Umami, Udadi!

Umami Burger, located in Costa Mesa in The Camp on Bristol street takes a new look at the classic burger joint. Opening just recently in Orange County, Umami Burger is very popular in L.A.  When we arrived at 5:30 on a Monday, the place was chaos. Our waiter told us that there would be a 20 minute wait to get seated. I felt cold, so we decided on take out.

We ordered an Umami Burger, the original, and a Manly Burger plus some sweet potato fries and a ginger beer. The Umami Burger contained parmesan crisp, tomatoes, caramelized onions, mushroom, and umami ketchup. My dad thought the mushroom added a contrasting texture. The Manly burger  came with bacon, onion crisps, melted cheese, and umami ketchup. I thought it was smokier and a touch more balanced than my dad's.

Of course, by the time we got home to eat it, nothing was hot - and the buns, while fresher than at most burger places, started to look a little soggy. They had also mislabeled our burgers. But the waiting would have been something to complain about as well. Even a to-go order at a new place has its issues: as we watched the kitchen process, we saw things packed and then unpacked, orders rejected by the waiters, and our order came about 10 minutes later than the almost identical order placed by the person after us.

Is it worth the wait? You decide. Is it worth the money? Umami Burger is pricey for what you get. Will you go for it?

The counter

Make your own burger at the counter! The counter serves burgers or should i say you make make the burger and they serve it. When your waiter comes you get a little pamphlet that allows you to make your burger. You can chose the size,the sides, the sauce, the cheese, and the bun. We had parmesan fries with garlic, parsley, rosemary, and parmesan. I had red onions, red peppers, sharp provalone, and corn and beans with honey mustard sauce. We both had the smallest sized burgers which were not to small. My dad had tomatoes, grilled pineapple, and coleslaw with sweet barbeque sauce(yes i know, he got the best sides and sauce and i didn't want to copy him). The fries were good but not the best. They were a big portion so we had to take them home and when we heated them up they were still very good. The burger was good but not better than any other one but i guess its nice to pick your sides. A nice outdoor seating area allowed me and my new dog (:D!) to sit outside. It has a nice atmosphere and nice indoor seating area with what do you expect?... Counters! In all this is a nice sit down burger place that allows you to make your own unique burger.

Reuben round-up

As I posted earlier, any time there is a Reuben on a menu my dad has to have it. Sometimes we share one. So I got to liking the taste of a good Reuben sandwich too.

But it is not so easy to find a good one in Orange County. We have been going to a few places, and here is my ranking of them. There is the Derby, a deli in a big building by the freeway where I sometimes go to play LaserQuest. The Derby is big, has grand pianos and entertainers. We went there with my friend Liam who lives in New York. They have other stuff my dad likes, including beef tongue! But for some reasons, none of us liked their sandwiches that much, we took more than half of each to go. I think it was the meat. The fries were a bit underdone, too. And they just gave me the children's menu which does not have the good food on it.

Then there is Champagne's which also calls itself a deli. They have a shop corner, you can get stuff to go from the kitchen, and there are two seating areas - inside or outside. We shared a Reuben and just to make sure we would have enough we ordered a tomato-basil soup. This Reuben was good, not too big, proportions of sauce and sauerkraut and meat and bread were good, but it was dripping dressing and the bread was a bit disappointing - toasted but a bit stale. The soup was definitely the best part of the meal, perhaps my favorite soup ever!

A few weekends ago we went to Benjies, a really old-fashioned place (the sign says since 1967). Their menu is huge. They have these old-fashioned booths to sit in, and the waitresses are kind of grumpy in a good way. (Like at one of my favorites, the Crab Cooker, by the way). Benjies is defiitely worth the drive to Santa Ana. They make amazing deserts, too. But we had no room for any! Because the Reuben and the Tongue sandwich we had there were great.

However, I think the best Reuben in the OC might be the one at the lunch counter at Bristol Farms near the Newport Beach public library. My dad says I should think twice about blogging this, because it is our best-kept secret. But I say people who read my blog should know. The meat is good, the sauce is right, the kraut is nice, the bread is good, you can sit outside or inside, and they have a lot of good other options. When we go to the library, we like to share a Reuben here. It's awesome. And the waitress is totally great, too.

My dad says we'll keep looking, he likes another place that I haven't been to yet. Please let me know in the comments if you know of a good Reuben somewhere!

World famous pastrami

Today i just came home from a burger-sandwich place called The Hat. My dad told me that it's like an old style fast food place. I had already heard from my dad's friend that it was pretty good so that didn't worry me to much. When we got there i recognized a sort of deli. It was pretty empty so there wasn't a line. I hoped they would have a corned beef sandwhich-my favorite.They didn't. So i did the natural thing any American would do. Get a cheese burger. My dad got a pastrami sandwich. It came pretty pretty quickly. We also ordered a small fry serving and a onion ring serving. When our food came the first thing we noticed was that there were three bags. I thought that it was normal each meal getting it own bag and the sides sharing the other. But after we opened them up i realized it was the other way around! The sides were huge. The small fries took up half a bag and the onion rings a whole one! That was the only problem though. Everything else was really good adding the fact that it was fast food. My dads pastrami had just enough spice and flavor combined to make it really good. The burger was nice and juicy to with a whole lot of greens. The atmosphere was nice and talkative to. Oh yeah and by the way don't tell this to anyone who you know who ate at The Hat: my dad says (because of the huge sides) he felt like the skinniest person there! So in the end if yo are looking for a fast good place on the go, come to The Hat!

Ruth's Chris steakhouse

My dad and I went to a steakhouse, Ruth's Chris in Irvine (2961 Michelson Drive), because I was curious to try it once, and my mom was out of town. I love to eat steak! We chose a ribeye steak and barbecued jumbo shrimp, with baby spinach and potato gratin, all to share. My dad got a glass of wine, and I had two shirley temples.

I noticed immediately that they specialize in steaks. The ribeye was perfectly salted, cooked medium rare just as we ordered it, and the plates were very hot! The server said don't touch, it's like 500 degrees!

The jumbo shrimp was okay. I couldn't taste any special flavor in them; they just tasted like plain shrimp. But the shrimp came with an awesome sauce. The steak was perfectly marbled and super tender and had some butter on it. The baby spinach was delicious, fresh and soft, but we forgot to ask for garlic on it. However, the potato gratin was too cheesy for me. It filled my stomach too quickly! I took home some leftovers.

At the end, we were surprised by a desert we had not ordered. They thought it had to be my birthday! I guess that is child-friendly. I could hardly eat any more, but the raspberry ice cream in a chocolate cup was fantastic, and the fruit cup came with fresh mint leaves and sweat cream sauce.

Katz's Delicatessen

My dad and I went to Katz's Deli in New York City! When you come in, you get a ticket. Then you get in line at different stations. They have a long menu - we had a Reuben sandwich, and a cold Tongue sandwich with pickles. The tongue had a lot of muscle meat, and we used hot mustard with it. Everything is made there, even the mustard. The Reuben was delicious, the combination of brisket and sauerkraut was yummy. There were a lot of pictures on the wall, and the place was full! The service is fast and grumpily friendly. The owner came to our table to chat with us! I recognized him from the pictures on the wall. He said Katz's had been around for 121 years! I mentioned that we read about it in the newspaper. He said they get a lot of good press. He wanted to know where we are from, and what we had ordered. He was impressed that I like tongue! We saw servers with big platters of steaming meat. The owner complained about the use of the word "deli" and told us there are few places like Katz's left. Everything you order is marked on your ticket, and you pay on your way out. It was very good, but not cheap. We thought it was worth it, and we were very full!

chow or eat

Eat Chow is a small, slow, but very good American place. It opened recently in Costa Mesa. Their menu is online; I recommend the fried green tomatoes and truffle parmesan fries. My mom's cuban sandwich was excellent, along with my dad's Reuben (if there's one on the menu anywhere, he has to have it...). I had the fish tacos. They were very spicy but good; I couldn't finish the black beans that came with them. However, there were some fish pieces that were not cooked enough for my taste. Their desserts are made fresh daily and are different each day. They also have T-shirts and hoodie if you want a souvenir; and they have gift cards. You can add some things to your salad. They have soups of the day and a turkey chilli soup. My parents each enjoyed a nice beer (Peroni, Chimay). We went for a really early dinner, but even at that time they had slow service (my dad says everything came out nice and hot though). They have a different big menu for breakfast. The space is small, and connected to a clothing shop on a street corner, with more parking behind the building.

Good for Groups: No
Parking: Street, Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Good for Kids, Outdoor Seating, No Reservations
Delivery: No, Take-out: Yes, Waiter Service: Yes
Kid friendly☺*4
Quality ψ*4