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| This is the lounge section of the restaurant, you can eat here as well if you'd like |
I'm a Harry Potter fan and as you well know Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part II came out in theaters just recently (last weekend), unfortunately I'm not a fan of crowded theaters and so Mr. Borscht and I decided to go mid-week, Wednesday to be precise, to catch the film in theaters then when it wouldn't be so dreadfully crowded, this as it seems would backfire as I forgot to account for the Summer holiday and so the theater was packed anyway, I suppose it was a good try and would have worked except for all those kids on holiday... But I am an optimist and have a habit of looking at the brighter side of things no matter what the situation, I called this my built in defense mechanism.
I say, though the theater was crowded Mr. Borscht and I had a lovely "Wednesday date-night". The movie start time was 8:30PM, so Mr. Borscht and I decided to have dinner right before near the theater. We decided to eat at a Brazilian restaurant lounge called Ummba Grill. I've been here before and though the food isn't "fantastic" it isn't terrible either.
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| There's the view of the cinema from our table |
We sat down a few minutes to 7PM and made it just in time for Happy Hour, I've really been into Sangria as of late and so ordered Sangria while Mr. Borscht had a Mojito.
The Mojito wasn't the best, there wasn't enough mint or sugar and because of the lack of these two key ingredients the Mojito was a bit plain. The Sangria thankfully a different story was absolutely delicious or perhaps I just thought so because of all the fruit that was muddled in it, the drink literally had bits and chunks of fruit floating in it, it was refreshing, just sweet enough and truly hit the spot. If you come here for a drink at the lounge and are choosing between Sangria and Mojito, you can't even compare, just do yourself a favor and go with the Sangria.
If you've never been to Ummba Grill this is the way it works, you order a meat entree: chicken, beef or fish and then you order two sides (and there are many beautiful sides to pick from). Mr. Borscht opted for Brazilian Sausage with a side of Roasted Red Beets and the Hearts of Palm, Cucumber, Tomato Salad.
The sausages were a bit salty and a bit dry, had it not been for these two mishaps it would have been nearly perfect. The hearts of palm salad was slightly salty but still was very delicious, the texture of the hearts of palm, the fresh crunch of the cucumbers, the juicy tomatoes all with a zing from the lemon juice which was undoubtedly part of the sauce was mouth-watering (actually my mouth is watering just writing about it!) I kept picking at his salad and nearly ate the whole damn thing!
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| Hearts of Palm, Cucumber and Tomato Salad, voted the "most tastiest" dish of the evening |
Roasted red beet salad, perfect. The beets were soft, the sauce light and sweet, with each moist bite the yummy taste of roasted red beets was clear and simple. Out of the entire dinner the roasted red beets were made the most perfect.
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| Roasted Red Beets- voted "most perfect" dish of the evening |
I ordered what I usually get when I come here, though I haven't been to Ummba Grill for quite some time, the Medium Rare Garlic Beef with a side of Roasted Red Beets and Papas Chorreadas.
I was slightly disappointed with the Garlic Beef this Wednesday night and had much tastier Garlic Beef at this exact same place. First of all, I ordered medium-rare Garlic Beef but the done-ness of the meat was more like medium, this resulted in a tougher and less moist beef than I'm used to eating. Second, I wanted GARLIC beef, this was definitely beef but the Garlic was sparse, I was aiming to kill the entire theater with the smell of my garlic mouth, the ammunition this night was lacking and there would be no killing tonight so it would seem. Thirdly, while Mr. Borscht's cute little Brazilian sausages were packed with a salty and flavorful punch my Garlic Beef was lacking not only in garlic but also in saltiness. This all adds up to a rather sad and less than flavorful and favorful Garlic beef- Boo to that!
However! The Papas Chorreadas, very similar to a potato gratin except layered with cheese and some kind of vegetable tomato sauce was something new to Tummy and absolutely yummy.
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| Papas Chorreadas, Brazilian Potato Gratin |
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| We ate as much as we could but found the portions to be deceivingly large |
Though the meat was something to complain about, which is absolutely terrible for a Brazilian Churrascaria where meat is the specialty, the experience was delightful and I don't just mean in company. Outdoor seating where one may look about and people-watch with heat lamps for comfort is always interesting, good drinks (well the Sangria was good anyways), the service was very friendly, but best of all is the way one orders here at Ummba Grill: pick one meat dish and two sides to accompany it. There are about 14-18 cold and hot side dishes to pick from and all of them sound interesting and tasty, I think this is just fabulous and fun, almost like ordering custom-made entrees.
Here is Tummy's sound advice should you find your way to Ummba Grill, if you want to have a "for-sure" drink order a wine that you know you like and don't come here to taste the best Brazilian food, it's not the best Brazilian food but like I said it's fun and interesting. Do come for dinner before a movie though, I can't tell you how convenient it was to eat and then get up and walk across to the cinema.
1 Brazilian sausage + 2 sides
1 Garlic beef + 2 sides
1 Happy Hour Mojito
1 Happy Hour Sangria
The Damage: $41.60
Ummba Grill
10250 Santa Monica Blvd
LA CA 90067
(310) 552.2014
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