By Youka Nagase and Mayumi Koyama
Ah summer, that long-awaited time of the year when the clothes come off and ice-cold desserts take over at cafés and restaurants all across Tokyo. This year, you won't need to settle for a boring old vanilla soft serve or lousy bowl of kakigori, for 2016 is the year of the ice cream burger. Yep, that's right: two of our favourite things in one.
Part of the Grand Hyatt's ever-humorous limited-edition promotions, the Ice Burger will be available at the Roppongi hotel's Oak Door steakhouse from July through the end of August. It should be the perfect choice for all of you who can't bother with an actual meal but have no qualms about taking on a plateful of sweets in a single sitting.
Pictured above, every burger lover's dream dessert consists of patty-shaped raspberry ice cream, creamy custard and fresh berries sandwiched between soft and buttery brioche buns coated in rich chocolate. Don't be afraid to get messy – the Oak Door's chef insists the right way to eat this monster is by grabbing it just like you would a regular burger and chowing down without hesitation. And as no burger is complete without a side of fries, the Ice Burger comes with deceptively authentic-looking cinnamon pie crisp sticks which can be dipped in ‘ketchup’ made from raspberry sauce.
The Ice Burger sure isn't guilt-free and won't do anything to help your beach bod, but remains a pretty damn attractive proposition – even at the steepish price of ¥2,200. And that's not all: the Grand Hyatt also serves up a range of other summer specials from July 1. Check out the choices below and head to Roppongi for one of the sweaty season's sweetest deals.
All prices listed are before tax.