The partner told me about ああ.ハンバーグ / Ahh, Hamburg. Apparently it came to fame on the back of some TV show, in which some celebs turned up at some town (Urayasu, Chiba, in this case) asking some of the locals about places in the area that had piqued the interest but for some reason nobody knew anything about them. ああハンバーグ / Ahh, Hamburg was one such place (I’m speculating because of the quirky name). Anyway, the celebs did their bit, and bust through the doors of this hamburg joint, thus putting it on the nation’s culinary ‘to do’ list.

The celebs have lingered, their photo is on prominent display under the menu out front. You can seen them in the picture below. The only one I know is Katori Shingo from SMAP.

The Vibe

Anyway, I don’t why the locals had been so fearful of walking through these doors. The vibe here was welcoming, they had reggae playing over the speakers, and the place is nicely decked out/furnished with rich woods and spacious booths.

The Menu

ああ.ハンバーグ ‘does what it says on the tin’, hamburg (hamburgers, beef burgers, burgers? I’m not sure). Actually they have gratin and something else, but honestly, would you come to a restaurant called ああハンバーグ and not order hamburg?

First choice - size: 150g (930 yen) / 200g (1,080 yen) / 300g (1,460 yen)

Second choice - See the pics below.

All of these cost 280 yen (on top of the prices above).

I went with the shop sauce job, plus melted cheese (extra 150 yen). The partner opted for the demi-glace sauce.

There are two set deals available: rice and garlic soup (300 yen) / rice, garlic soup and soft drink (450 yen). I had the latter with a grapefruit juice. It was pretty big, and made the corners of my jaw tingle.

The Verdict

All in, I think I paid about 1,930 yen. Not cheap then, and you could probably get the same sort of fill from a family restaurant for less (and keep topping up your drink). On the quality side though, these are some tasty servings of meat, and this place should be a pit stop for any hamburg connoisseur. The food was cooked pretty promptly, the hamburgs juicy, the shop sauce … a little on the strong side for my taste, and the service friendly. I guess the main point though, is to say that it’s worth the effort to seek out local joints like this, on occasion, rather than always opt for what’s going on around the booming excitement of Japan’s commercial areas, or the familiar as a favorite pair of undies chain operations. 

After the SMAP a load of whining about nothing scandal maybe Mr. Katori could do with hearing a nice word or two, so I’ll step up to the plate; Nice find on the ああ.ハンバーグ / Ahh, Hamburg thing, Shingo (and your other celeb mates).

The Details

Address: Kitasakae 3-27-2, Urayasu-shi, Chiba-ken

Tel: 047-314-1329

Hours: Lunch (Only Sat, Sun, Holidays) 11:30 - 15:00 / Dinner 17:30 - 24:00

Web

Map

I should perhaps add that the English writing on the menu pics was added by me.