The next entry in Burger Month is a fun burger place that has a good selection of original burgers, and an interesting place to eat them. I am talking about Tsukubamirai's own Cafe Burger Montana.
Cafe Burger Montana
Montana (the restaurant, not the state) is located in the Dai area of Tsukubamirai city. It is kind of in the middle of nowhere but the street it is located on is very busy. So be careful when turning into Montana. There is parking at the back of the restaurant, but it is limited. If you plan on going to Montana during the weekend, prepare to find the parking area full.
The Ibaraki Eats Duo visited Montana on a hot Tuesday afternoon for a nice burger lunch.
Inside
If the owner was trying to accomplish a restaurant with random Western things in it, mission accomplished. Surfboards are hanging on the walls, old vintage movie posters, a vintage TV, cactuses a lot of cactuses. This was my kind of place. The tables are fun as well. Our table wasn't a regular restaurant table, it was a poker table.
The restaurant has an outside dining area, a first-floor dining area, and a second-floor dining area.
Second Floor
We decided to eat on the first floor because the second floor was way too hot. The second floor can seat up to eight people max. The first floor has more tables and chairs.
The Menu
I have some good news my fellow Ibarakians. Most of the burgers and drinks are in English, except the description. The bad news is the sides and toppings are only in Japanese.
You can order a regular burger at Montana, or you can go for the premium burgers. The premium burgers are all in the picture above. The most famous of them is the Grand Slam. A monster of a burger that brings bacon, a fried egg, onions, a lot of cheddar cheese, lettuce, one coarsely grounded patty, and two soft grounded patties. Did I order the Grand Slam? Unfortunately, I am not a young man anymore so my stomach would not be able to handle that, or it would but I would be paying for it the rest of the day. Possibly the week. Instead, I got another premium burger to try.
Coleslaw
My wife and I decided to give Montana's coleslaw a chance. I have tried coleslaw at other restaurants around Japan and 90% of the time I leave disappointed. That being said, I did not have high hopes for this coleslaw. I could not have been more wrong. The first indication that this coleslaw would be delicious is that I saw the staff properly making it behind the bar and not just grabbing a premade coleslaw from the refrigerator. When the coleslaw came to our table, I got a spoonful and tried it. This was proper coleslaw. The sliced vegetables tasted very fresh and the mayo and dressing were all perfectly balanced. It was an incredible coleslaw that I will order again.
Chill Burger
This was my wife's burger. She didn't want anything huge, so she got the Chill Burger which is a cheeseburger. It brings bacon, cheddar, a slice of onion, tomato, and the patty.
My wife let me have a bite of her burger and I immediately thought that the patty was excellent. It was very juicy and meaty, and it went so well with the cheddar cheese. I did get some hard chewy cartilage from the patty which kind of interrupted my enjoyment rhythm. But that also shows that Montana uses pure beef in their patties. The bacon was not crispy but I have gotten used to that in Japan. Still, the bacon was very tasty. The buns held everything together quite well. All in all, an excellent burger.
Dolce
As I wrote before, I ordered one of the premium burgers, and that burger was the Dolce. The Dolce brings dark cherry sauce, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, lettuce, a coarsely grounded patty, and a soft grounded patty. I asked for a slice of bacon as an extra topping. What pulled me in was the dark cherry sauce. I imagined this burger would have a lot of sweetness to it while having a meaty flavor from the patty. I was right and wrong.
First off, if you do decide to visit Montana, order a premium burger. I know they are more expensive but you won't regret it. I highly recommend trying this premium burger. I don't know how the genius owner of Montana thought of this, but the dark cherry sauce with the patty and melted cheese is something that everyone should try. The dark cherry sauce did have some sweetness to it but it wasn't overly sweet and it complemented the meaty patty in a way that I didn't think could be possible. The burger was magical. I will warn you that the buns held everything together until the halfway point. Towards the end of my burger, I had to fish everything out of the burger bag.
My wife took a bite and possibly loved this burger way more than I did. She said she would definitely order it next time.
Our adventure to Cafe Burger Montana was a delicious and interesting one. The inside of the restaurant has so many things to check out and the burgers are delicious works of art. We are going back to Montana and trying the other premium burgers. As far as the Grand Slam goes, I would have to mentally prepare myself for a year before I can take on that behemoth.
So if you are in Tsukubamirai and are in the mood for a great burger, why not give Cafe Burger Montana a chance? Who knows, you might see me there, enjoying a premium burger while checking out the boxing speed bag on the ceiling. (Yes, there is a speed bag on the ceiling.)
Enjoy!
For more information on Cafe Burger Montana, check out their Instagram page:
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