Hello.
This time, I visited the famous Kiwamiya Hamburg Tenjin PARCO branch in Fukuoka.
If you’re looking for a must-visit restaurant during your Fukuoka trip, I recommend “Kiwamiya Hamburg (極味やハンバーグ)”.
It’s famous for its self-grilled hamburg steak, where you can cook it to your preferred doneness.
It feels somewhat similar to gyukatsu, which is common in Korea.
Waiting
Especially the main branch near JR Hakata Station can have over an hour of waiting during meal times.
But since many Korean travelers include weekends in their itinerary,
visiting on a weekday tends to be a bit better.
As expected from a popular spot among Korean tourists,
they provide Korean instructions as well.
To summarize briefly (subjectively):
1. You must line up and wait together outside.
2. The seating area is very narrow, so it’s better to ask for coat storage in advance.
I wondered if coat storage was really necessary…
but as mentioned later, the oil splashes *a lot*.
Kiwamiya Hamburg Menu
There are several menu pages, but the main items are hamburg steak and regular steak.
I ordered the L-size set with the red spicy sauce and added an egg.
On the instruction board,
“Ishi Change”
“いしチェンジ”
means asking for a new hot stone.
The explanation is kindly written in Korean as well.
Hamburg Set Components
When you order a set, you get rice, salad, miso soup, and ice cream at the end.
For the ice cream, once you’re nearly done eating,
a staff member will ask, “Shall we prepare your dessert?”
The L-size is 200g, and it was larger than I expected.
Since Japanese restaurants rarely serve complimentary side dishes,
you usually have to buy them separately, and the side dish price of 450 yen
felt a bit pricey.
But when you’re traveling and eating delicious food, it doesn’t really matter, right? haha
The basic way of eating here is to grill the meat yourself
on a hot stone heated to a very high temperature.
Since the stone is dry at first, you should lightly oil it with meat fat,
and once you place the meat on top, it sizzles immediately.
It’s similar to gyukatsu but slightly different:
gyukatsu uses a small burner to keep the heat, while at Kiwamiya,
you must request new stones as they cool down.
For my 200g L-size, I got refills twice,
so I used a total of three stones.
But…
the oil splashes *a lot*.
You’ll definitely want an apron.
Keep this in mind when visiting.
It was truly delicious.
As for the sauce, the meat’s juices were rich enough
that the sauce felt almost unnecessary.
The basic sauce wasn’t sweet like the usual hamburg sauce we know;
it was mild and subtle, so it didn’t stand out much.
The spicy sauce balanced better with the meat juices,
and it wasn’t that spicy.
When you’re almost done with your meal,
a staff member will ask about your dessert.
You can eat it there or take it to go.
I recommend eating it at the restaurant—
it’s quick to finish and you avoid extra trash.