Gourmet burger near god of safe delivery in Ningyocho

The most popular place in Tokyo for praying smooth delivery is Suitengu shrine (水天宮), located in Ningyocho(人形町). Each god has each specialty. Now the shrine is closed for refurbished but its temporary shrine opens nearby cause expecting mothers wish to visit before their childbirth (I also did!). Near the temporary shrine. there is a famous hamburger shop called "BROZERS' (ブラザーズ)", one of the originals of gourmet burger. 

  

Temporary Suitengu shrine, god of safe delivery

BROZERS' in Ningyocho

Inside

Avocado cheese burger and Perrier

BROZERS' is not on the big street, but the vivid red colored shop is eye-catching in Ningyocho which has many old companies and restaurants. Interior is like an american diner in 60 or 70s. Standard hamburger costs JPY1,000 and avocado cheese burger costs JPY1,300. French fries, onion rings and pickled are served together. 

Their hamburger is tasty, indeed. Especially, hamburg made of only beef is big, juicy and delicious. According to their HP, wagyu beef oil is added for making the taste better. Combination with fresh lettuce and rich avocado is wonderful. On the other hand, tasting for avocado burger seems only salt and pepper and not so strong (BBQ sauce is used for other burgers). If ketchup and mustard is used for the remaining 1/3, we could enjoy the change of tasting and eat up smoothly. My rating is 3.7 out of 5. Gochiso-samadeshita!

BROZERS' (ブラザーズ)  http://brozers.co.jp/   

Tasty hamburger in Sendagi

Along the Dangozaka (団子坂), just near the Sendagi (千駄木) metro station, there is a small hamburger shop named "Rainbow Kitchen (レインボーキッチン)." The atmosphere is like an old american diner, which might be suitable for tasting hamburger:) I visited the shop after a long interval, and I found the taste became much better than before! 

Exterior of "Rainbow Kitchen"

Inside

Avocado burger

Bacon cheese burger 

First, they may changed bread. The new bread seems hand-made by a bakery. The soft and dainty bread functions well as a basis of hamburger. The hamburg steak itself is very juicy and delicious. The steak is made of Japanese beef only. The use of seasoning was also good. (though the tasting of avocado burger is a bit light.) 

Curled french fry might be their feature. Its light and crispy texture is addictive. The price of a burger with french fry and pickles is from JPY900 to 1,400. Recommendable burger other than big chains' burgers. My rating is 3.6 out of 5. Gochiso-samadeshita!

Popular Japanese hamburger chain

MOS BURGER (モスバーガー) is a popular Japanese hamburger chain which does business in Japan and Asia. We call it just as "MOS (モス)" and MOS is intermediate between cheep mega chains like MacDonald's and hamburger specialty shops whose burger is more than JPY1,000. MOS's shop is like a cozy cafe. Interior is light and clean.

MOS BURGER 

Inside 

Salad and clam chowder 

Mos cheese burger and onion ring and french fry 

MOS's burgers are from JPY320 to JPY500. They stick to "Japaneseness" and there are also "rice burgers" in their products. We can eat just-made hamburgers after ordering. Taste is generally gentle as food additive is not used. Their quality control on food security is high, and we can enjoy their products in relief. They use domestic ingredients and disclose the names of producers on each item. If you travel to Japan, you can try MOS as an experience in Japan! My rating is 2.6 out of 5. Gochiso-samamdeshita!

MOS BURGER (モスバーガー) http://www.mos.co.jp/index.php

Stay in Yokohama

Though Yokohama(横浜) is close to Tokyo, around 40 minutes ride by the train, I stayed at a hotel of "PAN PACIFIC Yokohama Bay Hotel Tokyu(パンパシフィック横浜ベイ東急)", which is located just next to the venue of the live of Masaharu Fukuyama. Actually, the live was finished around 9 pm and the train was too crowded. it was also good to stay continually in Yokohama to enjoy the resonance of the live. Yokohama is a romantic city.

Yokohama bay area

Lobby of PAN PACIFIC Yokohama Bay Hotel Tokyu

A corner twin room 

Bathroom 

The lobby of the hotel is full of nice citrus aroma. The atmosphere was good. I like it. Our room was spacious with good amenities that we could be relaxed. The hotel has several famous restaurants inside such as Turandot (Chinese), Queen Alice(French), etc. But their last order time was around 9pm and we had no chance to taste.

Entrance of AMERICAN HOUSE

Inside 

Frozen beer 

Fried potato with cheese 

Hamburg steak 

Hamburger 

As we were so hungry after the aggressive live, we went to a diner named "AMERICAN HOUSE(アメリカンハウス)", just close to the hotel.  As a result, hearty American dishes fully met the demand of our hungry stomach. The taste was not bad. Hamburg using lean beef was juicy and yummy. Maybe our excitement and enthusiasm made the taste better. My rating is 2.8 out of 5. Gochiso-samadeshita!   

PAN PACIFIC Yokohama Bay Hotel Tokyu(パンパシフィック横浜ベイ東急) 
http://pphy.co.jp/index.htm

AMERICAN HOUSE(アメリカンハウス)
http://www.americanhouse.co.jp/restaurants/americanhouse-qsy.html  

On a morning that I got up early...

As I woke up early in a morning, I decided to have a breakfast outside and to walk for two-three stations on the way to the office. Currently autumn leaves have been very beautiful that I can keep walking by enjoying them. Particularly, yellow gingko threes are glorious (though sometimes smelly...). I was fascinated by the autumn colors with some historical buildings around Ochanomizu(御茶ノ水) such as the Yusima Seido(湯島聖堂), Nikorai-do(ニコライ堂), etc.  

Yushima Seido (Tokugawa Bureaucrats training center)

Gingko trees around Ochanomizu Station

Nikorai-do (Japanese orthodox church) 

FRESHNESS BURGER

Cheese burger and spiced hot tea

After so long, I went to "FRESHNESS BURGER(フレッシュネスバーガー)", a Japanese hamburger chain. When I was a student, I loved this chain and thought their burgers very delicious. Their taste and price are higher than those of mega chains like McDonald's. Each item of both hamburgers and drinks costs from JPY300. In this morning, I ordered a cheese burger and a spiced hot tea. It takes a bit time to be served as each burger is cooked only after the order.

The first taste in a long while was...not bad but not so impressive as in my memory. In particular, the taste of bread seemed not so good. Maybe my sense of taste has been improved by tasting many good hamburgers at the specialty shops...My rating is 2 out of 5. But! I still love the FRESHNESS BURGER, the taste of my youth. Gochiso-samadeshita!

FRESHNESS BURGER(フレッシュネスバーガー)　http://www.freshnessburger.co.jp/

Authentic hamburger near Kagurazaka

According to kind advice of Mr. Bergman, owner of "MARTINI BURGER(マティーニバーガー)" near Kagurazaka (神楽坂), I went to the restaurant on weekend! The restaurant is located between Edogawabashi (江戸川橋) and Kagurazaka, which needs less than 10 minutes walk from each Subway Station. We arrived around 2:00pm, but all the tables except one were occupied!  

Exterior of MARTINI BURGER

Inside

Menu and fresh NY beer "Brooklyn Lager" 

Brooklyn burger 

West side burger

The restaurant seems new and the interior is so clean and bright. White and blue colored wall makes the space stylish and wooden furniture makes it chic at the same time. I found a lovely flower was decorated on each table and I liked it.

At lunch time, wide variety of hamburgers and sandwiches are on the menu. If we order a set meal, one preferable side dish like mash potato, salad, creamed spinach, etc. are coming together. MARTINI BURGER focuses on cocktails using vodka and prepares only one beer. But the beer was super! I tasted "Brooklyn Lager", fresh NY beer for the first time and it was so nice! The combination with burger was perfect and I ordered two large glasses. 

Burgers were so tasty. Bands, hamburg, potato were well grilled and the smell stimulated appetite. Sauces and cheese were added enough and juicy! The volume of meat was also big enough. Around 200g? After eating, I was so satisfied. Each burger costs around JPY1,000.

The atmosphere is nice with showing an old Hollywood movie of Gene Kelly and good music. My favorite Taj Jackson was also played. We could spend a good afternoon having a nice burger branch. My rating is 3.6 out of 5. Gochiso-samadeshita!

MARTINI BURGER(マティーニバーガー) http://martini-burger.com/

Lunch at a steak restaurant

On the third floor of the ANA Intercontinental Tokyo (ANAインターコンチネンタル東京) in Tameike-sanno (溜池山王), there is a stake house whose name is just as "THE STEAKHOUSE." Cooks were cooking in the open kitchen and good smell wafted through the restaurant.

Lobby of the ANA Intercontinental Tokyo

THE STEAKHOUSE

Interior of THE STEAKHOUSE

Salad and soup

Beef steak

Beef hamburg 

Beef hamburger 

At the lunch time, THE STEAKHOUSE offers set meals around at reasonably JPY2,000. Value for money! Beef was not wagyu but the one from the U.S. Even so, the taste of lean meat was delicious. Moreover, it seemed the way of grilling was sophisticated so that meats became more flavorful. Side dishes such as french fry grilled vegetables were also good. As the portion was big, we could be full and satisfied. The atmosphere is also nice for being relaxed. My rating is 3.7 out of 5. Gochiso-samadeshita!

THE STEAKHOUSE http://www.anaintercontinental-tokyo.jp/e/rest/steakhouse.html  

Dream hamburger delivery

In Hongo (本郷), 15 minutes walk from my house, there is a very famous hamburger shop named "Fire House (ファイアーハウス)."  Thanks to the big fame, many people always make a queue in front of the shop and we have to wait patiently for delicious hamburgers. But! Fire House has a delivery service and we can taste their hamburgers at home!! It is a dream, isn't it?  

While I do favorite things or housework for 30 minutes, the hamburgers arrive at home! The left is an avocado burger (JPY1,100) and the right is a bacon cheese burger (JPY1,200), our regular order. Yummy, yummy!! Actually, very tasty! Considering the great taste and delivery service, the price is very reasonable. Strong recommend! 

My rating is 4.2 out of 5. Gochiso-samadeshita!

Fire House (ファイアーハウス)
http://www.firehouse.co.jp/

Hamburger at a cafe

In the Marunouchi building (so called "Maru-buil) near the Tokyo station, there is an American style cafe named "WeST PArK CaFE", where businessmen of many national origins, particularly westerners gather at night. The cafe itself is not so large and the space among tables is narrow. The menus are various hamburgers, sandwiches, pizzas, salads and cakes. The selection of alcohol is not bad but the price is not so cheap. For instance, a glass of beer costs around JPY800 to 1,000.

An avocado hamburger with pickles and chips (JPY1,500) was good but non-descript. Recently we can have good quality of hamburgers here and there other than big hamburger chains and I may have a palate on hamburgers! I am wondering why westerners love this cafe so much. Maybe they can drink beers by a pitcher (1.8L)? In fact, guys next to our table enjoyed drinking pitchers of beers... I recommend you to go the cafe at night as you can enjoy the illuminated Tokyo Station.

My rating is 2.5 out of 5. Gochiso-samadeshita!

WeST PArK CaFE(ウェストパーク　カフェ) 　http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g763320/