Mmmmmm, Roti. Oh wait, we don’t work in Roppongi any more. West Park Cafe is probably the closest one can get to the Roti Roppongi experience around here (the old Roti, before they went all black and mirrored). They even describe themselves as an Authentic American-Style restaurant. We all had burger sets, how about I just do a relative comparison?
- Meat: Similar size to Roti, quite healthy for Japan (foreign size) but maybe smaller than Suji’s. WPC was a little dry, everyone agreed (however we also agreed that it’s not as dry as Kua Aina), and I thought it was a bit tough too. However we ordered them well done, which could be the problem. It was obviously flame-grilled (there was fire shooting up all over the kitchen!), which I would expect to sear in the juices, but if you order meat well done, it’s on your own head. (For the record, I like steak medium-rare, and also enjoy carpaccio and tartare. I just don’t see the point of raw ground beef in a burger.)
- Bun: Roti is slightly fresher and fluffier, methinks.
- Veg: I always liked the cress on the side at Roti, and the whole slice of onion. The tomatoes were quite nice at WPC.
- Fries: Simultaneously thicker and less fried than Roti, these were the weakest point of the set.
- Price: Slightly cheaper at WPC, but still felt like being in the foreigner zone in terms of lunch pricing.
On the whole WPC comes up a bit short compared to the old Roti or Oak Door, though there are obvious tradeoffs even beyond price and location. Compared to specialists like Sunny Diner (we love Sunny Diner) it’s not quite happening, but it’s a more than adequate burger destination for Otemachi dwellers. It’s also a good open-all-afternoon-for-coffee-and-cake type destination, and beers at night, and everything else that makes a foreigner happy (they even carry Metropolis and have iMacs available for browsing at some tables), so do check it out when you need to feel happy.
Or American.
03-3240-0224
Medium-rare is the way to go at WPC, good sir.