Best Burger in Tokyo

That’s right, I come to this web portal today to talk to you about a burger.

The best burger in Tokyo can be had at a place called Arm’s, just outside Yoyogi Park.

Now which burger should you order to realize this lofty title? The classic cheeseburger? The ‘Popeye’ with spinach and bacon? The avocado cheese maybe? All worthy choices, and all put the exact same well-pleased smile on my face.

But today we’ll go over the qualifications of their bacon cheeseburger.

What is the general secret to their success?

One word:

Craftsmanship.

I’m telling you, the chefs at Arm’s must have logged countless hours on the classic arcade game Burger Builder, because each burger of their massive size is a peerless work of culinary architecture.

Usually, when a burger comes packed with the works, half of it ends up on your plate. If the taste is right, you’re willing to overlook the mess. But at Arm’s, they fit tomatoes, lettuce, onions, peppers, cheese, secret sauce, ketchup, mustard, relish, four healthy slices of breakfast bacon (not the ‘made for sandwiches and burgers’ lite variety) and the patty, all under the gargantuan roof of a great big domed sesame seed bun. Last time I had this, the only out of bun casualty was a lone tomato cube.

Which brings me to their craftsmanship.

You don’t get a clunky fat slice of tomato competing for real estate with a clunky fat slice of onion. They are all cubed and diced, and then intermixed in juicy level beneath the patty, intermixed with relish and secret sauce that allows you to enjoy all components of the burger with EVERY BITE. Gone are the days of unevenly working your way across a burger, nipping at patty, only to be left with an entire lettuce wedge. The craftsmanship lets you get the holistic taste of the bacon cheese burger in every bite.

The bacon even seems to be uniformly rounded on the edges, and cleverly congealed to the cheese atop the patty, to minimize slippage. (They must have thought I was bizarre scrutinizing every bite the way I did. But then again I was sitting next to a guy with two cameras around his neck, snapping off pictures of salt and pepper shakers. A place like this seems to breed the ‘otakus’)

Did I mention the size? For any Portland readers out there, we’re talking damn near the size of the infamous Staniches ‘special.’ This thing is a full meal deal. And it comes with just the right amount of fries to wash it down.

I also recommend going with their signature cookies n’ creme shake to wash it down. They even pulled out just the white centers of the Oreos to embed at the bottom of the shake, making for a nice surprise at the end of all the slurping. It’s little details like this that keep me coming back and keep me talking about Arm’s to no end.

I’ve been to a few noteworthy burger joints in Tokyo, but this one stands at the top of the hill. It would be a noteworthy burger in any town.

I wonder if they’re open for breakfast…