Bang in front of the renovated Tokyo Station, the Marunouchi Building may be one of the best addresses in Tokyo, but you don’t have to break the bank to eat there. Head for Hawaiian burger joint Kua’Aina on the fifth floor, and you can fill up on tasty comfort food in moderately swanky surroundings and still come away with change from ¥2000.
The interior is mellower than your average fast food shop, but there’s also an array of tables outside the front of the store, which provides a good, spacious place for families to congregate. There’s also an inviting little wooden terrace with a pond and tall, swaying trees, so you can have the fun of eating al fresco whatever the weather in the real world outside. Despite it being in an office building in the commercial heart of Tokyo, there was a very relaxing atmosphere here, as the high ceiling dispersed the noise and the space made it seem uncrowded.
The menu is what you’d expect from a place styling itself ‘Hawaiian Burger’, with a distinct tropical flavor to a number of the options on the menu: it’s not everywhere you see a pineapple burger. Usually ordered as part of a set that includes a drink and fries, plus onion rings at dinner, burgers weigh in at 1/3lb or a mighty half pounder, with a couple of quarterpounders available, one of them an intriguing avocado and basil. Set prices start at ¥850 for the unadorned smaller burger, going to ¥1280 for a half-pounder with bacon or avocado, and it’s possible to add extra toppings. If you’re not in the mood for such a daunting slab of meat there are a handful of salads and a decent range of sandwiches, also available as sets, among them Mahi Mahi (dolphinfish, though not related to dolphin at all), rosemary chicken and avocado-bacon-cheese.
There’s a Hawaiian influence on the drink list too: as well as the generic options there are some Kona beers from Hawaii, iced mango tea and guava juice, of which even the small cup was a good size. Sometimes when I ask for a drink without ice I get air instead, but here they filled my cup right to the top, which along with the friendly English-speaking waitress left me very happy with the service. When I feel like a taste of the tropics in the concrete jungle, I'll know just where to go.
