Located at Tokyo Dome City, right between the Under Armour Tokyo Giants shop and the Japanese Hall of Fame is “The Burgers Tokyo”.
The restaurant which is owned by Italian Tomato (who operates restaurants such as Faribeurre, IL VIGORE, Italian Tomato Cafe, Caffe Superiore, Panes House, Soy Italian and Kurami) prides itself in calling their burgers the ultimate premium burger and gourmet sandwich restaurant.
All breads are baked every day using a stone kiln inside the shop and their staple pieces are roast beef, ham and bacon which are sliced inside the shop.
Going inside The Burgers Tokyo, you quickly notice the western music playing and also how clean the restaurant is. The restaurant is a 36-seater with non-smoking seats. The restaurant is open seven days a week and is open from 10:00 a.m. to 20:30 p.m. with the last order at 20:00 p.m.
It was cool to see Heinz ketchup and mustard on the tables and looking over the menu, it was quite simple and that’s good. You don’t want a burger shop with too many selections.
Burgers are under Y900 and included a cheeseburger, teriyaki burger, avocado burger, bacon and egg burger or sandwiches (which ranged from Y680-Y830) such as the BLT, bacon and egg, roast beef and you have soft drinks for Y300 and draft beer for Y600.
And I know that Japanese bacon is much different than the bacon we are accustomed to in the United States, so the bacon and egg burger was what I wanted to try.
The fries were delicious but something similar that you would eat in the United States.
The burger is normal size, so nothing small like Moss Burger and the egg was served sunnyside up.
As for the bacon, in America, we are used to having our bacon made crispy but Japanese do not like to cook their bacon that way. The goal is having smoked bacon with fat but served similar to how many prefer their steak to be medium-rare.
American bacon is from pork belly, Canadian bacon is from the loin of the pig, British bacon is from the loin but with the fat left from the pork belly in tack.
Japanese bacon on the other hand is cured, smoked pork belly but unlike the US, the meat is not sold raw and is processed, precooked and has a ham-like consistency when cooked.
To be truthful, I don’t like my bacon with a lot of fat. Actually, I don’t like meat with a lot of fat. But as my physician friends and even paleo-loving friends keep telling me, “eat the fat”. And in Japan, for 2016, I decided to do just that.
To make this work, I made sure that I ate just as much of the burger with the bacon fat from the karikari bacon and popped the egg yolk (I grew up with sunnyside up eggs and eating it with my rice). Granted, it got a little messy and unlike restaurants in the United States which you can get as many napkins that you want to go along with your meal, but in Japan, you are typically given a wet wipe to clean your hands and a single napkin.
But the gourmet burger was delicious!
As the price of the meal was almost $11 for burger, fries and a drink, this is a normal price in Japan versus the usual $6-$9 one is used to spending for a burger in the US. And I felt you got more with this burger than the standard (unappealing) burger you get from other restaurants in Tokyo.
Customer service was great, atmosphere was relaxing and cool and for the most part, The Burgers Tokyo was a great place to kick back and eat with friends and you’re not rushed to get up and leave.
It also helps that the restaurant is located in a convenient area of Tokyo Dome City, especially if you are a baseball fan.
Overall, if you want to experience a gourmet burger in Tokyo and want to avoid the usual McDonald’s, Burger King and other shops that you are used to in America, then give The Burgers Tokyo at Tokyo Dome City a try!
