Grill Burger Club SASA — Restaurant in Tokyo

A friend recommended I try the chicken sandwich, making promises of rotisserie goodness. I've walked by the place before, down the stairs near the grocery store and across from the Starbucks. It always looks busy. So, one day, after a long morning on the other side of Tokyo, I got off the train and headed straight to lunch. I'm glad I did. My friend was correct: the chicken sandwich is fantastic.

The restaurant is very small and when I first walked in, all the seats were full. But it seemed like they really wanted my patronage. Good service! They handed me a menu and told me it would only be a few minutes. I waited outside for maybe 5 minutes and knew exactly what I wanted when I stepped inside. I put down my bag and stepped up to the counter to order the chicken sandwich. Rotisserie chicken, lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, and chili. I was excited. I asked for a can of Heineken to wash it down.

The first thing I noticed when they brought me the food is that these were different fries. Almost every place in Tokyo has the skinny McDonald's size shoestring fries. These were thicker. They reminded me of what you get in a New Jersey diner, crisp on the outside, but moist and mushy inside. I was happy.

They give you two sandwich sleeves, one for each half. So, I removed the giant toothpick and slid the top half of the sandwich into the envelope and took my first bite. Wow. It was not what I was expecting. I thought it would be a garlic and herb flavor, like Italian seasoning. Instead, because of the chili, there's strong cumin, paprika and spice that makes it taste almost like NY halal cart chicken.

After a few bites, when the flavor is a little less unexpected, I start to be able to distinguish the component pieces and I see what this exceptional sandwich is all about. The butter toasted bread is gluten chewy with just a touch of exterior crisp. The tomato provides a perfect flavor complement of juicy acid and sweetness to cut through the chili's cumin and starchy beans. The cheddar adds little flavor, but lots of elastic gooeyness. The iceberg lettuce is living it's best life, adding a layer of brisk refreshing greens--this is what  iceberg lettuce is bred for.

Most impressive: the sandwich is compact and cohesive. It stays together. That's quite a feat when you consider how many pieces are involved.

I'm going back soon. I want to try their burgers and the chicken platter. But I wish they'd work on their beer selection. That's my only criticism. Every cheap Japanese lager is better than the American versions they sell: Brooklyn, Budweiser. At least they had Heineken, German beer is generally a safe bet, but Heineken is really average. If this meal came with Heartland, it would've be perfect.

Update: I tried the burger. Pear burger with bacon. Did not disappoint. High quality beef, juicy and well cooked. Great flavor in the pear topping, fresh tomato, crisp lettuce, rich gouda cheese, meaty bacon. Delicious. This place is dependably excellent....

It can be hard to find a really good burger in Tokyo, but this place is pretty great, they have quite a variety of burgers and you can choose how much meat you want. However they are a bit stingy when it comes to the side of fries or drinks, for example, if you order your drink without ice they will bring it on a smaller glass than the ones they regularly use, which I find very cheap and not very nice. The service is usually very friendly, though they tend to run out of some of the most popular burgers pretty early on the day, so if you happen to go for dinner you might find that the burger you were dreaming about all day is not available anymore. In conclusion it can be somehow frustrating, but I keep going because the burgers are definitely yummy and they are great when I need to fill my comfort...

Not a good experience for the customers here. It says it closes at 20:30, but we arrived at 19:00 and felt that we had to hurry and eat very fast because they want to close.... They kept cleaning the place making lots of noises with dishes and furniture. In addition, I saw another Japanese client asking to change his seat, but he was not allowed to do it when the room was 95% empty! After that, the same client decided to change his order to take-away but he was told he can't order take-away at the table, only at the counter. Many rules for the clients, but at the same time I saw the cook serving himself a beer. In sum, the service was bad and the waiters were...