I've decided that this is my all-time (so far) FAVORITE burger place! I loved it so much that Jing and I went 3 times in our 4 days in LA -- I think that says a lot in itself! They have 5 locations in the LA area, so many places to try!

Some of you may wonder, like I did, what umami even means. It's a Japanese term that relates to the "fifth taste" of savoriness -- a perfect way to describe how delicious these burgers taste!

Wikipedia's article describes umami as inducing "salivation and a furriness sensation on the tongue, stimulating the throat, the roof and the back of the mouth" -- those of you that had these burgers before know what it means and those of you that don't understand need to try!

Now onto the burgers! I tried 3 burgers during my trips..

My favorite is the TRUFFLE BURGER.

This burger has a delicious truffle cheese, truffle sauce and a delicious and perfectly cooked medium / medium rareish patty.. the bun is grilled too (even stamped with a U) and is soft, but crispy where it should be (around the edges and inside). I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but this is a MUST TRY for anyone in LA!

My 2nd favorite is their house burger appropriately named Umami Burger.

It's a little more involved than the truffle burger with is just truffle overload (in a good way). In addition to the patty, there are roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions and this parmesan cheese made into a crisp.

Another burger I tried after being told it was good, was the Triple Pork Burger

Also delicious since I am a pork lover, and my third favorite =) The patty is a combination of ground pork, chorizo and applewood smoked bacon with cheese and aioli sauce!

In addition to the burgers, their sides are delicious too! Mostly potato based, so sometimes too much for such a heavy meal already. These are the ones we tried during our big group lunch, but my friends also told me that cheese tots are good too!