Looking for a good hamburger in Japan

[torakris]

I have to admit one of the things I miss the most about not being is the US is the hamburgers. Every now and then I get a craving for one and am always disappointed by the offerings here.

I just ran across this list of supposedly good hamburger joints in Tokyo:

http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyo/468/dining.asp

I think I need to check some out

Anyone have any favorite places?

[skchai]

Kua`aina in Hawai`i is always listed near the top of local places when it comes to upscale-type burgers. Remember being shocked at seeing a branch in Shibuya last year - couldn't believe it was actually associated with the operation in Hawai`i, but I guess from the article that it is. . .

[prasantrin]

Kua`aina in Hawai`i is always listed near the top of local places when it comes to upscale-type burgers. Remember being shocked at seeing a branch in Shibuya last year - couldn't believe it was actually associated with the operation in Hawai`i, but I guess from the article that it is. . .

When I made my monthy trip to Tokyo, I always went to Kua'aina for lunch, even though there was little else I wanted to do in the area (there was only one at the time--near Kinokuniya food store). They have excellent burgers--big, juicy, messy, and tasty too! I would say it is the best burger I've ever had. I always tried to have an early lunch, though, since it would get very busy around noon and it would be almost impossible to find a seat. The seating was over three levels, with each level being relatively small. They used a dumb-waiter to send your food up to you when it was ready.

For anyone in Japan who's dying for a good burger, that's the place to go!

[margaret]

I used to live right next door to that Kua'aina in Aoyama, and I agree with the good reviews. It is pretty small and it does get crowded, though.

[Sinbad]

I have to admit one of the things I miss the most about not being is the US is the hamburgers. Every now and then I get a craving for one and am always disappointed by the offerings here.

I just ran across this list of supposedly good hamburger joints in Tokyo:

http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyo/468/dining.asp

I think I need to check some out

Anyone have any favorite places?

I'll second the opinions on Kua'aina, and they have some decent microbrewed beers too. It is a real burger joint to unlike most other names on the list which are "real restaurants".

Fujimamas is a restaurant I recommend not only for their burgers, it's has pretty good fusion food at a reasonable price (although sometimes the combinations don't work).

Need to check out Pe’z Magic on my next trip to Japan, I noticed it's in the building I lived my first year in Tokyo.

Johnny Rockets in Roppongi is pretty good too.

Not a burger, but if you crave a large serving of meat the EX Bar in Roppongi is recommended. Their meat-loaf with vegetables is HUGE. The EX Bar is also the best Ex-Pat hangout on the whole planet.

It's actually easy to find a good burger in Tokyo, but try to find a good hot-dog.

[jrufusj]

I have to admit one of the things I miss the most about not being is the US is the hamburgers. Every now and then I get a craving for one and am always disappointed by the offerings here.

[snippety snip]

Anyone have any favorite places?

Kristin:

I haven't tried any of the places in the article, as I'm not normally looking for a burger when I am in Tokyo. Of course, it would be different if I lived there. Everyone needs a good burger from time to time. Then again, Seoul is pretty far down on the burger chain as well.

I have had a burger a few times at the Tokyo American Club. If you have any friends who belong, get them to take you along and go to Traders' Bar for a burger. The price is right too. It should be when one has paid a joining fee and pays monthly dues.

I imagine your schedule is damn near impossible with three kids, but I'd be happy to take you to lunch there on one of my trips if you could break away. It'd be interesting to meet someone from eGullet.

That's it...Burger Club Tokyo.

Jim

[torakris]

I have to admit one of the things I miss the most about not being is the US is the hamburgers. Every now and then I get a craving for one and am always disappointed by the offerings here.

[snippety snip]

Anyone have any favorite places?

Kristin:

I haven't tried any of the places in the article, as I'm not normally looking for a burger when I am in Tokyo. Of course, it would be different if I lived there. Everyone needs a good burger from time to time. Then again, Seoul is pretty far down on the burger chain as well.

I have had a burger a few times at the Tokyo American Club. If you have any friends who belong, get them to take you along and go to Traders' Bar for a burger. The price is right too. It should be when one has paid a joining fee and pays monthly dues.

I imagine your schedule is damn near impossible with three kids, but I'd be happy to take you to lunch there on one of my trips if you could break away. It'd be interesting to meet someone from eGullet.

That's it...Burger Club Tokyo.

Jim

My husband and I actually had our wedding at the American Club, I don't really remember eating burgers there but we might have. I don't think we have been there since as our "sponsor" moved to Hawaii.

Burger Club Tokyo, I like that!

Give me a ring next time you are here, I would be very happy to get away. especially to eat a burger.

I met my first (not living in Japan) egulleteer a couple weeks ago when Texan and her husband were visiting Tokyo, I took them on a whole day tour of Yokohama and really had a great time, it would really be great to meet some others.

I have been wanting to get to Kua'aina for some time now, but I never in that area, or when I am we already have plans......

[jrufusj]

Ahhh! Shock, horror, extreme disappointment!

I walked over to Zuna Grill for lunch today with a couple of people from work. (If you have to have a meeting during lunch, you might as well do it over pleasant food.)

To my dismay, it was closed. There were no signs indicating that it was a permanent closure, but the doors were locked tight and the lights were off. This was 12:30 on a Tuesday. No logical reason they should be closed, but the B-1 level of the building was deserted.

Of course, my disappointment was muted when we walked down the street for some good kisu/anago tendon. Not garden variety, restaurant-that-serves-everything-under-the-sun tendon, but tendon from a place that every night turns into a proper one-piece-at-a-time-fresh-and-hot-from-the-fryer tempura shop.

They only serve tendon and kakiage for lunch. It's one of those no-name places on the second floor of a nondescript building. Still disappointed about the burger, but the lunch was good. Especially the kisu. I know kisu is out of season, but this was good.

Jim

[torakris]

Well took the family to kua' aina (Odaiba branch) yesterday and was very impressed the burger were great. The only disappointment was that they don't have a child size burger, it was a lot of money to spend for kid (and I have 3 of them!)

for $50 we had

1/2lb avocado burger (husband)

1/3lb avocado burger (me, I order first and if I had known he was going to get the same thing I would have ordered the pineapple one! )

2 hamburger A sets with fries and drinks (iced tea and guave juice)- only 2 drinks for the 5 of us....

popcorn shrimp

large order of onion rings (these were very good, another thing hard to find here)

I am definitely going to go again but not with the kids......

[torakris]

I just discovered the hamburger blog!

it is in Japanese but has lots of great pictures, Japan has more choices than I realized....

[prasantrin]

I just discovered the hamburger blog!

it is in Japanese but has lots of great pictures, Japan has more choices than I realized....

←

That's a great site! It makes me thankful for Kua'Aina, though. Some of those burgers looked pretty...sad. That Freshness Cafe burger--now I'm really glad I never ate there (have one or two in Kobe, and I've been tempted to try it).

[torakris]

I just ran across this article that is announcing the launch of Saizeriya's (a very cheap family restaurant chain) entry into the fast food market.

The menu, consisting of burgers, tacos, pizza, salads and soups, is very reasonably priced with the tacos costing only 150 yen ($1.35).

I wonder if these prices will have any impact on the other fast food chains, especially Mos burger which seems to be getting pricier.

[sanrensho]

Those are some big slices of tomatos. And a lot of lettuce.

You'll have to do a report (with pics) to let us know if the burgers are actually the size of a small child's fist. I completely avoided MOS Burger when I lived in Japan because of the cost/size ratio. There is no way I could get out of a MOS Burger and feel satisfied without ordering two meals. For that price, a neigbourhood teishoku joint offers much better ingredients and value.

[dougery]

Those are some big slices of tomatos. And a lot of lettuce.

←

... or REALLY small burgers

[torakris]

Those are some big slices of tomatos. And a lot of lettuce.

You'll have to do a report (with pics) to let us know if the burgers are actually the size of a small child's fist. I completely avoided MOS Burger when I lived in Japan because of the cost/size ratio. There is no way I could get out of a MOS Burger and feel satisfied without ordering two meals. For that price, a neigbourhood teishoku joint offers much better ingredients and value.

←

I completely agree about MOS burger, though I love some of their burgers I always leave the place feeling very hungry and like I could have gotten a much better deal almost anywhere else.

Unfortunately this new place is quite far from my house...

I too am quite curious as to the size of the burgers, they do look good.

[pirate]

This story is on the web

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050829/kyodo/d8c95u981.html

I suspect these burgers are delicious.

[torakris]

Big puffy buns encase a juicy handmade paddy, an omelet, slices of bacon and lettuce. The burger usually has a diameter of 10 to 20 centimeters, but there is also one with a 30-cm diameter.

(from the article)

that is one big burger! it sounds good except for the omelet, I still don't care foor eggs on my burgers...

anyone ever try it?

[torakris]

Today there was a flyer and coupons for wendy's in my newspaper. There is a Wendy's very close to me but this is the first time I have ever received a flyer. I haven't been there in about 5 years or so, but some of the burgers look pretty good.

Next week they will be selling a new chicken sandwich called the sesame chicken sandwich,is a deep fried chicken patty topped with a special sesame sauce, lettuce, onions and cucumber slices.

Their menu, unfortunately the chicken burger which debuts on 10/6 isn't listed yet.

[anzu]

That triple burger on the Wendy's page looks scary somehow. How to get your mouth around it?

But seeing the shrimp burger brought back memories. We'd been living in Japan close to a Wendy's, and this was the only thing I ever ordered there. Then we spent several years in a country without Wendy's before moving to Columbus OH - birthplace of Wendy's. Getting shrimp burgers again was one of the things I was most looking forward to.

And then I found that they don't sell shrimp burgers in the US.

[fenyx66]

I love burgers too, and when I go into Tokyo, that's what I end up eating. I find that Hard Rock has an excellent burger. It tastes like a homemade burger and the toasted bun is really nice. Their Hickory BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger rocks!!! I am so hungry right now. I also go to TGIF and their burgers are ok, their fries and onion rings are really good. Also, their Jack Daniel's ribs are great. I must find that kua'aina that you guys were talking about. Sounds great!

[nakji]

Recently I had a great burger at Homeworks, in Hiro-o, just a block down from National Azabu Supermarket

(which I was extremely disappointed with - I went expecting a Hong Kong's City Centre style market, and ended up with a store full of defrosting off-the-base hot dogs and repackaged Costco items )

In consolation, we went for burgers, and they were great! We had 150 g burgers with bacon and cheese, and they came with juicy fresh vegetables, and some sort of sour cream/onion/cream cheese schmear. The fries were indifferent - I wouldn't bother to get them again, they were just frozen shoes strings. The onion rings were breaded, which I prefer to tempura style, like MOS Burger. Two Asahi draft, two burgers, one onion rings, one large fries came to about 4,000 yen. They have homemade desserts as well, but I was stuffed. The atmosphere was casual, and there's no smoking on weekends!

[torakris]

I stopped going to National Azabu many, many years ago....

Homeworks sounds interesting, while I was looking for a homepage for it (which I couldn't find) I stumbled across another burger shop that sounds promising (and cheaper!)

Has anyone ever been to The Hamburger Inn in Roppongi?

[nakji]

I can't read enough of the site to tell - do they make their own french fries? That to me would be worth a trip to Roppongi.

[torakris]

I can't read enough of the site to tell - do they make their own french fries? That to me would be worth a trip to Roppongi.

←

I can't tell. They don't say anything on the site and looking through all the magazine write-ups (on the main homepage) leaves me even more confused. The picture from the magazine BOAO has what looks like hand cut fries but the other pictures are quite different. It might depend on the burger or time of day? The BOAO picture shows the 1500 yen burger while the other ones are showing an 800 yen one. The lunch set sounds like a good deal, burger (or sandwich or hot dog) + soup of the day + drink for 1000yen.

[raji]

In Japan earlier this year (this trip was almost a month so I was jonesing) the best burger I consumed was in Shimo-Kitazawa

http://shimokitareviews.blogspot.com/2007/...e-vanguard.html

I think this dude listed an unassociated link:

http://www.village-v.co.jp/

It was fully worthy of most any burger joint in NYC and LA, not to mention the topping selection.

My other favorites from living there were Kuwa'ana, there's one in right near Aoyama-Gakuin on Aoyama-dori, and Johnny Rockets near Roppongi Kosaten