Trader Vic's

Since Tokyo is an international city, there are many places for the foreigners to stay in. From the transit standpoint, places like Shinjuku and Shinagawa are a good place to start your Tokyo search. For people who are more familiar with the Tokyo subway transit system, hotels near Akasaka-Mitsuke station might a good place to stay; if you are familiar with the subways, it is a good place to hang around Tokyo. And, as an added bonus, Roppongi is pretty close to the area.

In The New Otani hotel, one of the most famous hotels near the Akasaka area, there is a Trader Vic’s restaurant which might make the travelers feel comfortable after their dose of Japanese food. Very many Japanese people miss the soy-sauce flavor after they go onto trips outside of Japan; I think the same things will happen to the foreigners who travel to Japan. When you are thirsty for a good tasting American food, eating hamburgers will do the trick. And if you stay at that hotel, you won’t have to leave the hotel to get your treat.

At the bar counter area of Trader Vic’s, they offer three kinds of hamburgers. “The Perfect Burger”, “The Ultimate Burger” and “Aloha Burger”. They are all price at 3150 yen, excluding service charge. Since they first started with the “Perfect Burger” and then expanded the burger menu, I chose the “Perfect Burger” for my dinner. The attendant advised me that the burger will take about 20 to 30 minutes to prepare.

After about 25 minutes, the hamburger is served. The hamburger comes with the chili sauce, two onion rings and ton of French fries. The hamburger itself is huge. Also, they provide two different sauces, a very hot mustard sauce and a rather sweet barbeque sauce. The attendant said that the mustard is very hot; I didn’t take him so seriously, but it is hotter than the usual mustards, it resembles “wasabi” which is Japanese horseradish that can be found in sushi. If you take it too much at once, your nose will go on fire!

The buns are covered up with the sesame seeds. From the bottom, the ingredients are as follows; lettuce, half-pound Japanese beef patty, cheddar cheese, onion, tomato, two strips of bacon, avocado, and mayonnaise. Since the buns are pretty solid and the ingredients are stacked high, taking the first bite is pretty difficult. On the first bite, you will notice the sweet taste of the sesame seeds, which covers the crown part of the buns. After that, you will be delighted by the harmony of the taste, created by the fine ingredients. The hamburger itself is light-flavored. The direct taste of the fine ingredients will make you very happy. Since this hamburger comes with mustard. BBQ sauce and chili, after a while you may want to put some of the sauce to make the hamburger taste different. Be careful not to put too much mustard, but the mix of mustard and BBQ sauce is very satisfying. The chili sauce is also spicy, by putting it on; you will discover a new dimension of this Trader Vic’s hamburger. The onion rings are crispy on the outside, very juicy in the inside.

For the “Ultimate Burger”, it has sautéed onions and mushroom, covered with two kind of melted cheese, complete with the half-pound Japanese beef patty. “Aloha Burger” is a Hawaiian-style burger, complete with pineapple and sweet sauce.

If you are homesick of American foods, maybe going to a place like Trader Vic’s and enjoying hamburgers will ease your homesickness. It is one of the most expensive hamburgers in Japan, but it’s worth the money.

----SHOP INFORMATION----

Official Homepage: http://www.newotani.co.jp/en/tokyo/restaurant/vics/index.html 

Hours: Lunch : 11:30p.m.-2:30p.m.
         Dinner : 5:00p.m.-10:00p.m.
         Bar : 11:30a.m.-1:00a.m.

Address: Hotel New Ohtani
Nearest Station: Tokyo Metro Akasaka-Mitsuke Sta. (G05/M13)
                      (Tokyo Metro (Subway) Ginza Line/ Marunouchi Line)
How to go: Get off at  Akasaka-Mitsuke Station, head for exit #D.
    Cross the bridge, and you will find the New Otani Hotel on your right.
    4th Floor in the New Otani Hotel.

Goro's Diner

The so-called "gourmet burger" phenomenon is getting bigger in

Japan

, and the number of the restaurants which serve high-quality hamburgers are growing each month. Since I have a blog about these kinds of "gourmet burgers", people often ask me which hamburger that I like the most. I myself don't like "ranking" the shops at all, because each person has a different taste of things. But when I get those questions, I answer to them, "Go to Goro's Diner near Gaiemmae", and see what happens.

This is a very small restaurant; it has only four tables, and seats about 10 people at the maximum. Because of this limited space, you might have to wait for a while to be seated during lunchtime hours. But the hamburgers they provide are very much worth the wait.

This time, I ordered a Bacon Cheeseburger, priced at 1,300 yen. The hamburger comes with French fries. After about 10 minutes, the hamburger is served.

Beautiful balance...

This is a HUGE hamburger. Jaw-dropping in many ways. This hamburger includes cheddar cheese, bacon, beef patty, grilled onion, tomato, lettuces, and tartar-sauce. There are many ways to eat this hamburger, but try to eat it using your hands and dig in. It might help to compress the hamburger by gently pushing it from the top, so that it will be easier to dig in.

After the first bite, you will be delighted by the rich and special flavor of this hamburger, thanks to the special blend of spices. The bacons are crisp, and the beef patty is juicy; you will appreciate the paper bag that comes with the hamburger. The vegetables are very fresh; you'll notice that the lettuce is very crisp. The homemade tartar-sauce at the bottom rounds out the flavoring for this hamburger. This hamburger is the complete package. Despite the huge volume, it will be easy to consume this hamburger because of the great taste.

By the way, the chef's name is not "Goro". "Goro" is the chef's son's name.

----SHOP INFORMATION----

Official Homepage: http://gorosdiner.com/

Hours: Mon-Sat 11:30-22:00 (Last order: 21:30)
         Sunday 12:00-18:00 (Last order: 17:00
         *Closed on Japanese Holidays, occasionally on Sundays.

Address: Shibuya-Ku, Jingu-mae, 3-41-2, Okamoto Bldg. 1F
Nearest Station: Tokyo Metro Gaiemmae Sta. (G03)
                      (Tokyo Metro (Subway) Ginza Line)
How to go: Get off at Gaiemmae Station, head for exit #3.
    After crossing the street, head left for "Bell commons"
    Turn right at "Bell commons", and at the first signal, turn right.
    The restaurant on your left; highlighted with a big red "G" mark.

Introduction

Hamburgers... one of the most famous American food creations. While hamburgers are widely recognized as a "Fast food" by many, there are many restaurants in the Tokyo area that offers amazingly delicious hamburgers. In this blog, I'd like to introduce the delicious hamburgers you can eat in the Tokyo area. Enjoy!