How Tokyo’s Teddy Brown elevates the humble hamburger

How can you improve the humble hamburger? Few have answered this question as convincingly as Teddy Brown in Tokyo’s Hiroo district. But before you marvel at the menu, take a moment to appreciate owner Takahiro Oya’s choice of oak furniture, marble tabletops, psychedelic glass lampshades and exposed pebble araidashi-poured floor.

Oya and his team make their 160g patties daily with kuroge Wagyu (Japanese black) beef shank and belly. The buns – whose resemblance to brown teddy bears inspired the shop’s name – contain mashed potatoes, a little organic cane sugar from the island of Tanegashima and are topped with onions that take hours to caramelise. Cheddar and Grana Padano bring the cheese factor, the bacon is home-smoked and the fries are cut, steamed and twice-cooked in rice oil.

Serving burgers with sauces that contain no additives or preservatives is a top priority for Oya, which is why the staff spend hours making every condiment from scratch, including the ketchup, mayonnaise, teriyaki sauce, “bacon jam” and sauce aurore (bechamel and tomatoes). “I’ve eaten at a lot of burger shops for research and often felt heavy afterwards,” says Oya. “Using better sauces and condiments can make a big difference.” Being a stickler for ingredients is also a savvy strategy for surviving in Tokyo’s hypercompetitive market of more than 1,400 shops, diners, bistros and fast-food restaurants serving burgers. 

Before opening Teddy Brown last April, Oya spent 18 years launching and overseeing 20 restaurants and learning how to draw out the best qualities of Wagyu. But he’s still refining his recipe and not averse to temporarily removing burgers from the menu that he feels could use adjustments or improvements. “Wagyu has a distinctive sweetness and aroma, and a lot of moisture. You have to remove the excess moisture,” he says. “Making a tasty burger takes effort. You can’t just fry it and add cheese like you would do with US-raised beef.”
5-1-18 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo