Get in line, Manila: Tokyo sensation Hamburg Yoshi is here
Cecile Zamora has always loved Japan—Tokyo, in particular. She goes so often that she has developed a routine for each visit. Her first stop: always the hair salon.
In November 2023, she had just landed in Tokyo and was on her way to the salon when the taxi driver took a wrong turn. “I saw this picture of a burger on rice and I said, ‘I want to eat that.’ It reminded me of my childhood—I would eat burger with rice. I’d rather have it with rice than bread.”
That sign had been for Hamburg Yoshi, which had just opened earlier that year and had become hugely popular for its charcoal-grilled burger patties served with rice.
The resto was the brainchild of Yasukawa Yoshinori, also called Yoshi, who had spent 24 years running a yakiniku restaurant in Sapporo. But the pandemic had affected the business significantly because restrictions made it impossible for groups to gather to eat.
“I decided to start something new,” he said. “What about a new business model targeting individual customers?”
His idea was to create a hamburger specialty restaurant that would be open for lunch. “The yakiniku restaurant would buy an entire cow and use every part of it. So I had a lot of knowledge about meat.”
At Hamburg Yoshi, they use meat that is freshly ground in-house each day. “This allows us to bring out the full flavor of the meat,” said Yoshi. “Grilling the meat over charcoal removes excess fat and brings out its fragrant flavor. Unlike ordinary hamburgers cooked on a hot plate, this hamburger is light and easy to eat.”
Yoshi is also particular about the rice they use at the restaurant. “We always serve it freshly cooked, using mainly Japanese rice, blending the best varieties for each season.”
He opened Hamburg Yoshi not in Sapporo but in Tokyo. “I thought that Tokyo would be a good place to take on a new challenge,” he said.
There—in Omotesando and Harajuku—Hamburg Yoshi found a home. “In order to create an atmosphere that is easy for people to enter alone, I stuck to a warm wood-grain interior with only a counter.”
‘I want to bring this to Manila’
Soon, there were long lines for his food, with customers willingly queuing for as long as three hours to get a taste of the popular burger patties on rice.
After her salon appointment, Zamora and her friend Nina headed to Hamburg Yoshi in Omotesando. As she dug into her meal, Zamora said, “Oh my god, I want to bring this to Manila.”
Her friend Nina started talking to the store manager. Zamora said, “Luckily, I had some Pepper Lunch calling cards.”
It was Zamora who brought Pepper Lunch, a Japanese concept loved by many for its beef pepper rice and steaks served on hot plates, to the Philippines in 2008. At the time of her first visit to Hamburg Yoshi in 2023, she had grown the brand to 52 restaurants across the country (now it’s over 60).
Two months later, she signed the contract with Hamburg Yoshi. The Philippines is the third country outside Japan to welcome the restaurant. Hamburg Yoshi is also in Taiwan and South Korea.
“Taiwan was very fast. I knew I had to act fast,” Zamora said, saying she was sure there would be others who would be interested in bringing the restaurant to the country.
She added, “I wanted to offer something to the Philippines that we don’t have. We have a lot of ramen, we have a lot of tonkatsu, bubble tea.”
“She has a passion for business and is a reliable manager,” Yoshi said of Zamora.
Hamburg Yoshi opened earlier this week to rave reviews. It’s in Bonifacio High Street South in Bonifacio Global City—a place that Yoshi says reminds him of Omotesando. Yes, he’s here, on his first visit to the Philippines, making sure they’re serving that authentic Hamburg Yoshi experience.
He said, “We did not change the taste at all. There are customers who come to our restaurant in every country looking for the taste of Yoshi. We want to maintain the same quality as we do in Japan. The flavor has remained unchanged in Taiwan and Korea, where it has been very well received. Gravy sauce is popular in the Philippines but we plan to offer Yoshi’s own demi-glace sauce as is.”
Five Filipino staff members were trained in Japan. “They are very hardworking and have excellent hospitality when it comes to serving customers,” said Yoshi.
No leftovers
Zamora said, “We’re all learning a lot from him because he’s very strict. He doesn’t like wasting anything.”
Hamburg Yoshi has a no-leftovers policy. Zamora said, “Japanese people never over-order. Us Filipinos, we’re takaw mata because we know we can take it home.”
There are five set meals to choose from and each meal comes with miso soup, pickles, raw egg, and unlimited rice.
Zamora’s favorite is the Hamburg or regular beef patty set meal. A Hamburg set with three patties is P795 while a set with four patties costs P995. There’s the Wagyu Hamburg meal, which is available in limited quantities—just 30 sets a day. The most popular set meal is the Beef Tongue Hamburg—two beef tongue patties plus one or two regular beef patties. You can also go for the Skirt Steak Meal or the Beef Tongue Meal. You can ask for cheese to be added to your demi-glace sauce.
22-seater
Different condiments wait at each spot on the 22-seater counter: soy sauce, salted lemon (my favorite), green chili peppers, and pickled red ginger.
Hamburg Yoshi recommends that you eat your patties with TKG or Tamago Kake Gohan—Japanese rice mixed with raw egg and soy sauce.
The paper placemats have all the instructions you’ll need and even a QR code that leads to an Instagram video showing how to eat your Hamburg Yoshi meal.
I love that they serve the Hamburg patties one by one—so you’re always eating a hot one. The Hamburg patties are so juicy and flavorful and they go perfectly with the demi-glace sauce and cheese.
“I feel this is very, very authentic. It’s the Japan I know,” said Zamora.
It was easy to see why she fell in love with Hamburg Yoshi. I loved my first taste of it. It’s comfort food done so well—such a satisfying meal. I cannot wait to go back, and yes, I will gladly line up for it.
Yoshi said, “Many Filipinos have already visited our Japanese stores, but we want to make our stores into places where people can enjoy the same flavors as in Japan without having to go to Japan.”
Hamburg Yoshi is at Bonifacio High Street South Ground Floor, Verve 1 26th Street corner 8th Avenue Bonifacio Global City Taguig. It’s open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday to Saturday.
