Sazanami Hamba-Gu

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 on

Great spot for a casual meet up. Stopped here for lunch with a friend and the beef patty is so moist and tender. I also enjoyed the egg pudding, it was packed with flavor. The customer service was on point.

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!

Japanese hamburger set, juicy and good quality patty with variety of sauces to choose from, will charge extra if choosing more than 1 sauce. Portions are decent but could be more filling given the price. Appetizers took a long time to come, and I think servers almost forgot about us as we sat in the corner, had to ask multiple times for tea/water refills.

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 l