Burger Month: Have a Burger After a Long Hike

Have you ever climbed Mt. Tsukuba? If you haven't, I highly recommend it. You can either take the cable car to get to the top, or start your trek from Tsukuba Shrine. Either way, it is a nice way to spend the day and check out some amazing scenery. After your long trek up Mt. Tsukuba, you will probably climb down to where you started. I am sure you are going to be hungry. Around Tsukuba Shrine there are plenty of restaurants like ramen and other washoku places. When I am hungry on Mt. Tsukuba, I like to go to the only burger shop on Mt. Tsukuba. That place is called Cafe Nishouan.

Cafe Nishouan

Cafe Nishouan, as I said before, is located on Mt. Tsukuba near Tsukuba Shrine. If you go by car, please note that Cafe Nishouan has no parking. You will have to park at one of the many pay to park parking lots around the area and then walk to the cafe. Another thing to note is that on the weekend, the cafe can get very busy. Please be prepared to wait for a while, especially during the plum festival and the high climbing season.

The Ibaraki Eats Duo visited Cafe Nishouan on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. We had the cafe to ourselves because why would anyone go to Mt. Tsukuba while it was raining. We parked at the pay to park parking lot close to Cafe Nishouan and walked in.

Inside

The inside of Cafe Nishouan is interesting. It has a very relaxed and warm atmosphere to it. There are a lot of random things around the cafe. I saw magazines and books around the cafe for anyone to pick up and read, a movie projector in the corner for some reason, pretty looking paper lamps on the ceiling, and Japanese style curtains separating the tables. We went to our table, stopped, and laughed a little. The chairs of our table and the rest of the tables in the cafe were Japanese junior high school chairs and my wife felt like she was back at school.

The Menu

As you can see, the menu is in Japanese. But the good news is, if you walk to the cash register, there is a huge blackboard above it that has all the burgers and drinks in English. It unfortunately does not have the descriptions of the burgers on the blackboard but I think the owner would be more than happy to explain what is in the burger.

One more thing about the menu, to place your order you need your smartphone. Since it was a slow day when we went to Cafe Nishouan, the owner took our order directly. When the cafe is busy, you need to scan the QR code on the menu and use your smartphone to place your order. I am not sure if the online menu has an English option, but if you have google translate installed, it can automatically translate the website.

The Ibaraki Eats Duo ordered some drinks and burger sets for our rainy afternoon lunch.

The Drinks

Before we get to the burger, I want to talk about the drinks at Cafe Nishouan. I ordered a coffee and my wife ordered a soda. My wife ordered the Mt. Tsukuba Shrine Cola. Apparently, Tsukuba Shrine makes their own cola. I ordered the Tsukuba 36 Coffee. Tsukuba 36 Coffee is a coffee place in the Kangori area of Tsukuba. I haven't been there myself but it looks like a nice place to have a cup of coffee while admiring the view of Mt. Tsukuba. Anyway, I am sure Tsukuba 36 sent their beans to Cafe Nishouan.

Both drinks were excellent. The Tsukuba 36 Coffee was a tasty hot coffee for a cold rainy day. The Mt. Tsukuba Shrine cola was super refreshing and didn't have that heavy sugar flavor that other colas have. We both agreed to have that cola again and to visit Tsukuba 36.

BLT Burger

My wife ordered the BLT burger. BLT meaning bacon, lettuce, and tomato. The burger looked good and a nice surprise was that the bacon was a bit crispy. Not American crispy, but crispy. My wife took a bite out of her burger and gave me the thumbs up. She let me have a bite and after that bite I automatically liked the burger. The bacon wasn't too bad and the beef patty was meaty and delicious. What really surprised me were the buns. I believe the buns are made from rye wheat which explains the different taste and color. The buns were not as soft as regular buns but they did hold the burger together well. Also, it might have been my imagination, but the burger tasted and felt like it was healthier than other burgers. I should also mention that this burger and my burger did bring wedge fries. Nothing special about the fries, but they were a welcome side to the burger.

Nishouan Cheeseburger

My burger was the Nishouan Cheeseburger. This cheeseburger brought a beef patty, bacon, tomato, lettuce, baked onions, and a fried egg. I bit into my burger, which held up surprisingly well thanks to the buns, and got so many delicious flavors. I was in burger utopia. The meaty beef patty with the fried egg and cheese was heavenly. Then comes the salty bacon into the mix to really get the taste buds party started. (To get the party started? I can't believe I wrote that. It sounded better in my head. Should I delete it? Nah, I'll keep it.) The fresh tomato and lettuce with the rye buns were a great edition to the burger. Again, it felt like I was having a healthy burger. Not a super healthy burger, but one that isn't going to leave me incapacitated for the rest of the day. I enjoyed my burger immensely and can't wait to have another.

After our amazing drinks and delicious burgers. We paid our bill and headed back out into the rain to get to our car. Both of us felt nice. Not light as a feather, but not super full to the point where we want to take a nap at the table.

Cafe Nishouan, you impressed me. I love your drinks, burgers, and the all around atmosphere of your burger joint. The smooth jazz the cafe was playing while we were in heavenly delight with our burgers was a perfect day to an overall wet and dreary afternoon. I hope to come by soon. Preferably after a nice hike up Mt. Tsukuba.

So if you have just finished your hike up Mt. Tsukuba or are starting your hike and feeling like you need something delicious to give you the power to conquer Mt. Tsukuba, may I suggest a burger from Cafe Nishouan? Who knows, you might see me there, sippping some Tsukuba 36 coffee while enjoying a tasty burger.

Enjoy!

For more information on Cafe Nishouan, check out their website:

http://www.nisyouan.com/

Burger Baka Vol. 9

Burger Baka Vol. 9 is happening this weekend at Kasama Genjutsu no Mori Park! I go to this event every year with my wife and a few friends. We enjoy the company and the delicious burgers that Burger Baka has to offer.

A lot of places I have written about before will be attending. Hi-5 Burger, And Burger, Mosh Under the Diners Stand, Drool Diner, and more! If you would like to check out my report of last year's event, Burger Baka Vol. 8, click on the Ibaraki Eats link below:

https://regaladom24.wixsite.com/website/post/event-report-burger-baka-vol-8

Hope to see you there! I'll be having burgers on my hammock. Come by and say hi!

Some important info:

A lot of people come to Burger Baka. A LOT. I highly recommend getting to Burger Baka in the morning. Most of the burgers are either sold out or a one hour wait in the afternoon.

Parking is also limited. You can most likely get a parking space in the morning but it will be hours until a space opens up in the afternoon. You can also take a bus from Tomobe station to the park. It is only a 10 minute ride and 100 yen. But the bus maybe full and there maybe traffic.

The burgers are cooked fresh and hot. So please be prepared to wait for your burger to be cooked.

Hope you get to experience Burger Baka Vol. 9!