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Sasebo Burger - Best Hamburger in Japan

Nov 24th, 2007 by Neil

Breakfast on the weekend is the only meal that often troubles me living in Japan. Being used to `Bacon and Eggs` or various other typical western breakfasts in Australia i often struggle to satisfy my hunger on my days off.

What are my options considering there`s not a great deal open, in and around my area, before 11am? The locals will eat everything from Ramen to Sushi and I`ve tried both, Ramen can be a little heavy and send you back home for another hours kip and Sushi just isn`t right for me anything before lunchtime and without beer in hand … the Wasabi is too aggresive on the palet first up.

So when i`ve come around the corner at Yoyogi station and seen `Zats Cafe` advertising they do a `Sasebo Burger` all my troubles were over. They open at 11am, i can hold off for breakfast until then no problems, and believe me when i say it`s well worth waiting for.

Sasebo Burger

 We`ve all seen the beautiful marketing from the likes of McDonalds and other fast food chains and then when the food arrives we`re bitterly dissapointed with the stark contrast between the two.

The story`s very different at Zats Burger, these things are seriously prepared with love and taste every bit as good as they look. I would actually rate this better than the burger from Michaels in Albert Park, Port Melbourne but i`ll have to sample one of those again at Xmas time to make sure i`m fair in my judgement. 

sasebo-2.jpg

Sasebo Burger is the first `Handmade`burger chain in Japan and it`s been around since since 1951. There`s nothing cheap about them, they cost about $7 for a regular pictured above and a jumbo burger below sets you back about $11 for the Bacon and Cheese variety. The Jumbo is actually 18cm (~7 inches) in diameter.

Sasebo Burger Jumbo

There`s 5 shops in Japan at the moment with a 6th on the way. The only other one i know of is in Nakano which is a bit of a hike so having one in Yoyogi is a massive bonus for me moving in to this area. Anyone travelling to Tokyo will invariably end up at Shinjuku station, Zats burger is 1 stop down the JR Line heading towards Shibuya.

 Zats Burger Yoyogi

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34 Comments »

Comment by Culture Shiok! Singapore
2007-11-24 20:01:40

We don’t have Sasebo Burger here in Singapore, but we do have Mos Burger. It’s the closest we can get to a Japanese burger. You pictures reminds me of what they’re serving here. I love it!

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Comment by F1Wolf
2007-11-25 02:02:48

We have Mos Burger in Hong Kong. People went totally mad when they opened, lining up for hours just to get a burger … I haven’t tried it yet, but from the distance they look to be made only in the XS size :-)

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Comment by Contamination
2007-11-25 03:45:05

I’m inviting you to join my A Blogs Eye View community. This way we can better manage posts about life in Japan or hot topics affecting Japan. If you have a question, E-Mail me.

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Comment by Neil Duckett
2007-11-25 07:04:15

Sounds good to me.

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Comment by Contamination
2007-12-09 23:42:31

Hi Neil
New burger review today.
http://www.jdonuts.com/2007/12/new-italian-chicken-burger.html

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Comment by Jamaipanese
2007-11-25 05:37:44

hmm looks kinda yummy

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Comment by Tyler
2007-11-25 09:05:45

I have never been to a Zat’s burger but I lived in Sasebo for 4 years. I am American and have had burgers all of the USA but the Sasebo burgers in Sasebo are the best. They even have Burger trips were tourists to the city can go on a tour of many of the major burger shops in Sasebo.

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Comment by Mike Huang
2007-11-25 09:07:54

Looks like a great and healthy burger there in Japan :)

-Mike

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Comment by anpanman
2007-11-25 09:31:53

pure liquid shit. try a gordon ramsay burger. dumb ass yanks.

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Comment by Neil
2007-11-25 12:15:22

Opinions are like assholes, we all have one.

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Comment by Go-Shay
2007-11-25 11:32:19

We the people who live in Okinawa Japan have chosen Sea Side Jet City burger the best in Japan. All burgers are hand made and the parlor is situated right on the beach.

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Comment by Neil Duckett
2007-11-25 13:13:47

Thats Great, i`m very keen to get down there at some stage and will look forward to a burger at the sea side.

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Comment by chris
2007-11-25 22:35:07

noy worth the 15 minute drive. frozen burger meat! come on

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Comment by Contamination
2007-11-26 12:04:53

If you want a good burger, you should try Tachikawa Burger (also in Hachioji)
http://www.jdonuts.com/2007/05/this-is-burger.html

Ooh it’s so bad that it’s good.

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Comment by Neil
2007-11-26 12:19:45

Thanks for the heads up, i’ll give it a go!

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Comment by Angel
2007-11-26 12:08:08

Yep, people went nuts for Mos Burger when they opened the first store in Bangkok too. Mos Burger is pretty good though. It’s all about the dressing and the attentive manager on the floor.

Hey Neil, I’m planning to visit Tokyo in February for the Bjork concert. I wondered if you knew about which airlines run between Bangkok and Tokyo. I’m looking for the cheapest flight possible.

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Comment by Neil
2007-11-26 12:19:21

I don’t mind the Mos Burger, there’s actually 1 about 100 metres from Zats Cafe.

As for flights, just this minute i’m booking an internal one for March next year, Tokyo to Izumo, when i searched it was $540 with JAL, do the same search in Japanese and it was $300 … exact same flight numbers, love being a foreigner!

What i did for Taipei last month was use http://www.orbitz.com although i had to use a UK address as my postal address as they had no ability to do it from Asia, they didn’t ever send anything to the address so not sure why it’s needed.

The way i came up with http://www.orbitz.com was in google i did a “Tokyo to Taipei Flight” and the top search is from expedia, orbitz etc and that gave me the airlines offering the services. I know JAL and Cathay do it, i’ve looked into it recently and will be doing a run that way myself some time early next year.

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Comment by Jalaj
2007-11-26 19:53:22

Looks good… must taste good too… ymmm….
I must immediately get something for my watered mouth.. before I start linking my monitor.. see you…

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Comment by Nathan
2007-11-27 10:26:49

Sasebo Burger, what a burger!
and wow, racken up the comments!

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Comment by bloggernoob
2007-11-27 17:56:39

that looks tasty. never tried that burger. when i go imma definately get me one. I think in and out burgers are the best burgers in the world…but asian hamburgers are all tasty. beats micky ds

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Comment by John Cow
2007-11-27 21:23:22

Curse you Neil! Now we’re gonna have to face the cold out there to get a macD breakfast because you made us hungry!

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Comment by Neil
2007-11-27 21:56:59

Sorry mate, i was expecting you to give me a bollicking for eating beef rather than making you hungry though!

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Comment by John Cow
2007-11-27 22:18:57

Everyone knows they only eat Tofu and Soya stuff in Japan!

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Comment by Sly Bald Guy
2007-11-28 17:01:57

I haven’t tried that place, but I did enjoy Mos Burger when I was in Japan.

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Pingback by Japan is such a wonderful place for a blogger | Bloggin-Ads
2007-12-02 11:04:28

[...] my family about 2 years ago and I gotta say it was a heck of a great time. With nice weather and great food and shopping experiences and not to mention BEAUTIFUL women, my family is planning to go again [...]

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Comment by CSW
2007-12-30 12:24:13

Check out my review of the best burger in Tokyo.

http://www.sunnypages.jp/contacts/detail/17

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Comment by MoGa
2008-03-21 02:09:25

Post this again once you’ve actually tried the Sasebo Burger with avocado. It’s better than Kua’Aina’s.

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Trackback by www.japansoc.com
2008-01-04 20:03:56

Sasebo Burger - Best Hamburger in Japan | neilduckett.com…

Breakfast on the weekend is the only meal that often troubles me living in Japan. Being used to `Bacon and Eggs` or various other typical western breakfasts in Australia i often struggle to satisfy my hunger on my days off….

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Comment by mic
2008-01-20 00:32:35

I live in Sasebo and still haven’t had a Sasebo Burger!!!! Guess I have something to do tomorrow when I’m recovering from my hangover.

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Trackback by japan hotels
2008-01-27 01:50:07

japan hotels…

Some hotels don’t conforms the descriptions, that is why real reviews of people who stayed there are very useful. Oh, sorry.Hi there…..

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Comment by MoGa
2008-03-21 02:06:52

We beat you to the Yoyogi Zats Cafe by a month (I’d been wanting to go for much longer).
Agreed, the Sasebo Burger is definitely the best in Tokyo. That Zats Cafe also has the sweetest staff running it, it’s like being served by a Charlie’s Angels team running a burger bar undercover.
It’s just a shame it closes so early, took us a couple of tries before we could coincide our visits to the area with a meal here.

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Comment by Neil
2008-03-21 11:36:36

I agree about the staff!

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Pingback by Tokugawaen (Japanese Garden) Nagoya | Neil Duckett
2008-04-23 13:25:58

[...] all things considered. Needless to say upon arrival back in Tokyo Sunday night it was off for a Sasebo Burger around the corner from home at Zatts, followed by a pretty quiet night on the couch … Monday [...]

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Comment by komodo dragon
2008-06-08 01:02:18

that looks like it tastes pretty good, it also looks like it will give you heartburn :O

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