This place is quickly becoming a go to spot for me. Everything is absolutely delicious! But my biggest thing is their chawanmushi. It's been years, decades since I found a restaurant that serves it.
Parking is a bit of a hassle, but totally worth it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hamba-Gu
Grace Tong
This place is the definition of doing one thing and mastering it. They only serve almost one entrée, the Hambāgu meat set(and katsu set), all comes with chawanmushi (steamed egg), miso soup, and a small salad. A lot of topping to choose from to go with the meat. Everything is delicious and top quality! I’ll definitely be coming back for more!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
grassmere
Street parking only and not many
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jane
Only parking problem.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
Ying Z
Love this spot! The food is delicious and the portion size is also really good. The hamburg steak is perfectly done and the quality truly speaks for itself. Highly recommend to those looking for an enjoyable lunch!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wonne Koh
Another absolute banger by the Sazanami gang. Amazing food, will be coming back for more.
Juan HiraYam
I believe it is a Japanese owned restaurant. Very clean place. First time trying the Japanese style hamburger, and it was awesome! Loved it. Glad we stopped by!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Patrick Wong
TLDR: If you don't know what a hamba-gu is, maybe you should. Great and reasonably priced new addition to Edgewater. Get the original, add mushrooms + gorgonzola and some small plates - enjoy. For apps, ebi fry, karaage, yuzu tomato.
There's not a whole lot of awareness around the hamba-gu concept. Typically it's an afterthought at most Japanese/Korean shops. Sazanami has made it the theme of their new restaurant that took over the old AYCE sushi place on River Road.
The menu has some small plates with fried goodies and/or crudo bites. Munch on these while you wait - because each hamba-gu is cooked to order. A hamba-gu is basically an Asian style hamburger that's made without the bun. You can get the original which is typically with both ground beef/pork or they have a 100% angus beef one. Both are very juicy and I'd say unless you have an aversion or preference to avoid pork - the original is my favorite. It takes about 20 minutes for them to make.
I've tried a bunch of the apps. Yuzu tomato a must, PAPER-thin slices of tomato in a tangy and slightly sweet yuzu dressing with a dusting of parmesan cheese. The tuna and salmon tartares are small but good - however there is a thicker and slightly sweet sauce so just be aware of that. Ebi fry is superb, plump shrimp but a very crispy coating. The karaage is also great.
The 8 oz (big) hamba-gu patties come in a set with rice, soup, salad, chawanmushi (Japanese steamed egg custard) and some veggies to go with your burger. On average it's about $25ish.
They have six sauces and I'm silly - so I tried all six. Gorgonzola is my favorite, it's creamy with that funkiness but not too much. This is great with the mushrooms. If you're coming with a friend, I'd also got the oroshi ponzu which is grated radish and yuzu. Split the sauces because the cheese is heavy but the ponzu is very refreshing. Chimichurri (not too common) is good with a nice spice. Demi-glace is classic slightly sweet and velvety tomato, what you'd find on omurice usually. Onion is good too but on the sweeter side. Tomato is probably my least favorite but if you like Asian style tomato sauce - this is a good one.
The burger itself is INCREDIBLY juicy, your chopsticks will pull it apart easily. So juicy that it may even fall apart when you're dipping the sauce. You can get the burger dressed but if you have multiple sauces, it may be better to keep them separate.
I've been twice and will definitely be coming many more times.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ashley Lam
I love this place! I would recommend it to anyone. It’s comfort food but done so well. I came in with my partner and we ordered both a sushi bowl and the hamburger steak. The sushi was amazing and fresh, and the hamburger steak was the best I ever had. Both came with a set with a salad and other sides. The service was great and our server even helped us play one punch man on their television. Better than any of the hamburger steaks that I had in Tokyo!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Yael Shif
Absolutely incredible - such quality beef and sides. Highly recommend
the ‘hambagu’ itself was more ordinary than I expected.. but the fried egg and demiglace sauce on top were absolutely amazing.
unfortunately.. they ran out of ingredients early today so I couldn’t try it with the chimichurri sauce, but next time I definitely want to.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
jung kim
Good food and a nice small restaurant
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Vick Zhang
Great Japanese hamburger place! You can tell everything is freshly made, both the Kaisen Don and hamburger are so tasty. Price is super reasonable too!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Josh Nakama
Real Japanese Hambagu made from scratch and made to order. I’ve worked in Japanese kitchens my whole life. I can tell when the kitchen both knows what they’re doing and cares. This place is legit.
Anybody who complains about wait time has never made hambagu and it shows. Most restaurants just reheat frozen patties from JFC and then add sauce on top. Even most fami resu in Japan will pre-cook the patties in the oven ahead of time and sear to finish when orders come in. But in doing so you lose on the wonderful juiciness and texture that come from made-to-order. Having a hand made hambagu cooked to order is a real luxury. With a patty that thick, you’ll need at least 20 minutes to cook through. Add in normal restaurant traffic and 40 minutes is 100% reasonable. For a full house I’d expect longer.
Factor in that they’re adding piping hot chawanmushi, miso, rice, salad, tsukemono - all at $22 dollars and you’ve got the best deal on real Japanese food in the area. As someone who is tired of reheated frozen food from big distributors, this place gets a full 5 stars from a Japanese chef.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hamba-Gu
eabx7193\u0026 T
Can’t believe I can enjoy the real Japanese Hamba-gu!!!! 最高！！
This place is quickly becoming a go to spot for me. Everything is absolutely delicious! But my biggest thing is their chawanmushi. It's been years, decades since I found a restaurant that serves it.
Parking is a bit of a hassle, but totally worth it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hamba-Gu
This place is the definition of doing one thing and mastering it. They only serve almost one entrée, the Hambāgu meat set(and katsu set), all comes with chawanmushi (steamed egg), miso soup, and a small salad. A lot of topping to choose from to go with the meat. Everything is delicious and top quality! I’ll definitely be coming back for more!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Street parking only and not many
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Only parking problem.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
Love this spot! The food is delicious and the portion size is also really good. The hamburg steak is perfectly done and the quality truly speaks for itself. Highly recommend to those looking for an enjoyable lunch!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Another absolute banger by the Sazanami gang. Amazing food, will be coming back for more.
I believe it is a Japanese owned restaurant. Very clean place. First time trying the Japanese style hamburger, and it was awesome! Loved it. Glad we stopped by!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
TLDR: If you don't know what a hamba-gu is, maybe you should. Great and reasonably priced new addition to Edgewater. Get the original, add mushrooms + gorgonzola and some small plates - enjoy. For apps, ebi fry, karaage, yuzu tomato.
There's not a whole lot of awareness around the hamba-gu concept. Typically it's an afterthought at most Japanese/Korean shops. Sazanami has made it the theme of their new restaurant that took over the old AYCE sushi place on River Road.
The menu has some small plates with fried goodies and/or crudo bites. Munch on these while you wait - because each hamba-gu is cooked to order. A hamba-gu is basically an Asian style hamburger that's made without the bun. You can get the original which is typically with both ground beef/pork or they have a 100% angus beef one. Both are very juicy and I'd say unless you have an aversion or preference to avoid pork - the original is my favorite. It takes about 20 minutes for them to make.
I've tried a bunch of the apps. Yuzu tomato a must, PAPER-thin slices of tomato in a tangy and slightly sweet yuzu dressing with a dusting of parmesan cheese. The tuna and salmon tartares are small but good - however there is a thicker and slightly sweet sauce so just be aware of that. Ebi fry is superb, plump shrimp but a very crispy coating. The karaage is also great.
The 8 oz (big) hamba-gu patties come in a set with rice, soup, salad, chawanmushi (Japanese steamed egg custard) and some veggies to go with your burger. On average it's about $25ish.
They have six sauces and I'm silly - so I tried all six. Gorgonzola is my favorite, it's creamy with that funkiness but not too much. This is great with the mushrooms. If you're coming with a friend, I'd also got the oroshi ponzu which is grated radish and yuzu. Split the sauces because the cheese is heavy but the ponzu is very refreshing. Chimichurri (not too common) is good with a nice spice. Demi-glace is classic slightly sweet and velvety tomato, what you'd find on omurice usually. Onion is good too but on the sweeter side. Tomato is probably my least favorite but if you like Asian style tomato sauce - this is a good one.
The burger itself is INCREDIBLY juicy, your chopsticks will pull it apart easily. So juicy that it may even fall apart when you're dipping the sauce. You can get the burger dressed but if you have multiple sauces, it may be better to keep them separate.
I've been twice and will definitely be coming many more times.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I love this place! I would recommend it to anyone. It’s comfort food but done so well. I came in with my partner and we ordered both a sushi bowl and the hamburger steak. The sushi was amazing and fresh, and the hamburger steak was the best I ever had. Both came with a set with a salad and other sides. The service was great and our server even helped us play one punch man on their television. Better than any of the hamburger steaks that I had in Tokyo!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Absolutely incredible - such quality beef and sides. Highly recommend
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
the ‘hambagu’ itself was more ordinary than I expected.. but the fried egg and demiglace sauce on top were absolutely amazing.
unfortunately.. they ran out of ingredients early today so I couldn’t try it with the chimichurri sauce, but next time I definitely want to.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Good food and a nice small restaurant
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great Japanese hamburger place! You can tell everything is freshly made, both the Kaisen Don and hamburger are so tasty. Price is super reasonable too!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Real Japanese Hambagu made from scratch and made to order. I’ve worked in Japanese kitchens my whole life. I can tell when the kitchen both knows what they’re doing and cares. This place is legit.
Anybody who complains about wait time has never made hambagu and it shows. Most restaurants just reheat frozen patties from JFC and then add sauce on top. Even most fami resu in Japan will pre-cook the patties in the oven ahead of time and sear to finish when orders come in. But in doing so you lose on the wonderful juiciness and texture that come from made-to-order. Having a hand made hambagu cooked to order is a real luxury. With a patty that thick, you’ll need at least 20 minutes to cook through. Add in normal restaurant traffic and 40 minutes is 100% reasonable. For a full house I’d expect longer.
Factor in that they’re adding piping hot chawanmushi, miso, rice, salad, tsukemono - all at $22 dollars and you’ve got the best deal on real Japanese food in the area. As someone who is tired of reheated frozen food from big distributors, this place gets a full 5 stars from a Japanese chef.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hamba-Gu
Can’t believe I can enjoy the real Japanese Hamba-gu!!!! 最高！！
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hamba-Gu
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