monks: the crisp on the onion rings was great but flavor wise it kinda fell flat...the aioli was garlic flavored I think, but tasted more like mayo than the flavor which is a thumbs down in the aioli department for me...



monks: the sweet potato fries were delcious! I think that the ketchup was made in house...but I don't remember and it must not have tasted that amazing for me to forget.

Umami Burger in Santa Monica with Pam and John.

Umami burger and onion rings

monks: umami burger! the fifth taste! so in spire of the so-so sides...the burger was AMAZING! you'll see later we went to father's office which was pretty damn delicious, but in terms of gourmet burgers I thought Umami's was better hands down! Mostly because it was 1. saltier-the father's office one has a onion/bacon compote which is sweet- a big no-no on my savory items and 2. more texture friendly-father's office had that mushy compote... even though I like a burger with a lot of fresh veggies and a fat slice of raw onion, neither umami or father's office had this, but umami had a crispier things on it... fresh bun, soft and crisp on the inside, must have been brushed with butter or oil! the super duper tasty meat, i know it had a roasted tomato, must have been roma, it was sweet and salty, but the good sweet i like =) tart sweet! it also had a crunch parmesan cheese disk that was amazing taste wise and added a cool crunch to the burger... i know there were spreads or homemade mayo type products in there but i forget what! It's called umami x6, meaning 6 elements...what else...oh some cooked wild mushrooms too! hmmm i think there was cooked onion too...geezus...well all in all, it gets the thumbs up from me! there's a bunch of em in the LA area so it's totally worth the stop!