Japan: King of The Burger?
When you think of Japanese food, hamburgers are one thing that rarely comes to mind. The quintessential American food seems like something that only the foolish would travel halfway across the world to eat. But it would be a mistake to discount that idea it entirely.
As history has shown time and time again, Japan has a knack for taking something and improving and perfecting it to a level that others can rarely do. Take cars, for example. An American invention, honed and perfected in Japan. So as they do with all things, Japan has perfected the hamburger.
Burger Perfection, Brought To You By A Clothing Company
Today we’re going to indulge ourselves in that hamburger perfection at J.S. Burgers Café. J.S., or Journal Standard, is actually a clothing company in Japan. Why they decided to throw their hat into the burger ring is beyond me, but they grabbed that bull by the horns and wrestled it into submission.
What does a clothing store know about hamburgers? Apparently a lot, because these are hands-down some of the best burgers I’ve had in my life. I’m being absolutely serious.
J.S. Burgers Café has branches all around Japan, but today, we’re visiting the branch in Umeda, Osaka. Upon arrival, I was a little confused by the fact that we were standing outside of a furniture store by the same name.
So for anyone asking, yes, Journal Standard apparently does sell furniture as well. But tucked inside of that furniture shop was the burger café. Why they combined these two completely different stores is beyond me.
We decided to go for two burgers: the Westside Dip Burger, a specialty only available in Osaka; and the Sukiyaki Bacon Cheeseburger, a seasonal item. We decided to peruse the furniture section as we waited for our meal, but we didn’t have to wait long.
Delivered to our table were two of the most beautiful looking burgers I’ve ever seen in my life. For those of you who visit Reddit’s Expectations Vs. Reality subreddit, you may be aware that if you expect your meal to look exactly how it does on the menu, you’ll be sorely disappointed.
However, there was no disappointment here; the burgers were picture perfect. They were so photogenic and prepared with so much care. There’s just a high level of excitement when you’re meal looks like the Kate Upton of the food world.
Let's Go For a Little (Westside) Dip
I started off our burger feast by diving into the Westside Dip Burger. Taking a look in between the buns, you had a medley of melted cheese, sautéed onions, and grilled slices of beef sitting on top of a breaded, deep-fried hamburger patty. Underneath was a thick slice of ripe tomato, and fresh, crunchy red cabbage.
On the side was a small, shallow dish of au jus. It was light brown in color with slivers of softened onions floating in it. Along with that were three onion rings and two small pickles.
So we have a burger with a fried patty and red cabbage, along with onion rings. Right away, you can tell the word for this meal is “crunch”. As I bit into that burger, that crunch was deafening.
The buns were beautifully toasted to perfection, yet light and airy inside. The hamburger patty was juicy, but almost invisible behind the crunch of the outside breading and vegetables. The tomato was so ripe and juicy that it exploded in my mouth with the first bite. I was in crispy, crunchy heaven!
The flavor of the burger itself was just so-so, to be honest. Not strong and not distinct. So on the next bite, I decided to dunk it in the au jus. The bun immediately soaked up that meaty, savory, slightly sweet stock. The crunch was much more subdued this time, but the flavor was definitely singing throughout that bite.
The mix of sweet, savory, meaty, fresh, and crunchy was satisfying in a way I’ve never experienced before. What was before a slightly dry, non-descript burger became something very unique and satisfying.
Next, I moved onto our other burger, the Sukiyaki Bacon Cheeseburger. For those of you unfamiliar with sukiyaki, it’s a traditional Japanese dish of thinly-sliced, ultra-marbled beef, along with other ingredients like tofu and vegetables, simmered in a broth made of dashi (Japanese seafood stock), soy sauce, and sugar. The result is a beefy, rich bite of meat, tempered with a perfectly sweet and salty flavor.
Curious as to how they would bring these flavors into the burger, I decided to do a little dissection. Sandwiched between two perfectly baked buns were oozy golden cheddar cheese, with thick slices of bacon sitting on top of a burger patty. Underneath lay some beautifully grilled leeks and red cabbage.
“Wait, where’s the sukiyaki element?”, I thought to myself. However, upon biting into that beautiful burger, I realized where it was. The burger patty wasn’t just regular ground beef. If you looked closely, you could see that it was made of a mash of thinly sliced beef. That perfect sweet and savory flavor that is so distinct with sukiyaki was melded directly into that patty.
That first bite is one that I wish I could relive over and over. My eyes grew wide as I began to chew. Everything in that burger came together so wonderfully. It was a harmony of sweet and savory flavors from the marinade; the rich, fatty beefiness from the patty; the smokiness from the pork; the creamy saltiness from the oozing cheese; the natural sweetness from the grilled leeks.
That sukiyaki burger was the epitome of fusion cuisine. This restaurant took a quintessential American favorite and crossed it with a centuries-old Japanese dish to create something that was familiar yet new. This is the kind of Japanese perfection I was talking about.
Completely satisfied with our meal, we thanked the staff and perused the furniture section a bit more. At that point, we weren’t at all interested in the furniture. All we could talk about was how amazing that sukiyaki burger was. Thinking back on it, a part of me thinks that we both were hoping that the other would suggest sitting down for another one.
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