[To summarize this article]

Bassey, a foodie with over 40 years of experience, introduces carefully selected famous restaurants in Tokyo where you can enjoy delicious hamburgers. We feature the following four stores.

• Shunkotei: A soft hamburger steak with the scent of ketchup and butter, made by chef Tatsuhiko Koga, a master of deep-frying. The demi-glace sauce tastes like red wine.
• little lima: A store that has been operating for over 20 years in the basement of a building on Antique Street. We are proud of our demi-glace sauce, which is made by simmering Kobe beef tendon and flavored vegetables for over 10 days.
• UCHOTEN: A restaurant that reigns at the top of Ikebukuro's "Four Heavenly Hamburgers." You can choose the gram size of the hamburger steak, which is overflowing with meat juices.
• Taimeiken: A long-established Western restaurant that is said to be the originator of hamburgers. The hamburger steak topped with egg yolk has a fluffy texture and rich taste.

I want to eat a delicious hamburger! 4 carefully selected famous hamburger restaurants in Tokyo

The challenge this time is to choose four hamburger restaurants. ``Restaurant Komiya'' in Negishi, ``Grill Grand'' in Asakusa, and ``Luncheon'' in Jimbocho, which I have already introduced in the omelet rice volume, also have amazing hamburgers. If one item is super delicious, the other items are also delicious. In particular, ``Komiya'' is even better than ``Taimeiken'', the number one hamburger that I mentioned earlier. However, since I wanted to introduce as many different stores as possible, I decided to exclude these three.

Please see the article about omelet rice below.

➡ If you want to eat omelet rice, this is the place! 3 carefully selected Western food restaurants in Bassi

➡Eating the best omelette rice at Tokyo's top Western restaurant restaurant, "Restaurant Komiya"

“Shunkotei” is a deep-fried food expert.The hamburgers are also top notch.

Therefore, the top of the three choices is "Shunkotei." It is a famous store. Chef Tatsuhiko Koga has long been known as a deep-fried chef. The store has been moved to a new building in front of JR Mejiro Station, making it much easier to use. I went in as soon as the store opened, and the customers were coming. It's such a success that it fills up quickly. Although there were some young people and foreigners, I felt that there were a particularly high proportion of older men and women. No matter how old you get, you still can't eat delicious fried food in this world.

This time I was there for lunch, so I didn't have a single hamburger steak. What I ordered was ``Fries and Hamburger with Shrimp and Croquette.'' Comes with seasonal soup or miso soup, and rice or bread. The first thing delivered was ``Super Special Taiyo Sauce,'' homemade dressing, and a bottle of chilled water. Judging from this Worcestershire sauce, you can see the owner's commitment.

The first thing that came out was mushroom soup. Well, this taste is extremely normal. There are no particular comments. The problem is the main dish. I visited "Shunkotei" for the first time in a while since I went to the previous store, and the oil was still outstandingly clean. The deep-fried food expert was still alive and well. The potato croquettes with minced meat and fried shrimp are both delicious. It was fried crispy, and even when I turned it over, there was no oil oozing out.

Of course, it goes without saying that the hamburgers are delicious. After receiving an order, he was shaping the hamburger steak making a popping sound. It is grilled until golden brown and topped with demi-glace sauce, which is the lifeblood of Western restaurants. The way it shines is beautiful. Rich and deep in flavor. And the minced meat is soft. After all, it is very important that the hamburger be soft.

The carefully shredded cabbage is also crunchy and delicious. I was also surprised that each customer was given a knife made by the French company Laguiole. This is a high-quality knife with excellent sharpness.

It's a restaurant run by experts, so you can't go wrong no matter what you eat. Minced meat cutlet, fried oyster, pork cutlet, beef cutlet, steak, curry……If there was one in my neighborhood, I would want to try all the varieties.

``Little Lima'' is an Elai store that has been open for many years.
Classic flavors are always good.

I ate a lot this time and thought, ``Shiseido Parlor'' and Hotel New Otani Tokyo's ``SATSUKI” Because it was dry, the meat tasted strange, and frankly, it was bad. Types of beef and pork, distribution, grinding method, presence or absence of binding, kneading method, spices, grilling method, taste of demi-glace sauce……I guess it's difficult to make a good hamburger steak.

"Little Lima" continues to operate quietly in the basement of a building on Antique Street in Aoyama.20Years left. This is a store that is well known to those who know it.

A sign on the ground says, ``Kobe beef hamburger, Kobe beef tendon and flavored vegetables.10Stew for more than a day,20It says, ``Demiglace sauce that has been added over the years.'' I'm sure you're confident. The hamburger for lunch is150,200,300You can choose by gram. It's a nice system.

It is run by two men, one elderly and one middle-ranked. The inside of the store has aged well, and the makers have aged accordingly (lol). The establishment is a teppanyaki restaurant. However, that well-polished iron plate is never used for lunch.

When I arrived around 2pm, the only customers were two young ladies. Once you select the number of grams, the elderly chef will quickly form the hamburger steak into buns. Then, fry one piece in a frying pan. His work is meticulous and shows his concentration. If it's crowded, maybe they'll bake two pieces at the same time.

First, miso soup with plenty of seaweed is served. The flavor of dried sardines is strong and it's quite good. Then, the rice comes out on a flat plate (this part has a retro feel), and the hamburger steak is ready to be cooked.

I eat it with disposable chopsticks, but the hamburger is very soft. It's soft, but since it's coarsely ground, you can still feel the texture of the meat, giving you a strong sense that you're actually eating meat. The meat juice is not juicy, but just right. And their signature demi-glace sauce is delicious. The flavorful vegetables and spices are very effective and it has depth. This time, I ate at quite a number of restaurants, but out of all of them, I felt red wine the most. The white rice has good grains and is delicious. This is an important point! I end up eating it with a hamburger. The carrot glace, potato salad, and pickled cucumber that come with the dish are also carefully prepared and serve as a nice supporting dish.

Probably because it was off-peak hours, regular customers who looked like people working in the apparel industry in the neighborhood kept arriving alone. They are all stylish old men and women. The store staff can tell right away just by looking at their faces. Customers also said, ``150gram”300gram”200Just say "Gram."

What the author asked for was200I finished eating it in a blink of an eye, and I was like, ``Ah!''300I regret that I should have made it a gram. Anyway, there is another lunch menu, ``Special Wagyu Beef Loin Grilled with Ginger￥5800I wonder what it feels like. I'd like to try it at least once.

HigashiikebukuroUCHOTENIs
A sacred place for hamburgers with long lines

Ikebukuro has what are known as the "Four Heavenly Hamburgers," and the one that reigns at the top is, as the name suggests, "UCHOTEN"That's it." In fact, its name can be said to be famous nationwide. It was also featured in the Ikebukuro edition of TV Tokyo's ``Infestation! Ad Street Heaven''.

It's right next to Toshima Ward Office. therefore,11 : 30Even though I tried to be the first one to open, there was a long line of employees from the ward office (hey, come on, work until noon!). The day I went,11I missed out on being the first one because I was the second one.

When I entered the store, I saw two sharp-eyed older brothers, or rather, an uncle, standing in the kitchen. For a moment, I thought he was scared, but he was surprisingly friendly and shouted "Welcome!" over and over again. He also serves on the floor as an old man. She is quite efficient and efficient.

In principle, this restaurant has only one table except for the counter.1Enter the group of guests. Therefore, most of the four-person tables are occupied by one customer. I don't share a table. I wish I could just pack it in, but hey, I can cook fast enough, so it's still the same thing.

The optional "seafood cream croquette" came out first. It was a bit over fried and brown, but the inside tasted good. The ``minced meat cutlet'' that was brought next to me was also brown, so the chito oil was probably too hot for deep-fried foods.

The hamburger arrived shortly after. It is a splendid figure. He first tried to cut it down the middle with his chopsticks. The meat wasn't very dense, and it felt like it was formed without being hardened. Apparently it's a 3:1 mix of Kuroge Wagyu beef and pork. The meat juices don't overflow that much. However, when I ate it, it was full of juicy meat. There was almost no smell of pork and it was extremely meaty. What should be surprising is its softness. Of all the things I've eaten, it's the softest.

The hamburger steak is topped with demi-glace sauce, but the presence of the sauce disappears as the meat juices gradually overflow. However, it is quite delicious even without the sauce. What surprised me was that every last piece of hamburger steak contained plenty of meat juice. After all, its softness is its biggest feature, and it will make you feel delicious until the end.

The shredded cabbage that came with it was so thin. It's thin like a thread. I wouldn't say it's silk thread, but it's about as thin as cotton thread. This is proof of how seriously he takes cooking. The deliciousness of the white rice is also worth mentioning. The grains are well-defined and quite delicious. If there's one thing I'm disappointed in, it's that the miso soup isn't particularly tasty. The ingredients are daikon radish, carrots, tofu, and fried tofu, and it's quite rich, but you can't really feel the dashi.

However, apart from the options1200A hamburger of this quality for the price of yen is quite a feat. Satisfaction ratings were quite high, and if it were in my neighborhood, I would definitely come back once a week and feel ``ecstatic.''

UCHOTEN
Minamiikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo2-36-10　SoHo103
℡03-3982-0077
11:30~14:30,18:00~20:45(Closed as soon as both lunch and dinner are sold out)
Closed: Sunday

Kuroge Wagyu beef hamburger (comes with rice and miso soup)　1200Yen
Seafood cream croquette　290Yen
Ground Meat Cutlet　　　　　　390Yen

■Please check prices as they are subject to change.

"Grill Mantenboshi Azabu Main Branch"
The demi-glace sauce is the best in the world

``Grill Mantenboshi'' is also a very famous restaurant and has many branches. Its origins lie in a bistro opened by a chef who was trained by Tokuzo Akiyama, known as the Emperor's cook.

Now, I would like you to take a look at the majestic appearance of the hamburger steak. First of all, it's absolutely beautiful. This grilled color and plenty of demi-glace sauce! The meat used is mixed. It's a mix of Wagyu beef and Minami-no-shima pork from Miyazaki Prefecture. Although the inside is plump, it is very soft. Of course, there is plenty of meat juice.

This restaurant's life depends on its demi-glace sauce (it's spelled demi-glace, not demi-glace, and they're particular about the French pronunciation). Generally, all top-class Western restaurants are particular about making this sauce. Instead of using butter, our restaurant uses Espanol sauce (brown sauce) as its base, and simmers it for a week with calf bones, beef tendon, and flavored vegetables. Therefore, although it is light, it has a very deep flavor. This brings the flavor of the hamburger to the next level.

There is also a menu called One Plate Mix. It's twice as rewarding because you can make an assortment of two items from hamburger steak, fried shrimp, crab cream croquette, minced meat cutlet, beef stew, chicken curry, dry curry, etc.

Grill Mantenboshi Azabu Main Branch
Azabujuban, Minato-ku, Tokyo1-3-1　Aporia BuildingB1
℡03-3582-4324
(Tuesday to Friday)11:30~15:30,17:30~22:00
(Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays)11:30~16:00,17:00~22:00

Hamburg steak demi-glace 1980Yen
one plate mix　2200Yen

■Please check prices as they are subject to change.

What does "If you don't eat this, your life is ruined" mean?
Bassey, an editor with over 40 years of food-loving experience, is rumored to be a Reiwa-era Brillat-Savarin, or even the return of Furukawa Roppa, who rushes west and east to eat every time he hears there's something delicious to eat. A heart-wrenching gourmet essay.

Author profile

Bassey is a foodie who has been eating around for over 40 years. In addition to Japan, he regularly goes to Hong Kong to eat Chinese food at his own expense, and also travels to Taiwan, Singapore, Bangkok, and Seoul for delicious food. During his time as the editor-in-chief of a travel magazine, he visited many Michelin-rated restaurants around the world, especially in Europe, and later on in the World's Best 50 restaurants. We want everyone who loves food to try ``Crab Miso Bean Paste Noodles'' from ``Tenkorou'' (Hong Kong). Actually, I like the Chinese food at this restaurant the best in the world. Another example of the best Western food is "El Seger de Can Roca" from Girona, Spain, which was ranked number one on the World's Best 50 list. Ah, I want to go there again.