Fast, affordable, delicious burgers. Unpretentious but cool "Handsome Burger" in Fushimi, Nagoya

Directly connected to Fushimi Station Nagoya Municipal Subway Higashiyama Line. “Handsome Burger”, which opened in “Fushimi Underground Shopping Street” in 2015, is a popular cheese burger shop inspired by the hamburger culture of the West Coast of the United States.

The shop is popular for its delicious hamburgers, affordable prices, and quick delivery, as well as for business people's lunches and homemakers' take-out use.

This time, I asked Mr. Kentaro Goto, the representative, about the history of the opening and the secret of its popularity.

What is "Handsome Burger"?

The closer you get to the ticket gate, the stronger the scent of meat. "Handsome Burger" is an American-style hamburger shop located just outside the east exit of Fushimi Station on Nagoya Municipal Subway Higashiyama Line.

The store is so compact that the kitchen can be seen from the Fushimi Underground Shopping Street.

The wood flooring that gives off the warmth of the material and the pop of orange accent color create an atmosphere where "everyone is welcome."

The many art frames on the walls and the English background music will make you feel as if you are on a trip to America.

The eat-in space in the store is set up with a high counter without seating, so you can stop by and fill your stomach.

Another point is that the hamburger menu is simple. Two types of hamburgers, french fries, and drinks are for sale.

The reason why the most popular "cheeseburger" is delicious

Popular cheeseburger ¥700 (tax included)

Cheeseburger is the most popular menu item. Although many people like to eat hamburgers, few have ever even seen how they are made in the kitchen!

This time, I was allowed to observe the process of making a cheeseburger, and asked why it was so delicious, as well as the secret behind it.

Back: Mr. Goto standing in the kitchen

Preparing meat for one beef patty (quarter pound (about 113g))

Surprisingly, "Handsome Burger" does not have a freezer.

The meat handled in the shop is provided to customers while maintaining the "raw" state from the time of purchase. By preparing "raw" beef every day, they prevent the deterioration of freshness caused by storage and freezing, so that customers can eat it in the most delicious state.

In addition, the freshness of the patty is maintained by finishing the preparation without touching the meat as much as possible.

Pressing down a patty with a meat press. Remove air from the whole piece and apply an even force from above.

After shaping the patties in a meat press. Like a mountain, the center rises and the bottom falls

How the patty is baked

When baked up to this point, the kitchen is filled with the delicious scent of patty. The key is to make it thin and crispy. According to Mr. Goto, the representative, it has a “fragrance like the scorched bibimbap” and whets the appetite.

Melted US cheddar cheese on beef patty

Scoop it with a spatula

The smell of burning US cheddar cheese is irresistible. It's the perfect combination of beef and cheese, but they complement each other.

Not to be forgotten in the burgers are the vegetables as toppings. All of them are made from local vegetables. On this day, lettuce from Aisai City and tomatoes from Kisomisaki Town, Mie Prefecture were used.

Served on a white tray for eating-in

What surprised me was the speed from the time an order is placed to the time it is served. Even during peak lunchtime hours, they start making the dishes upon receiving an order and serve them within five minutes.

Mr. Goto says he wants to serve "freshly made food as soon as possible. I felt that his whole body was overflowing with the desire to serve customers as quickly as possible, even from the location in an office district.

I'll enjoy having this!

The buns are soft and fluffy.

When you take a bite, it's easy to eat. I imagined a so-called gourmet burger and ate it, but I didn't feel like I had to work hard to eat it.

That should be it, the secret is also in the buns. The buns, which were devised based on sandwich bread, are soft and crispy, and are easy to eat, even for women.

It is easy to eat and you will be snacking on one in no time. But the volume is enough to fill you up.

Thank you for the meal!

Encounter with a hamburger

Mr. Goto and the "Handsome Burger" neon sign

-Please tell me how you first encountered hamburgers.

Mr. Goto: "I was originally a trading company employee, but at that time I was talking with local engineers through an interpreter. I wanted to talk directly with them, but I didn't have a chance at the time.

When I had finished my work, the president gave me a year off and I decided to take the plunge and study abroad. Perhaps it was the idea that this would be a chance to realize my desire to go to the United States, which I had thought about during my college years.

I decided to study abroad in San Francisco, where there are many IT-related companies. Then I became a 32-year-old student. ”

Image provided by Mr. Goto: Mr. Goto who became a 32-year-old student

Ms. Goto: "Although I had enough savings to study abroad, I didn't have a new source of income, so I was helped by cheap and filling hamburgers.

One hamburger was $6.50 (about 740 yen at the January 2022 exchange rate), but I was attracted. I vividly remember the shocking taste of the moment I took a bite.

In addition, there were people from young to old in the shop, and everyone seemed to be eating hamburgers deliciously, and I felt that it was a happy space.

At that time, I often ate hot dogs that were sold outside the language school, but the hamburgers won out in comparison in terms of taste. ”

-What did you do after the first year of study abroad ended?

Mr. Goto: “I extended my language study abroad period a little, and stayed in the United States for a total of 1 year and 10 months.

Since I used to work for a trading company, I wanted to bring a delicious hamburger shop to Japan. However, the shop I worked at had a concept of "local production for local consumption", so it was physically impossible.

From that background, I changed my mind to open a store in Japan with the same concept of "local production for local consumption". ”

Vintage Stars and Stripes and Mr. Goto

-When did you complete the hamburger that you are offering now?

Mr. Goto: "It was completed when I was in America.

I remember going to a famous hamburger place in San Francisco and having a strong impact on the cheeseburger I had."

-Does the burger you offer now fit in the gourmet burger category?

Mr. Goto: "If anything, I'd like it to be included in the same group as fast food.

We're aiming for a hamburger that you can eat without having to worry about it, rather than something fancy that you eat with a fork and knife. ”

-It's hard to define a gourmet burger.

Mr. Goto: "The hamburgers offered at 'Handosme Burger' are in the realm of gourmet burgers in terms of quality, but the style is fast food.

Gourmet burgers are also expensive. My original experience in the U.S. was to be able to eat delicious hamburgers easily, and I want to continue to serve hamburgers so that customers can experience that."

We are here

Image provided by Mr. Goto: Preparing in the morning when there are many people using the station

-How long did it take for the shop to penetrate the community?

Mr. Goto: "It took about two years. At first, there were no customers, so we only served about eight meals a day.

However, there were always people passing by in front of the store, partly because it was directly connected to the station in a business district. So I try to do what I can to get people to notice me.

“Fushimi Shopping Street” has many izakayas, so most of them have their shutters down in the morning.

So, from around 6:30, we open the shutters of the store and start to prepare it, and when there are no customers, we clean the store. I continued my approach. ”

Preparation of French fries in the store

Mr. Goto: “Conversely, we never handed out leaflets or advertised on social media or word-of-mouth sites.

As a major premise, we wanted customers to come directly to see and feel the production, and to taste it, so we came to the conclusion that it was best to stick to the store.

It's nice to have a customer say, 'It's delicious!' I think it's very important to make products by yourself and hand them over.

I think handing it over has the meaning of 'responsibility'. I want to be responsible for handing out the burgers from the space of this shop to the customers, so that they can feel the deliciousness of the burgers. That's the only thing I can say about it."

About the future

Image provided by Mr. Goto: With friends from Handsome Oxford

Mr. Goto points to the Handosme Burger logo, which was designed by the friends of the sister store Handosme Oxford in the United States.

-What kind of shop do you want to be in the future?

Mr. Goto: “Actually, we were planning to open a store in the United States soon, so I definitely want to make it a reality.

In America, there is a sister store called Handosme Oxford, which sells American vintage items.

For the opening of this store, a colleague from the United States rushed over to help us set it up.

"Handosme Burger" is my interpretation of an American hamburger. I think that by bringing this hamburger raised in Japan to the United States, you could say that it is a reverse import of hamburgers, and that Americans will be happy that it is delicious. ”

On the day of the interview, we visited at 3:00 pm on a weekday, but there was a steady flow of customers and the store was lively.

The customers who come to the store are humming to the music in the store, and they seem to be enjoying their lunch time by just coming in. You can feel the atmosphere of casually enjoying delicious hamburgers. I was.

Standing in the kitchen, Mr. Goto seems to be a craftsman and only thinks about the order in front of him, but when he steps out of the kitchen and I strike up a conversation, he is friendly and frank with me, and it was also nice to see another side of him.

I want to go to eat the hamburger made by Mr. Goto again.

Mr. Goto, thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule.