New Hamburger King?

Name: AS Classics Diner
Neighborhood: Near Komazawa Koen 駒沢公園, in between Jiyugaoka 自由が丘 and Komazawa Daigaku 駒沢大学
Style: American Diner / Burgers
Website: http://www.asclassics.com/

I still love the meat patties at Pakutch in Shibuya (and it's a good deal more conveniently located), but I think AS Classics is the new standard for Tokyo burgers. I had noticed the writeup for AS Classics in Metropolis' coverage of Tokyo burger stands, and so it's been on my to-do list for awhile.

It's a beautiful weekend in Tokyo, so I was out for a bike ride along the Tamagawa. Usually I get out to the Tama by riding out Komazawa-dori from my house in Nakameguro, and on the way back today I noticed that's where AS Classics is. It's right near the corner of Komazawa-dori and Jiyuu-dori, by Komazawa Olympic Park (I have no idea why the park is called that, does anyone know?), so it's not particularly convenient to any train lines.

Unlike any of the other burger places in Tokyo, AS Classics is going for the whole American diner thing, so they have stainless steel and a lot of vintage American ads all over the place. For this time of year, they have a few outdoor tables, which is a bonus. Like most of the customers I saw there, I ignored the other menu options and went straight for the burger: cheeseburger straight up -- I love Teriyaki Burgers but I figured I should give the new restaurant a chance to present their default.

First off, AS Classics makes their own buns, and it shows -- they're oh-so-slightly crunchy on the outside, none of the bad squishiness. Secondly, they've got the fixins' part of a hamburger down: Full slices of tomato, lettuce, and onion come with the burger.

None of that would matter if the meat was substandard, but no worries there: it was well-cooked (medium but not medium well), and super-juicy, which is of course a key for hamburgers. My patty actually had a little bit of not-fully-ground meat left in it, suggesting the hamburger is being locally ground (I haven't waded through the Japanese of the website to know for sure).

Unlike most burger places in Japan, AS Classics serves the burger directly on a plate: none of the V-shaped paper dripping catchers you get at most places. Thus, the plate got pretty drippy by the time the burger was gone a few minutes later, which is always a good sign.

They have lots of drink options, both non-alcoholic (shakes, natch) and beery (a nice selection of American and Mexican beers, plus Budweiser).

The only negative regarding AS Classics concerns the fries. They were cooked nicely, but even for Tokyo the portion is pretty small. Worse yet, unlike the care lavished on the buns, fixins', and patties, they were clearly from frozen: slightly mealy on the inside. They could do with some lessons from In'n'Out about how to make the fries match up to the burgers.