A note on the words: gourmet burger is the Japanese term for a thick, handmade burger crafted from quality cuts and artisanal buns, while Bikkuriman is a classic Japanese wafer snack famous for its collectible character stickers. In this article, the cheeseburger comes with a coarsely ground patty that may well be hand-chopped, inside a brioche-style bun, accompanied by a fresh salad tossed in soy-milk mayonnaise that you fold in yourself.
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THE BURGER SHOP on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. Remembering that there was a place in Kojimachi I hadn’t visited yet, I headed over to “THE BURGER SHOP.” A burger shop sitting across from Hotel Rupor, it’s a place that became a talking point when, at some point, President Trump apparently came by. Wondering if I could get in now that quite a few years have passed, I showed up to find it opened at 11:00 and was already completely full by 11:20! Clearly still a massively popular shop. And yes, the entrance is rather hard to spot, so plenty of people were wandering around looking for it, ha.
Inside was a sticker of President Trump done in the style of Bikkuriman, the Japanese sticker-and-wafer series!
It seems the President Trump effect is still very much alive.
Steakhouse burger — 2,390 yen
Double steakhouse burger (two patties) — 3,080 yen
The Trump Tower (three patties) — 3,740 yen
There’s an option with a Burger Zeus sticker parodying Trump, and another with a towel, ha.
They even have merchandise! A Burger Zeus sticker for 250 yen — whether to consider that pricey or not!
Now, this time I went with the cheeseburger instead of the steakhouse burger.
Rather than something loaded with diced steak chunks, I wanted to try an ordinary patty first!
Now then — weekday only, perhaps? — instead of water, vegetable juice is served.
Today’s blend is posted inside the shop so you can check it there. The sweetness is quite clean, making it very easy to drink.
With gourmet burger spots, the patties are quite large so they often take time to cook and arrive slowly, but this came out relatively fast — maybe around five minutes? I was hungry, so that was welcome, ha.
Ooh, looks delicious!
The staff told me to mix the accompanying salad and tuck it inside the burger, so I mixed it right up and layered it on.
Ooh, looks delicious.
It’s quite large, so thinking it might be difficult to bite into directly, I asked if they had a knife and they brought one out. Much appreciated.
Cutting into it and taking a bite: yep, delicious. Really good.
The buns are brioche-style with plenty of butter and a touch of sweetness. Toasted crisp, the bread alone is delicious.
The patty is coarsely ground and thoroughly meaty. Because the chunks vary in size, it might be hand-chopped.
Here and there, actual steak-like morsels make an appearance. Packed with savory red-meat flavor and plenty of salt and pepper, it’s wonderful.
The salad I mixed earlier has pickles, tomato, onion, lettuce, and a slightly sweet soy-milk mayonnaise.
This pairs with the burger to absolute perfection.
My honest impression: it really lives up to a visit from President Trump! Truly delicious. I thought it ranks quite near the top among all the gourmet burgers I’ve eaten so far. Next time I might finally try the recommended steakhouse burger.
THE BURGER SHOP (Hamburger / Kojimachi Station, Nagatacho Station, Hanzomon Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
