Umami, the California-based casual eatery, is part of the slowly sinking SLS Las Vegas. This typically empty hotel and casino was hopping when I stopped by several weeks ago for the NFL kick-off to see the Pats-Steelers game. Despite the unusually busy night, we managed to snag a booth. The room, with its industrial-looking exposed pipes and brick walls, has booths lining the walls, with tables and sofas filling out the center, and on this night a radio crew handing out gifts and prizes.
Several servers were walking around handing out free samples. Great for customers, but awful for the servers as many people probably didn’t order food or tip well because of all the freebies. I tried the skinny fries and sweet potato fries, both well seasoned and crispy. I also tried slider version of their truffle burger and hatch burger — the patties on both were juicy and cooked to about medium. The former only had subtle amounts of truffle in the aioli, cheese, and glaze, while the latter had just enough heat to enhance the flavor.
As for the food we ordered, the Korean fries had a mild kimchi flavor paired with sweet potato fries while the chicken wings had to be sent back because they only gave us five instead of the advertised six. They corrected the mistake and sent out a correct order. Each with a crispy exterior coated in a spicy BBQ sauce. The lone full size burger sampled was the Manly burger ($12). A bit small but filling with a densely packed, overcooked patty topped with house beer-cheddar, bacon lardons, smoked salt onion strings, ketchup and mustard. The branded bun was a nice touch.
The quality and variety of burgers and appetizers lags behind the top burger joints in town, but it was a cool spot to watch the game thanks to the in-house sporting book, large TVs scattered throughout the room and the smaller TV right at our booth.
2.5 Stars
SLS Las Vegas
2535 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 761-7614
