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Another Japanese Hamburg Restaurant’s Undercooked Food Goes Viral
Social media users laid into Kichijoji Burg after a TikTok food influencer’s video showed its food was essentially raw on the inside.
Yet another hamburg joint in Japan has gone viral for undercooking its meat. On the plus side, no one ended up in the hospital this time!
The restaurant in question is Burg (バーグ) in Kichijoji, which specializes in hamburg steaks — a traditional form of yoshoku (Western food) served on a sizzling hot pan. While usually served with a demiglace sauce on top, Burg uses a cheese sauce for their creations.
Japanese TikTok food influencer kogi_jp_gourmet spotlighted the restaurant in a video posted on December 5th. In one scene, the influencer cuts into the steak to reveal it’s mostly raw on the inside — a form of hamburg preparation called “drinkable hamburg” (飲めるハンバーグ; nomeru hamba-gu).
“Drinkable hamburg” has been popular in Japan for several years. Restaurants that defend the practice say that customers are supposed to finish cooking the raw-ish portion on the hot plates on which the meal is served.
