Celebrating the end of summer vacation

As summer vacation wound down and it was time to head back to school, we wanted to enjoy one last little adventure with a family friend.  This lovely 15-year old is from New Zealand.  She hangs out with us often and sometimes babysits for us.  Over the course of the summer, she went on activities with us almost every week.  At one point I asked her what she missed most about living in New Zealand.  She promptly responded "I miss delicious burgers!"

I know exactly how she feels.  Both of us don't eat them that often in our home countries, but not having access to it makes us miss them that much more.  It's just like a diet where you are feeling deprived just because something is put on the "do not eat" list.

We discovered Butcher's Table when I took my son to the Toei Animation Museum last summer.  After exploring the museum, I looked at the map for nearby restaurants.  When we saw the burger and sandwich shop, we decided to check it out.  It stayed in our memories as an incredible burger shop that we wanted to let our friend experience.

She met us at our house and we rode our bikes over to Higashioizumi, a neighborhood in Nerima.  It was a bit hot, but we kept saying "the burgers will be worth it!"

Butcher's Table is a small restaurant (as are so many places here) with around 20 seats tightly squished in the dining room.  It is obvious that the restaurant has been open for a long time, as everything is a bit worn and faded.  But as soon as you bite into their burgers, you don't care.  It is so incredibly delicious.

We ended up ordering the exact same lunch set - avocado burger with fries and grapefruit juice.  My son got the kid's set, which consisted of a hamburger (I paid extra for cheese), fries, a drink (grapefruit juice again), and a sucker. 

The table fell silent as soon as our food arrived.  Besides a moan here or there, all conversation ceased as we focused on the much desired food.

The quantities were huge and we couldn't finish our fries.  We decided it was best not to sit around and let our stomachs settle because there were several people waiting for a table.  Although the restaurant looks like it is in a residential area, there are a few animation studios located nearby which keep the restaurant very busy at lunch time. 

We strolled over to the museum and showed our friend the exhibits before biking back home.  Everyone agreed it was a successful end of summer vacation celebration.