Sawayaka’s hamburg steak in Shizuoka is famous all over Japan. I asked how it got that famous, and apparently Nagasawa Masami recommended it on TV. Anyway, everyone says it’s delicious and the line is huge, so I figured I should go at least once — I got there before opening and still had to wait an hour.

The hamburg character

Is a hamburg steak allowed to be this cute?

Salad

The tools

These aren’t for the customers to use — they’re the tools the staff use.

This is the hamburg steak that comes out.

For about 1,500 yen you get a seriously big hamburg steak.

They split it in half with those tools from earlier.

It sizzles away as it cooks.

Spoon the onion sauce over it and it’s done.

The look on the cow’s face, really…

Cross-section

It’s a hamburg steak, but it really tastes of beef. It’s on a par with a steak, and at 1,500 yen — wagyu, no less — the value is genuinely excellent. That said, it’s very appealing if you can walk straight in and eat, but I’m not sure an hour in line is worth it. You could just pay a bit more and eat better at a steakhouse. Even so, I think it’s a fine place to visit as a family. There’s a certain satisfaction in having been to a famous restaurant.

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