Just Opened: Umami House, Randwick

Umami House is a new burger place in Randwick with a very unique type of beef burger patty. The patty has an umami mushroom infusion that was designed to make the beef more flavoursome and moist. Find out more about what this is like and what else there is on the menu!

The last time I went to this location on Perouse Rd in Randwick, it was Soul Burger, a vegan burger restaurant. There are still subtle signs of Soul Burger with a sticker showing that the vegan burger range is available online. Umami House also has the same owner Amit Tewari. But as of this week, the menu is entirely different. There's a range of beef burgers alongside a vegetarian and vegan burger as well as sides and shakes. Amit found that having a vegan only offering restricted his clientele.

Before Umami House launched he did a lot of testing to create something different, "To create an insatiable burger it’s tempting to add more fat, more salt, more sauce etc. but I feel that detracts from it’s ability to be eaten frequently. Enhancing umami is an amazing way to pack in flavour without excessive fats or salt. Beef has natural umami properties and so we worked really hard on enhancing that natural umami flavour – we decided infusing shiitake & umami seasoning into the patty created the best umami beef patty," explains Amit. This "fifth taste" was first identified by Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda in 1908. It is described as a savoury or meaty flavour and is found in foods rich in glutamates and nucleotides e.g. aged cheeses, tomatoes, mushrooms, fermented foods and cured meats. He tested out variations using Wagyu and Angus beef and landed on the burger patty of today which is Angus beef infused with shiitake and umami salt.

There's a craft beer on tap available for $5 a schooner but we try one of their shakes. They come in flavours like strawberry, chocolate, caramel, banoffee, banana and choc-mint. The shakes are made with coconut ice cream so they are lactose free. I love strawberry so we try one of those and it's rich, creamy and strongly flavoured with strawberry sauce.

I start with their most popular burger the Umami Classic with their signature umami beef patty, aged cheddar cheese, caramelised onion, umami mayo with slices of fresh tomato and baby cos lettuce. The patty has more flavour to it thanks to the shiitake infusion and it's also juicier than other burger patties as well. You can taste the mushroom flavour right at the end of the bite too. And the umami mayo is a mix of naturally umami-rich foods like tomatoes, anchovies, roasted garlic, onions and soy sauce.

My favourite burger however is the Umami Bacon with the same signature umami beef patty, aged cheddar cheese, caramelised onion, umami mayo with slices of fresh tomato and baby cos lettuce but with crispy free range bacon added to it as well as tomato and bbq sauce. If I can offer a little tip it's to add one of the onion rings to it. The onion rings add an appealing crunch to each bite and this is luscious and saucy (don't wear white!).

My other favourite burger apart from the Umami Bacon is the Smashed Cheese because I love pickles to the point of distraction. If you are also that person then you may like this one too. The Smashed Cheese burger has two thinly smashed umami beef patties, American cheese, caramelised onions, pickles, mustard mayo, ketchup and tomato. The patties are still quite thick and this is an enormous burger.

If you're looking for something a bit more unusual the truffle shuffle is a really good, saucy, juicy truffle flavoured burger. The truffle flavour comes from the aromatic truffle mayonnaise. This burger has the umami beef patty, caramelised onions, Swiss cheese, tomato and baby cos lettuce.

If you are going for a vegetarian burger I recommend the Shroom-mami with crumbed mushrooms that are stuffed with two cheeses, Gouda and aged Cheddar. It also has umami onions, relish and burger sauce. This burger has a nice crunch to it from the crispy crunchy mushrooms and it doesn't taste like you're missing out on anything with that delicious blend of cheeses.

Mr NQN and I never agree on any food and his favourite burger was the one that would probably order last. He loves the house made plant based soy protein patty with a choice of vegan or American cheese, caramelised onions, classic burger sauce, relish, tomato and baby cos. It's not bad at all, it's just that the patty tastes like a plant based patty and that is a little distracting in each bite especially after all of those juicy beef patties.

Onto the sides! The parmesan and truffle fries come in a generous sized serve that looks designed for two people. The French fries are topped with grated Parmesan cheese, black truffle oil and sea salt with thick lashings of truffle mayonnaise.

The fried cauliflower bites are wonderfully crunchy with a light batter and a smokey chipotle seasoning. I really like how crunchy these and the onion rings below are.

I love it when deep fried food has a tangy salt seasoning like vinegar salt or lime salt. These onion rings are super crisp onion rings and are seasoned with a delicious lime chilli salt that makes them so moreish. Out of all of the sides, I liked the onion rings the best especially when wedged into the burgers for extra crunch.

So tell me Dear Reader, what do you think of this beef patty concept?

NQN and friends were guests of Umami House but all opinions remain her own.

Umami House

49 Perouse Rd, Randwick NSW 2031

Phone: (02) 7226 5692

Open 7 days 11:30-9pm (10pm Fridays and Saturdays)