Hello everyone! It is August and I have dubbed this month Burger Month for Ibaraki Eats. That's right, during the whole month of August I will be talking about burger places around Ibaraki. I love burgers, so it brings me great joy to do this and to share it with everyone.
For the first post of Burger Month, I will not be talking about a restaurant but an event that takes place in Naka city Ibaraki that is all about Burgers! That event is called Burger Baka.
Burger Baka is THE burger event in Ibaraki. All the best burger food cars, restaurants and yatais come to this event. I have talked about Hi-5 Burgers and Fries before and how great they are. Hi-5 also attends this event and they cook up some tasty burgers. It is a great event to try out some different burgers from some of the best burger places in Ibaraki, in a nice park, under some great weather.
Burger Baka is located at Ichinosekitameike Park which is across from Naka city hall. The park area is really nice. It has a small pond, a nice open area and a historic Japanese house for anyone to check out. On Burger Baka day, it is filled with people and different burger shops. When I first went there, I wasn't expecting it to be so full of people but it was. It looked like all of Naka city was in attendance for this event. That was the Burger Baka event in 2018. In 2019, it felt like all of Naka city, Hitachinaka city and Mito city's residence attended this event. It was super full, beyond capacity.
Burger Baka is organized by the man on the poster, James Hideki. He is a radio personality in Ibaraki. During the event, he comes out holding a microphone a few times to talk about the different burger shops and how much he loves burgers. He also clarifies the name of the event. Baka バカ in Japanese means stupid. So the event is called Burger Stupid, or Stupid for Burgers. He explains that he is praising everyone for their love of burgers with this title. OK I guess. I have met Mr. Hideki a few times and thanked him for organizing this great event. He is actually a real nice guy who can talk about burgers all day long. The event is in Naka city because I believe that is where Mr. Hideki is from.
Peace Grill
When I arrived at Burger Baka in 2019, I spotted one of my favorite burger food cars near the entrance, Peace Grill. If you would like to try some of the best burgers in Ibaraki, you need to try Peace Grill. They are strictly a food car so they are not in one location all the time. If they are near my area, I usually drop any lunch plans I have and go straight to where they are. I got in line for my Peace Grill burger and realized it was going to be a while before I got my burger.
I waited about 25 minutes!
Finally!
I finally made it to Peace Grill. The owner of Peace Grill actually knows my face by now and said in Japanese "ぜたい来ると思ったよ" which translates to "I knew you would come." And he was right. Peace Grill had a small menu for this event but in other events, they have had a larger menu, The first burger I ever had from them was a cheese bacon apple burger. That burger made me fall in love with Peace Grill. It was so juicy, and the sweetness of the baked apples with the saltiness of the bacon was an incredible combination. I wanted to eat that burger on Burger Baka day, but unfortunately, it wasn't on the menu. So instead, I ordered a chili cheese burger.
Chili cheese burger
The cheese chili burger was fantastic. The chili wasn't too spicy, it had just the right amount of spicy kick to it that made it great. Peace Grill also does burger buns extremely well. They are very fluffy with sesame seeds on top. The Peace Grill burger genius also toasts the buns which is a major plus. The patty is oh so good, so juicy and delicious, it is hard for me to write about this post because it makes me want to go out and look for Peace Grill right now. Every bite was heaven.
The usual menu (sorry no English)
I know the subject is Burger Baka but it would be a crime for me not to talk about this other burger I had from Peace Grill. When I had this burger, it was at another event Peace Grill was attending. This burger was the Super Donko Burger.
Super Donko Burger
This was an experimental burger when I tried it, the Peace Grill burger master admitted. He wanted to make a real Japanese style burger. And what a delicious experiment it was. The burger has a huge shitaki mushroom which is grilled and covered in a small bowl so it can be evenly cooked on the grill. There was also a special soy sauce put around the mushroom and mayonnaise on top. There was no cheese on this burger which is a bit of a disappointment for me since I love cheese but after biting into the burger I realized it didn't need it. The shitaki was so soft, it melted in my mouth. It felt like I was biting into a big piece of cheese, texture wise I mean. The sauces and mayonnaise mix was perfect with the mushroom. I really hope to have this burger again sometime soon. Back to the Burger Baka event.
Beach Burger 9
My next burger was very interesting. It was from Beach Burger 9. I knew nothing about Beach Burger 9 when I got in line. Again, I waited for 25 minutes for my burger, Beach Burger 9 is located in Hitachi city near, you guessed it, the beach. So after swimming at the beach, you can get a nice tasty burger from these guys. I have yet to go to their Hitachi location, but I hope to go soon and report back to you guys during Burger Month.
I am sorry to say that I do not remember the name of the burger I got from Beach Burger 9 that day. But I do remember how tasty and interesting it was. One thing I clearly remember was that the cheese was fried. Yup, not gooey melted cheese, fried crunchy cheese which was weird but interesting. The buns were also charcoal black and the burger was filled with vegetables. I was about to take a bite until my wife said "ソース入れって" which translates to "dip it into the sauce." The burger came with two sauces, cheese sauce and BBQ sauce. Out of both the sauces, I really liked the cheese sauce the best. The BBQ sauce was delicious but the cheese sauce with the fired cheese was just perfect. "What about the patty?" You might be asking. I honestly, for the life of me, cannot remember the taste of the patty or what it was. The taste of the sauces was so overwhelming that it drowned out any memory of the patty. When I go to Beach Burger 9, I will check to see if that is a regular burger on the menu.
After having two burgers, my time was up. I had to be somewhere else that day, don't remember where, but I had to get going. I wish I had tried some other burgers but the lines were way too long to wait. I bid my favorite burger event farewell and hoped I would come back next year.
The fate of Burger Baka
I met Mr. Hideki again in a food event during the fall of 2019 in Tsukuba. I immediately asked him when the next Burger Baka event was going to happen. He told me that next year, 2020 was going to be difficult. The Naka city location was too small for the crowd they had last time so they were looking for a new place. Possibly in Mito or Tsukuba. I thanked him again for organizing such a great burger event and told him I would definitely be there for the next one.
I am sure you know what I am going to say next. Then covid struck, Burger Baka usually takes place in March. March has come and gone, I have heard nothing about the next Burger Baka event. I am 100% sure it will not be happening this year. Thanks corona. I am not sure when this event will come back or if it is coming back. But if it does, I will happily report back when and where it will be happening. If it does come back, most likely next year, I hope to see you there enjoying some fantastic burgers. Here is hoping that this great Ibaraki burger event is back soon.
Enjoy!
If you would like to follow Peace Grill to learn where they are going to be next, check out their Facebook page:
As for Beach Burger 9, they do not have a website from what I can see but they do have a Facebook page:
I was told by a friend that before going to Beach Burger 9, it would be a good idea to call them and let them know you are coming.
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