Umami Moto Revisited!

Tags

As, Burger, Food, food truck, Meat, street food, UmamiMoto

Remember my gushing review of Umami Moto, the Asian-inspired food truck roaming the streets of Greater Cleveland? Well, I couldn’t stay away. Or rather, they were outrageously nice and dropped off my order on their way back from their location for the day because I couldn’t get away from work. Now that’s dedication to service!

The order in question consisted of their Umami Burger. Now, I should explain this thing about me and burgers. They don’t really attract me too much. I mean, I appreciate a burger every half year or so, but that’s it. I don’t crave them, I don’t seek them out, I tend to be underwhelmed when I order one. Heck, I didn’t even eat my first burger until the tender age of 19. My brain just doesn’t seem wired for love of burgers.

Enter the Umami Burger, which benevolently smiled at my wiring and ignored it. It blew me away!

(Forgive the low quality picture, I was unprepared for this awesome delivery and had to use my iPod camera.)

Now, this is a burger to dream about. Perfectly cooked lean all-beef patty (nicely thin to my taste, I’d estimate 2.5 to 3 oz, just the right amount not too overwhelm the experience) with Southeast Asian flavors, topped with a truly kickin’ prik pao chili sauce, a hint of mayo and onions, on a fresh, perfectly crisp toasted brioche bun. Holy moly, I couldn’t stop! The bun was perfect, and I usually despise burger buns in my haughty German bakery-spoiled ways – the brioche wasn’t bland, soggy or cardboard-like at all. It was warm, slightly sweet and had a great texture. And that chili sauce! I wish all my lunches were this great!

So here I stand, with The Burger To Beat in my mind, courtesy of the awesome Umami Moto team. What’s your take on burgers? Love them? Hate them? Have a special one that will forever be burned into your memory?

Umami Moto – An Asian-Inspired Foodtruck on a Mission!

Tags

Asian, Fish & Seafood, Food, food truck, Poultry, Review, UmamiMoto, Vegetables

My wife’s work is awesome. Why? Because once a week, Umami Moto rolls in during lunchtime and feeds the hungry masses!

Umami Moto, owned by Jae Stulock and Sandy Madachick, is an aptly named foodtruck (loosely translated from the Japanese as “savory car”) that has been on the prowl in Cleveland, OH and surroundings since last winter, bravely weathering lake effect snow (which lasts a good 5 months a year) without a hitch. As you might guess from the name, most of their offerings are Asian-inspired, with an emphasis on Thai and Vietnamese cuisines. Obviously I had my wife treat me, no?

We actually went on two different occasions (yes, it was that tasty!), and here’s what a menu will look like:

The menu varies daily, and gets posted on facebook and twitter in the morning, messing with my poor little head and making it hard to focus on my work rather than which dish to try.

On our first vist I ended up going with fish tacos (not on the pictured menu) with a lime aioli that was absolutely divine and changed my world view concerning all things fish taco. Co-owner Jae Stulock informed me that the secret ingredient is lime simple syrup!

My wife chose a Vietnamese chicken curry served over rice (see the menu above), that reduced her to repeated “Man, this chicken is great. No, it’s so good!” comments in between bites.

So when I returned today (armed with a camera rather than an iPad), I decided to give the vegan snap pea and mushroom stir-fry served over white rice a try, and it was wonderful. The seasoning was spot-on and complemented the earthy mushroom flavor perfectly. I could have easily left the rice for a few more servings of the veggies alone!

I tip my hat to the chefs! Another great thing about Umami Moto is their efforts to use locally produced ingredients, plus all their food containers are made from recycled materials. A+ for responsible business.

Bottom line? When in Cleveland, try to catch Umami Moto. Great flavors, creative dishes, friendly personnel and fair prices. 5/5 from me.

I’ll leave you with a picture co-owner Stulock, who was gracious enough to pose for me with his tasty, tasty vehicle.