USA
Is this the awesome brainchild of an industry veteran or a cynical attempt to cash in on the new wave of burger joints?
I was content watching the real-life live stream of all the prep, nosed-pressed against the pane like a kid at a Christmas display
When hunger pangs befell us on Times Square, I knew the newest location of Five Napkin Burger was a couple of short blocks away. Boom. Payoff.
It didn’t really taste like a burger, obviously, because that would be weird.
Sometimes an idea comes along that is so simple, and yet so totally ingenious that you just have to stand up and slow clap the dudes that thought it up, ‘Lucas’ style. So we applaud the comfort food genius that is Los Angeles’ Grilled Cheese Truck.
What’s all the more awesome is that these guys take such a staple, classic, comfort food and reinvent it with panache too. It’s testament to how well they do it that I’ve seen queues for this mobile eatery easily stretch 20-plus long. Our first visit attempt was at the fairly legendary Abbot Kinney First Fridays festival in Venice. The trouble was we’d already tried five trucks by the time we spotted them. Dammit.
And those queues are there for good reason; their Cheesy Mac And Rib is hugely satisfying. The barbecue pork was saucy-sweet, soft and worthy of a place all of its own on a menu. The mac ‘n cheese was heavy on the gooey cheese, sticky yet still trying to escape from every opening, and hinted a savouriness that balanced with the pork brilliantly. One hell of a sandwich.
I’m pretty sure I put this away in under ten mouthfuls it was so good, and if we weren’t going on to somewhere else for more food, I would have had another. A bang up job, and a must for anyone In L.A. who has only got time to visit a handful of food trucks.
- Rob.
Firstly, the burgers are huge. Bloody huge. Like ‘we’re gonna need a bigger boat’ huge.
The slice of tomato? Huge.
The grilled onions? Guess what, HUGE.
This stuff shouldn’t be served for brunch, it is so moreishly dessert-like.
With deceptively soft ‘n fluffy French-baguette-style bread, the perfectly heavy-but-not-too-heavy whipped cream and jammy sweet blackberry sauce welded together at the bottom of the plate like a soup. Mopping it up with the bread was like eating a decadently syrupy bread and butter pudding.
It was filling as all hell as too: the perfect follow up to the previous Four Loko’d evening.
A fine breakfast option if you’re passing through Santa Barbara.
- Rob.
Man, Americans can do brunch.
The French toast here was soft and perfectly moist. Paired with the coulis-like apricot jam, which was well balanced between sweet and sharp, and a dash of whipped cream it was cracking. The inclusion of the chicken apple sausage was inspired. More delicate on the palate than it’s porky brethren; lobbing a chunk of this in with the French toast and jam was a sweet ‘n savoury texture-laden pleasure.
There are a few Macrina’s dotted around Seattle, and I’d recommend you find one if you’re ever there. It’s laid back, with great staff who are happy for you to chill for as long as you like and let the hangover subside. You can even grab some sweet looking bread and pastries for later in the day. The coffee kicked ass as well.
- Rob.
I was in somewhat of a touchy mood when we finally arrived at the Santa Monica branch of this rapidly growing little chain (there are five outposts in LA now, with more on the way). Principally, because nothing on the website tells you it’s in a fucking Fred Segal store, and partly, because Google Maps sucks. So we walked circled a couple of blocks for fifteen minutes trying to find it.
So, note to any non Santa Monica residents looking for this place, if you see spot Fred fucking Segal, you’ve found it.
I ordered the SoCal burger and my dining companion ordered the Manly Burger (because he so is). When they arrived they looked brilliant, like straight-out-of-the-dressing-room pretty. Mood swiftly reversed.
The bun gets top billing here, as it’s amongst the best I’ve ever tasted, probably THE best.
It’s got the shine of a brioche (with their signature ‘U’ toasted into the top half), but isn’t really a brioche. It’s chewy, but super-squidgy. Substantial, but not stodgy. A superb example of how well a burger bun can be made.
And there’s definitely a can’t-quite-put-my-finger-on-it extra dimensional taste to the patty that makes it unique, an almost kinda hint of gravy. That signature umami. Hard to describe without over-hyphenating.
You can see from the pictures the meat is soft and ever so loosely formed; the result being it crumbles away in your mouth after each bite, mingling with everything else in the burger: the full hit in every bite. The consistency of the cheese is spot on and the house sauce, a homage to In ‘n Out’s ‘Spread’ if I’m not mistaken, adds a fresh tang without overwhelming it.
The only terribly small issue: the loose grind of the meat and the slightly anaemic bottom bun caused the burger to fall apart about three quarters of the way through, so the final few bites were frantic, morsel-rescuing mouthfuls.
The Manly Burger, their take on a bacon cheeseburger - with it’s thick lardons and crispy onion strings - looked, and apparently tasted, bloody epic.
“No unsettling flavour combinations or trickery. It’s just a good burger. Craft over science.”
There’s certainly a touch of Heston Blumenthalerie in the way these guys go about experimenting with different flavours and ingredients, not to mention their namesake fifth taste. The dude that owns the chain certainly talks almost evangelically about the painstaking construction of each burger. And it shows. Everything in it is crafted from scratch, and we applaud the wicked craftsmanship on display. Unlike Heston though, there’s nothing weird here. No unsettling flavour combinations or trickery.
It’s just a good burger. Craft over science.
Umami is an important place. Arguably, they’re at the epicentre of the quality mid-priced resurgence which is having a major impact on this side of the pond too. And for that reason, as well as a damn fine and totally unique burger, Umami is smack bang at the top of our Essential LA Burgers list, cosying up to In-n-Out. Go.
- Rob.