. "1"^^ . "3"^^ . "2014-07-29T00:00:00"^^ . "http://theglobeonmyplate.blogspot.com/2014/07/restaurant-reveiw-umami-ramen-dumpling.html\n\nLet me give you a little background. I have been to Umami twice one year apart for a yearly large group.\n\nThe first time I went, one year ago, when I sat down the table was quite sticky. Like, this hasn't been wiped down in a few days sticky. In a place where long noodles are slurped, and everything comes with a dipping sauce, good deep cleaning with a towel is required between every patron. This should really be done at every restaurant everywhere. I will admit, some of the stickiness could be due to the incredibly thick lacquer on the table reacting to hot dishes being placed on it. If that is the case you definitely shouldn't have those tables in a restaurant without tablecloths.\n\nOne year later I was hoping to give them a second chance.\n\nThe table was even stickier then the year before. I wiped it down with my napkin and some water. The stickiness felt hard and crunchy like it had been left to fester since the last time I was in. As I tried to spoon the broth, I needed to tip the bowl. This was nearly impossible to do without pulling so hard to free it from the table's glutinous grasp that you nearly dump the soup into your lap. Luckily one of my dining companions had figured out a twist and tip method, where you twisted the bowl hard enough to loosen it, then you tip it enough to spoon the broth. Thanks Jake.\n\nTwist and Tip. Twist and Tip. This is no way to live.\n\nI elected to get the Restaurant Week meal which started with Buns, dumplings and a bowl of Ramen with a Ice cream filled mochi. All this for $25. Another dining companion, the intelligent observer ordered buns, dumplings and a bowl of ramen off the regular menu.\n\nFirst came the Buns, I got one Spicy pulled pork dumpling. The filling was great, very good flavor, nice level of spiciness. However the Mantou didn't seem particularly fresh, I don't know if they steamed a bunch off and let them sit around for too long or if they were buying in frozen ones (thats my guess), but I was fairly disappointed by the bun itself.\n\nMy intelligent observer received his nice order of two spicy pilled pork dumplings.\n\nMy four Pork and Chive dumplings were wonderful, very good filling, but clearly they had been out of the steamer for a few minutes too long, You can't really fault them though, we were in a group of 13 which makes timing that much more difficult.\n\n My intelligent observer received his nice order of six dumplings and loved his as well\n\nFinally my bowl of Tonkatsu ramen arrived. Traditional Tonkatsu ramen broth is one of the most luxurious and amazing broths I have ever tasted. It has to be simmered for more then 12 hours and is extremely labor intensive. \n\nThe broth at Umami was... lacking. It didn't have the body or the complexity of a great Tonkatsu broth. Even worse, the first time I went in a year ago it was almost inedibly salty. After choking down a few spoonfuls I let the rest get scooped up by a server. I tasted a friend's Tonkatsu broth as they were taking mine away... perfectly seasoned. \n\nThis year it tasted, horror of horrors, that they may have added some cream to make the stock the correct smoky pale color rather then boil the broth for the more then 12 hours required for great tonkatsu broth. Umami doesn't make their own noodles, instead they contract RP's pasta, a local Italian pasta maker. http://www.rpspasta.com/ They make great italian noodles and I love to pick up a package for dinner as often as possible! However in my mind, a great ramen shop should really be making their own noodles in-house by someone who only makes ramen noodles. It is an art and one that takes years to master.\n\nMy intelligent observer also got a bowl of Tonkatsu Ramen.\n\nFinally the meal finished with an Ice Cream filled Mochi and a half. This was very tasty, and very familiar. I love to buy these at the store too! A 6 pack for 2.99 at Trader Joes! These were straight out of the package.\n\nMy intelligent observer was quite full, and to be honest so was I. Lets compare our meals.\n\nHe had 2 pork buns, I had 1. He had 6 dumplings, I had 4, we both had the same Ramen(similar portions) and I had $0.75 worth of Mochi. Lets look at the bills!\n\nHis bill Bun($7), Dumplings ($6), Ramen ($12) = $25\nMine was... wait $25?\nIf we had both gotten a different type of Ramen he would have paid a dollar less then me.\n\nTo me that just feels kind of... greasy. !!Maybe that's whats on the table, the owner's greedy grease!! Let me be clear, I wasn't unhappy with the amount of food I got for $25, it was a filling meal and not a bad price point (I wouldn't be back but it doesn't have anything to do with the price) But handing the regular menu out with this... \"deal\" for restaurant week just left me feeling a little taken advantage of."^^ . "2"^^ . . . "1"^^ .