Happy New Year and welcome back to Ibaraki Eats my fellow Ibarakians! Let's kick off 2023 with burgers!
In late 2022, a few people in Tsukuba let me know that a new burger shop had opened up in Tsukuba and that I should give it a try. I am happy to report that the Ibaraki Eats Duo recently went to this burger shop for a burger and fries dinner earlier this month. The name of this new burger shop? Matsushiro Burger.
Matsushiro Burger
Guess where Matsushiro Burger is? If you said Matsushiro in Tsukuba, then you sir or ma'am, are correct. Matsushiro Burger is behind the Tairaya supermarket near the community center. It is hard to spot this burger place, so make sure you walk around the supermarket and you will see it next to the small post office. The place looks brand new and that is because it is. It opened sometime at the end of last year.
My wife and I walked in on a Tuesday night, ready to get our burger on.
Inside
Matsushiro Burger is quite a spacious burger place. I believe it can fit up to 20 people. There are a few tables around the restaurant with a cool looking old fridge in the middle. This fridge, that has a lantern that reads "World Spice" on it, is where all the condiments are. I was very surprised to see that if you wanted ketchup, or more salt, or spicy sauce for your burger or fries, it was free for you to use. I think that is a rare thing at any burger place here in Japan.
The Menu
Sorry my non-Japanese speakers, the menu is all in katakana. I did not see an English menu anywhere. No worries though, I'll translate. The Classic section has: the classic burger or cheeseburger, avocado burger or avocado cheeseburger, and the bacon egg burger with or without cheese.
Next is the Regular section: Matsushiro burger, teriyaki burger, cheeseburger, fillet cutlet burger, spam burger, crispy chicken burger, fish burger (I think), chicken tortilla, hot dog, and finally salsa hot dog.
The Side section has: fries, onion rings, chicken nuggets, fried chicken, coleslaw, and vegetable soup.
Next, we move on to the drinks. The smoothies are banana milk, strawberry banana, and mango banana.
The next available drinks are soft drinks, coffee, tea and lemonade.
There is one section of the menu that is not on the board which is the sets. You can order a set with your burger. You can choose a set with fries and a drink, or coleslaw and a drink.
One thing that surprised me when I looked at the menu was how inexpensive everything was. I was prepared to spend 1500 yen on my burger, but it looked like I would be saving some money that night. My wife and I went to the cashier counter, ordered, and then waited for our burgers.
Coleslaw
I was curious about the coleslaw so I ordered it separately, not in a set. The coleslaw was, well, coleslaw. Nothing really special about it. It wasn't bad, it was just normal. I wouldn't order it in a set though. I'd rather have fries.
The Matsushiro Burger
This place is called Matsushiro Burger so it is only natural that I want to try the Matsushiro burger. The burger came with a beef patty, tomato sauce, cream cheese, and a slice of pineapple. Quite an odd combination, but I was ready to dive in. The size of the burger was about the same size as a MOS burger. So pretty small. I took a bite out of my burger and I didn't know how to feel about it at first. I took another bite and I realized, this was a tomato sauce burger. Unfortunately, the sauce took over everything and I couldn't taste the pineapple or cream cheese in the burger. The beef patty was also very MOS like which was OK. Honesty, I think Matsushiro Burger needs to go back to the drawing board when it comes to this burger. The tomato sauce was good and I know tomato sauce can work on a burger, but you need other ingredients in there that go with it. May I suggest mozzarella cheese instead of cream cheese? It was an interesting experiment, but not one I would like to have again.
The Classic Cheeseburger
The Classic Cheeseburger was my wife's order. She let me get a bite in and I have to say that this burger was a vast improvement over my burger. The patty was fantastic and you can't go wrong with chedder cheese. I really enjoyed this burger and wanted to order a classic cheese burger for myself. In the end, I decided against it since we still had fries to finish. Speaking of the fries, the fries were standard cut fries or chips if you're from the UK. They were very tasty and I enjoyed having them with the burger.
My wife and I enjoyed our burger night out at Matsushiro Burger. The Classic Cheeseburger was fantastic and we liked the fries. I do think that they need to rethink their signature burger. I just feel like it doesn't work. But given some time and experimentation, I believe they will come up with a Matsushiro burger that rivals all other burgers in Tsukuba. Also, the prices were great but the trade off is you get a small burger. That is perfect for a guy like me who needs to diet. Eating a smaller burger is considered dieting right?
So if you are hanging around Matsushiro and get that "burger time" feeling, why not give Matsushiro Burger a chance. Who knows, you might see me there, enjoying a classic cheeseburger and trying out the onion rings.
Enjoy!
For more information on Matsushiro Burger, check out their Instagram page:
A special thank you to Vi Vian for the recommendation. As always, I appreciate all your recommendations and info.
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