Shake Tree

Be prepared for a line! Even outside of peak hours, at 2pm, the wait was 45 minutes. When I left at 3:30pm, the line was still as long as it had been at 2pm.

The waitress was super welcoming and, upon me sitting down, immediately launched into an excited explanation of the menu items. Her English was very good, too.

I ordered a cheeseburger with American cheese subbed in for cheddar 🇺🇸,and a white and black pepper burger with a side of horseradish. The burgers came with a side of fries and pickle. With a soda, the bill came out to 3800 yen ($27 USD as of time of writing). A good deal for how much food I ordered, but how did it taste?

The meat may be minced but my words won’t be: This is the best burger I’ve had in Japan. The meat is hand-chopped rather than ground, giving it a subtly steak-y bite. The lettuce is perfectly crisp and while it looks like a lot, is just right for balancing out the burger. The brioche bun compresses nicely in your hand; the white and black pepper burger appeared too big to bite into but it actually all squished down to a manageable height.

As good as the food was, there were a few things that I would have preferred differently. Some of these are more objective than others: (1) The fries were under-salted and not very crispy. (2) Heinz mustard is not as good as French’s mustard. (3) The tomatoes were quite soft and slightly grainy. I think a fresh Roma tomato would have worked better. (4) As good as Shake Tree’s brioche buns are , I am still of the opinion that potato buns are superior for burgers.

The interior is cozy and well-decorated, and the atmosphere is perfect for a casual outing or date.

After coming to this restaurant, I want to open up a burger restaurant myself. This was a fun meal. The food is very good, but the atmosphere and service really help complete the experience.

I strongly recommend this restaurant. If I could do my order again, I’d do the cheeseburger again but add bacon, stay with the cheddar, and ask for a 180g meat patty instead of 120g. Alternatively, the “freestyle” option looks fun: You just tell the staff what flavors you like, how hungry you are, and how much money you want to spend, and see what happens - sort of like a burger omakase.