1/13/2013

Martini Burger in Kagurazaka, Tokyo
It's close from Kagurazaka station and located in a quiet and area.
As we followed google map, we didn't have difficulty finding the place with a lighting sign box with photo of burger with MB.
If you're on the right street, you won't miss the bright space. (first photo)

Somebody posted about Martini Burger in Kagurazaka in Tokyo and we visited to try the burger, but till then, I had no idea there'd be something like this authentic burger place owned by a person who had grown up in New York and brought the cuisine.
The owner is New Yorker and he moved to Japan about 10 years ago and started this burger restaurant + bar in October, 2010.


First page on the menu was how he opened this burger place.


English version.
He reminds me of Steve Jobs so bad with black turtle neck but with genuine smile, I'd say.

When we're seated, a waitress came and provided both English and Japanese menu with some little cards that introduce some alcoholic beverages and a memo.
The blue memo says that all the patty would be medium-rare unless you let them know your preference.

On the back side, interesting marketing strategy was there.
"Please post photos of the burgers or drinks on Facebook, Twitter, or Tabelog, and you can get 5% off."
I was gonna check-in there anyway, so it was nice to see the notice in advance.

I chose the Martini Burger as it has the restaurant name so that it should be most popular and what they're expecting us to get.

When I saw the menu, Japanese menu didn't say what kind of sauce they put on the burger, so I was gonna get it as it is.
However, on English menu, it says it's bearnaise sauce, which is made from egg yolk, butter, and vinegar and herb.
Menu in Japanese

Menu in English
So I was a little bit afraid that sauce would have mayo flavor even though it's not technically mayo, I asked the waitress to replace the bearnaise sauce to spicy ketchup.

I chose macaroni and cheese as side dish and also ordered iced tea.
The sides are, macaroni and cheese, cream spinach, roasted potatoes, and mashed potatoes.
Of course you can order extra side, too.

What interests me was that they use English muffin instead of regular bun except some burgers.
The Martini Burger came with English muffin as the photo in the menu shows and I was excited to try this burger.

When it's served, it looked really good and the spicy ketchup had some tabasco or jalapeno flavor in it, and I loved it.

200g beef 100% patty on English muffin.
When I was about to eat, I thought the melting cheese was missing.
But soon I noticed the hanging yellowish thing on the menu is actually the bearnice sauce, not cheese.
Maybe next time I'd add cheese and make it my own Martini Cheeseburger.

I was too excited and starving to place lettuce and tomato, also pickle in the burger, so basically it's an English muffin, beef patty, and spicy ketchup burger.

The patty was medium-rare as it's informed (only written on the blue card, not vocally informed when we ordered.)
When I saw this wrap paper set in a bottle with a fancy salt and pepper grinder, this color patterns made me think of Lotteria.

The beef itself tasted really good and English muffin was hard enough to hold such a thick and heavy patty really well.
English muffin had crunchiness for the outside and mushy and soft inside where touches the beef patty.

It may sound funny but my favorite macaroni and cheese is still Kraft and I like the cheesy and melty texture.
Mine was a little bit thick and had some rough or powdery touch on my tongue.
I saw some photos on Tabelog and they looked exactly the one I prefer, so maybe I was just unlucky today.

I also ordered cheesecake.

It was thick unbaked/rare cheesecake.
The bottom crust was not fully ground so it had nice accent to the smooth cheesecake.
It also had lemon flavor, too.

When I showed the uploaded photo on Facebook, they deducted 5% off from the total check and also the owner came out with a jar of Absolute Vodka filled with candies.
We chatted for a while and 3 of us out of 5 are from NY and so is the owner, so they seemed to have a lot in common.
The owner was curious and asked how we found the place and we told him that our friend posted an article on Facebook, but the person wasn't here today with us unfortunately.

When we got there was around 6:30PM even though our reservation was at 7PM.
Before 7, it wasn't full but around 7:30, it was getting packed.
So I'd recommend you make a reservation to be safe.

During lunch time, all non-smoking but at dinner time, you can smoke at the bar counter.

The Martini Burger set (you can choose 1 side dish): 1,000 JPY
The Martini Burger (without side dish): 800 JPY
Soft drinks: 300 JPY
Cheesecake: 600 JPY

Martini Burger
Nakazatocho 31, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0804
Open: Tuesday - Sunday 11:00 - 11:00PM (L.O. 10:00PM)
Close: Mondays

162-0804
東京都新宿区中里町31
11:00 ~ 23:00 (L.O. 22:00)
月曜定休

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