Explore everyday life in Japan
When it comes to Japanese food, there are so many good things to try, from world famous dishes like sushi and shabu-shabu to local specialties like the grilled beef tongue that Sendai is famous for and noppe, an unassuming salad of simmered vegetables that is eaten in Niigata.
Beyond Japanese food, though, there are also many options that are well worth trying. One of them, which is quite popular, is called hamburg (pronounced ham-bahh-goo).
Hamburg is a bit of a hybrid. It looks like a fat, puffy American-style hamburger patty without bread, but it has a texture that is closer to meatloaf. Usually, these hamburg patties are served on piping hot sizzle platters and finish cooking as they spit and fry on the table in front of you.
There are many variations, though, and sometimes they are served with salads or rice. Other times, they are merely seared on the outside and served completely rare on the inside so that you can cook your patty to your liking on a separate sizzle platter that is set on your table with a lit candle inside it to heat its grilling surface.
If you like cheese, you can also order a stuffed hamburg patty, which will ooze molten cheese as you cut into it.
One place that you can always be sure to find a few variations of hamburg on the menu is at a family restaurant. Family restaurants like Gusto, Saizeria, Jonathan's and Royal Host are similar to restaurants like Perkins, Waffle House, and Friendly's in the US. They are restaurants that offer a variety of standard, popular dishes for children and adults and access to a drink bar for a reasonable price. They are also places where you can spend an exorbitant amount of time socializing, studying, reading, or just sitting and thinking without having to worry about whether you are inconveniencing anyone.
The drink bar, coupled with the ability to sit in a booth for hours without feeling unwelcome are what make these restaurants an indispensable part of the Japanese experience. If you spend any significant amount of time in Japan, at some point, you are likely to find yourself at a family restaurant. And when that time comes, you will encounter the Japanese hamburg on the menu.
While other things may appeal to you more, I suggest giving it a shot. Though it may not seem like it, eating hamburg really is a quintessential Japanese experience.
This is an ongoing series that will explore various aspects of daily life in Japan. My hope is that this series will not only reveal to its followers, image by image, what Japan looks like, but that it will also inform its followers about unique Japanese items and various cultural and societal practices. If you are interested in getting regular updates about life in Japan, please consider following me at @boxcarblue. If you have any questions about life in Japan, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to answer all of your questions.