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Hamamatsu Diary Vol. V: Sawayaka Sumiyaki

Insights

Hamburg Steak,  Hamamatsu Style:  Western Food, for a change

This is the fifth of a series of stories about Hamamatsu, leading up to the WFIMC General Assembly in June.

 

Japan might not strike you as the first place to try Hamburgers. Still, should you need a respite from eel, fugu and gyoza, you might want to try a very different Hamamatsu specialty: the Genkotsu Hamburg Steak. In Japan, there are Hamburgers, and there is Hamburg steak, and the most famous one comes from here. 
Selling like hot cakes, the dish was created by Sawayaka Sumiyaki Restaurant in 1977 and gained its huge popularity in 2007, thanks to an idol group presenting it on TV.

Sawayaka´s specialties are the big „Genkotsu“ (clenched fist) hamburg steak, and the smaller „Onigiri“ hamburg steak, which comes in the shape of the traditional triangular „onigiri“ japanese rice ball. "Sumiyaki" stands for charcoal grill- another distinctive part of Sawayaka´s flavor.

from the Sawayaka menu

Part of its great popularity is the fact that all ingredients of the dish must not be older than one day, and that everything comes from local producers in Shizuoka. This also means that the 34 restaurants of this chain can only be found in Shizuoka. 12 of them are located in Hamamatsu.


The restaurants are so popular that waiting time sometimes exceed several hours. But the restaurants give out tickets from 10 am in the morning, and waiting time can be checked on their website https://www.genkotsu-hb.com/. 
Conclusion: if you are craving for some great, affordable western food, Japanese style, try Sawayaka for a very special Hamamatsu experience.

©WFIMC 2023