If you are a Major League Baseball fan, you might have heard of "Tokyo Dome". It is the first indoor baseball stadium in Japan, the home of the Yomiuri Giants. It is not just for baseball games, as it is often used for various indoor events, such as American Football, Snowboard X-Games as well as music concerts. Just recently, this stadium hosted the season opener for the Boston Red Sox and The Oakland Athletics. The nearest station is the JR Suidobashi station or the Tokyo Metro Korakuen station. It is in a very convenient location, very near the JR Tokyo Station. This week's restaurant, "I-Kousya" is just a few minutes walk from the JR Suidobashi station.

It is not a restaurant to seat large number of people; I-Kousya only seat about 15 people at the maximum. But once you step into the world of I-Kousya, you will get a feeling that you are about to get something very good. The hamburgers come in three different sizes, so that it will satisfy every appetite.

One thing I-Kousya stands out is that they offer very unique hamburgers, which are rarely seen in other hamburger restaurants. The one burger that will stimulate your taste buds is the Blue Cheese Burger. It is not just a hamburger that uses blue cheese instead of the ordinary cheddar cheese. As an added bonus, it also comes with a crisp fried onion topped on the patty with blue cheese.





The first joy of eating this hamburger comes when you are preparing to eat this hamburger. Since the hamburger comes in open-style, you will have to put the vegetable side of the burger on top of the patty. Then you will realize that the hamburger’s height is too high for eating. That's when you will have to squeeze the hamburger to fit your mouth. When you squeeze, you will hear the crisp onions breaking into pieces, and that sound will definitely stimulate your appetite. Dig in, and you will be surprised with the unique collaboration between the rich flavor of the blue cheese and the fried onion.

Another interesting hamburger is the G.M Mushroom burger. G.M. stands for "Grilled, Marinated". It is a hamburger with grilled mushrooms with Swiss cheese. Although it doesn't have the instantly-stimulating taste like the Blue Cheese Burger, but the richness of the juicy mushrooms with the Swiss cheese and the perfectly-cooked beef patty makes this hamburger something special.

Since I-Kousya offers both fried onion and barbeque-sauce topping, I tried something special with my hamburger. When I was still growing up, my favorite hamburger place was Carl's Jr. (yes, I know, it is a chain restaurant). My favorite hamburger was the Western Bacon Cheeseburger, which comes with cheese, BBQ sauce, bacon and onion rings. Since there are no Carl's Jr. restaurants in Japan, I ordered the hamburger with the same topping, to imitate the Western Bacon Cheeseburger. Of course, this is a restaurant hamburger, and it costs a lot more than the Western Bacon Cheeseburger, but I will have to admit that this hamburger is a lot better than the one that is served at Carl's Jr.

So next time you are going to a baseball game, you might want to arrive at Suidobashi station early, grab I-Kousya's hamburger, and enjoy the game while eating a very delicious hamburger. But be careful, since the hamburgers are carefully cooked, it might take some time during the peak hours.

The salsa burger.

The Swiss Cheeseburger.

----SHOP INFORMATION----

Official Homepage: NONE

Hours: Monday to Friday 11:00-15:00, 17:00-21:30

Saturdays: 11:30-18:00 (Closed on Sundays)

Address: 1-4-8 Misakicyo, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo Japan.

Nearest station: JR Suidobashi-station

How to go: Get off at JR Suidobashi-station, head for the East exit. Turn right (away from the Tokyo Dome. You will see a bookstore on your left. Turn left on the small street before the bookstore, and you will find I-Kousya.