Recently there's been a new burger place which I've really wanted to try out after seeing so many fantastic reviews and hype on Tomato and Instagram. Imagine my surprise when receiving an email inviting me to dine there before I could even make it there myself! In the words of my friend, Terry... "LUVS IT!"
The place in discussion is Chef Kerby Craig's UME Burger on Wulgul Walk at Barangaroo. It is the sister restaurant to Bar Ume at Surry Hills and aims to bring the amazing Ume burgers and sides to this beautiful waterfront location. So perfect for all those lucky enough to work around the area or keen foodies looking for a picturesque feed and location.
Getting here is really easy thanks to the Wynyard walk. On this day I've decided to invite my sister and her boyfriend along to try out these burgers with me. I had been encouraged to bring friends along to try more burgers and also received great recommendations from friends who have dined at Bar Ume!
The outdoor dining area is shared with Belle's Hot Chicken next door and it is very busy with the from workers in the area. Although, it looks super empty in my photos because I took them AFTER I finished my meal which was around 2PM. Thankfully at around 1PM we find good table and seating as lunch hour is rushed through (the turnover is fast) and some people opt for take-away over dine in.
The front counter display of Ume Burger is adorned with many bottles of Japanese Whisky on offer while the menu overhead is even more eye-catching because of the cute and large sized origami representing each burger on offer. I think that they are all so adorable and wish I could especially take home the burger origami above the Sides menu with me. They also have a self-serve Hokkaido cream soft-serve machine which I regret not trying!
In contrast to my positive and initial impression of Ume Burger, my experience with the service at Ume Burger was terrible. I had an extremely uncomfortable time explaining that I was invited here by their PR company. The staff member serving me was so confused and had no idea. I got the feeling she thought I was lying. I then asked to see the manager who came to serve me after a wait but also gave off a very unwelcoming vibe which made me feel like I was wasting up their time and resources. Quite unbelievable treatment when the purpose of my invitation to eat here was to write about the positive experience (which I unfortunately cannot vouch for in this area of customer service). They told me I was only supposed to bring one guest, and then rushed through my sides order so I only got to order 1 side when really I wanted to try them all, as there aren't that many to begin with. We didn't get a choice for the sauces either.
A part of me said that I should be thankful anyway because not everyone or every food blogger gets to receive free food like I do, but my experience with the service honestly made me feel so bad about Ume Burger and even surprisingly about my role.
Struggling off the disappointing service experience, we headed to our table after the orders with the numbered wooden sake cup, called masu (which I know because I saw it in a Simon & Martina video once).
Our drinks were the first to arrive; one of each house made soda on offer. The cups are a huge serve. They are all cold, refreshing and delicious. An essential especially if you are tackling the huge bowl of chips.. more about that later.
Cheers!
Passionfruit Ginger Soda $6
I couldn't really taste the ginger in this soda, but it tasted like a really nice and fizzy passionfruit soft drink instead.
Strawberry Vanilla Soda $6
Similar to the drink above, we couldn't taste any strong hints of vanilla in this soda but it was a hit being very sweet and fruity!
Yuzu Brown Sugar Soda $6
I didn't try this but my sister described it as "brown sugar water with kumquat".
Not long after, our chips, sauces and burgers arrived just on time because everyone was so keen and hungry. The bowl of chips and tubs of sauce were so generous and the burgers on their pretty matte orange plates all looked equally inviting!
Hot Chips w/ Umami Salt $4.80
There was one question I had to google to make sure and I'll share the answer with you all:
What is umami?
Umami (/uˈmɑːmi/), or savory taste, is one of the five basic tastes (together with sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and saltiness). It has been described as brothy or meaty. A loanword from the Japanese (うま味), umami can be translated as "pleasant savory taste".
(Wikipedia.org)
And that really embodies the taste of these chips with the umami salt (which most people also say is just MSG but I don't know). The chips were well cooked, crispy and thick. The salt which was evenly coated on every chip was so salty and savoury but at the same time so more-ish. It reminded me of KFC's chicken salt but 10x better. When I go to KFC and ask for extra salt on my chips, this is what I am dreaming of. Anyway also because it's actually so salty this is absolutely why you should order a house made soda if you go for the chips.
Sauces: Spicy Cod Roe Mayo $2 + Nori Mayo $1
Out of the four sauces on the menu, both of these are the most innovative and new ones. They come in a large round sauce container so I doubt anyone will ever have the more-chips-than-sauce dilemma here. The cod roe mayo was my favourite; it had a strong fishy but creamy taste although I would not call it spicy even in the slightest. The nori mayo was also delish, reminding me of the taste of eating a sushi roll!
Ebi Burger w/ Handmade Prawn Katsu, Japanese Tartare sauce, Shredded Cabbage $15.50
This was my burger and I was so excited upon being served it as it had been recommended to me by my dearest friend, Jas. I loved the crunchy textures coming from the finely shredded cabbage and crispy prawn katsu, against the soft and fluffy burger buns. The prawn katsu itself was amazing as the prawn inside was chopped up, juicy and sweet, while the fried exterior was so crisp and not oily. The only thing which threw me off completely loving this burger was the layer of mustard underneath the katsu. I felt that the mustard was too strong and overpowering when the taste I wanted most was the familiar seafood taste of prawn and tartare sauce.
Kara-age Burger w/ Chicken Kara-age, Cheese, Lettuce, Onion and Ume's Special Sauce $14
This isn't on the usual menu but instead is one of the burger specials on offer. So I'm not sure how long it would be around for. At the ordering stage we were recommended to try this burger and karage chicken? Why not. My sister ate this burger and she said it was very ordinary and the karage chicken was crispy on the outside but disappointingly dry on the inside. Also we didn't figure out the taste of the special sauce because there was barely any.
Thank you for hand modelling!
Ume Burger w/ Signature Beef Pattie, Wagyu Mince sauce, Truss Tomato, Onion, Mayo and American Cheese $14.60
This burger stood out a tad more out of the all the mouth watering-looking burgers because it came in a nice and special Ume Burger wrapping! The insides were also all placed delicately like a work of art and I loved how easy it was to photograph this burger without having to pull all the fillings to the front (if you've ever had to photograph a burger, you definitely know what I'm talking about). All of us at the table tried this burger and agreed it's the best one! The wagyu mince had us reminded of sloppy joes and bolognese sauce. Surprisingly it's not TOO messy to eat this burger using your hands and the wrapping is always there if needed. The cheese was perfectly melted and oozy, please see the picture below, and the red onions and tomatoes added a much needed crunch texture to the burger. Overall, I recommend this!
CHEESE!
I hope you all enjoyed reading my review and experience at Barangaroo's Ume Burger! I really enjoyed the food and the influence of Japanese cuisine on the burgers, drinks and sides. It made for a delicious lunch and I do recommend everyone give these burgers a go if they can. The service at Barangaroo spoilt the experience for me, but given that this is usually a quick-paced dining environment for some people the taste of the food matters more so take what you can from this blog post. For me, I won't be rushing back any time soon. Friends of mine who had dined at Bar Ume, said the service and feed was impeccable at the Surry Hills location so I would rather go there.
I'd like to thank Vanessa at Wasamedia for inviting me and giving me this opportunity to dine at Ume Burger, as well as the Ume Burger team for the amazing feed 🙏
Ume Burger
Wulgul Walk
Barangaroo NSW 2000
Open 7 days a week
Monday - Saturday: 11:45AM - 10:30PM
Sunday: 11:45AM - 9:30PM
Kimmiebites dined at Ume Burger as a guest of Wasamedia and the restaurant itself. All opinions and thoughts expressed in this post are a genuine and honest representation of my true experience.
