MOM’S TOUCH Shibuya on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Burger obsessives, thank you for waiting. It is Hangover Meshi time.
So — I happened to be passing, essentially. MOM’S TOUCH in Shibuya.
Korea’s number one burger and chicken brand, and this appears to be its first shop in Japan. The signature item, the Thighburger, has sold over 500 million since it launched in Korea in 2005.
Five hundred million.
When it opened the queues must have been formidable, but by now it seems to be fine.
Their official ambassadors are LE SSERAFIM, apparently.
Quite a colour scheme. Very K-pop, or loud, or stylish, depending on how you look at it.
And the system is interesting. You do not order at the entrance — you go up to the first floor, take a seat, and order at one of the terminals installed there. When your number appears on the monitor, that is the signal it is ready, and you collect it downstairs. There are several terminals upstairs, so there is no waiting at all, which is a pleasure. I would like every fast-food place to adopt this.
I went for the set with the famous Thighburger, of course. Chips as a side is not very interesting, so I picked the cheese balls. Zero cola to drink. After a short wait the number on my receipt appeared on the monitor, and down I went to collect it.
A thick sesame bun with a freshly fried chicken thigh patty in it — the “thigh” of the name — the signature item of Korea’s MOM’S TOUCH. Cheese balls on the side.
What does a five-hundred-million-seller taste like?
The fried chicken is so large that it is far too thick to get your mouth around in one go. Even so, working at a corner of it, the crust breaks with a light crisp sound and the juices come flooding out from behind. The springiness and juiciness that only thigh meat gives are very good.
In there with it: crisp lettuce, sweet onion and a mayonnaise-based sauce. There is a faint suggestion of spice in the sauce as well, so it never becomes monotonous. That crunch-then-flood texture may indeed be something other burgers do not have. With the sheer volume too, it is very good. No wonder it has sold.
And the cheese balls. The freshly fried coating is light and crisp, and the cheese inside stretches into threads as it melts. Bite-sized, but each bite gives you scalding cheese, and they are very good. Useful for when chips would be a bit too filling.
So — first experience of MOM’S TOUCH, and I can see why it became popular. Quite a substantial crisp-and-juicy chicken. Somehow it also feels lower in calories than a beef patty. The prices are reasonable too, and if there were one nearby I suspect I would keep dropping in. If I spot one somewhere I will have it again.
May you meet something good to eat today too.
MOM’S TOUCH Shibuya (burgers / Shibuya Station, Shinsen Station, Meiji-jingumae Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.