Hikiniku to Kome Kyoto

In October 2022, Hikiniku to Kome Kyoto, a restaurant specializing in charbroiled hamburgers and freshly cooked rice, opened on the Kiridoshi street in Gion, Kyoto. It is the third branch of Hikiniku to Kome in Kichijoji, Tokyo, and serves freshly ground and grilled charbroiled hamburger steak and freshly cooked rice in a hagama under the concept of “freshly ground, grilled, and cooked”. The food menu is simple, with only one hamburger set meal, but in Tokyo, where the restaurant is based, it has become so popular that all reservations for the day are filled within two hours of the start of issuing numbered tickets each morning.

Nowadays, information from all over the world can be obtained through the Internet with a smartphone. Naturally, the fact that Hikiniku to Kome has opened a restaurant in Kyoto must be well known to foodies in Kyoto and abroad. Although the hurdle to visit the restaurant may seem high, I was curious to see what kind of delicious hamburgers I would be able to enjoy at this restaurant. So, I decided to go to Hikiniku to Kome Kyoto, knowing that I would have to wait a long time…

Is it tough if you don’t book online in advance? On a Sunday morning, I went to Hikiniku to Kome Kyoto without a reservation…

Hikiniku to Kome Kyoto, a popular restaurant from Kichijoji, Tokyo, accepts advance reservations via a website called TableCheck. There are two ways to make these advance reservations: “Advance Bookings” and “Regular Bookings.” With advance bookings, reservations can be made on the first of each month until the end of the following month, and with regular bookings, reservations can be made up to seven days in advance. It is possible to make online reservations up to two months in advance, but the reason why they are divided into “Advance Booking” and “Regular Booking” is that Advance Booking charges an additional 1,000 yen per seat as a commission (non-refundable, of course). What a bold restaurant to charge a commission for advance bookings. The only restaurant I can think of is Tonkatsu Narikura, which became famous for its white tonkatsu.

Of course, nobody wants to pay that kind of money, right? But Regular Bookings fill up quickly and are often closed. So what should we do? It’s still okay. At Hikiniku to Kome Kyoto, reservations can be made by going directly to the restaurant from 9:00 a.m. every day.

So, I decided to visit Hikiniku to Kome Kyoto on a Sunday morning to try out the OTC reservation system. I was a little late due to my morning work and arrived at the restaurant around 10:00 a.m. I was half ready to give up, thinking that maybe all the reservations had already been made, but to my surprise, I easily got the 11:10 slot…

I was half happy and half disappointed. Sunday is the busiest day in Kyoto. I had heard that it was very popular in Tokyo, the city where I am based. I was mostly alone, so it must have been easier for me to find a seat, but it might not be the same for two or more people…. Also, according to the Tabelog, there are 35 counter seats in the restaurant, which is a surprisingly large number of seats, and only 10 of them are reserved through online reservations. So, you may be surprised that you don’t have to make an online reservation in advance to visit Hikiniku to Kome Kyoto.

Hikiniku to Kome Set Meal: Named directly after the restaurant, is the only food menu in Kyoto, how was it to actually try it?

When I returned to Hikiniku to Kome Kyoto on time for my reservation, I was prompted to purchase a meal ticket from the ticket vending machine before being shown to my seat. The restaurant’s only food menu item is the “Hikiniku to Kome Set Meal (priced at 1,800 yen including tax),” which is the restaurant’s name as it is. This set meal includes a freshly grilled hamburger steak, freshly cooked rice in a hagama (kettle), and miso soup, and up to three 90 gram hamburgers can be ordered for the same price. Also, unlimited refills of rice can be ordered, and a raw egg can be added to the set meal as desired, although only one per person….

Naturally I ordered three hamburgers, but this restaurant does not serve three hamburgers at the same time. The person in charge in the kitchen is grilling the hamburgers over a charcoal fire, watching our progress and serving us freshly grilled hamburgers one at a time at just the right moment…

About 10 minutes after I took my seat, the first hamburger was brought to the net in front of me. There is also a charcoal fire under this net, so the hamburger will stay warm as long as it is left here. However, since the juices are dripping down from the surface of the hamburger, it is definitely more profitable to eat it quickly than to leave it on the net for a long time.

The hamburger steak comes pre-seasoned, but it can be customized to any taste with a wide selection of seasonings. In addition to the seasonings on both sides of the counter, there are three types of seasonings in the drawer: pink salt, black pepper, and Sichuan pepper with an electric mill. With such a wide selection of seasonings, it’s a nice problem to not be able to try all of them…

Well, this time I halved each of the three hamburgers and tried six different seasonings. I will now introduce them in order so you can refer to them the next time you go to the restaurant…

Without seasoning

First, without seasoning, just as it is on the rice. The surface is well cooked, but the center is fluffy and airy. The juices are gushing out of the meat from the crevices. The juices are blended with the salt and pepper, and the juices themselves become a superb hamburger sauce…to say the least, no other seasoning is needed.

Jiao Ma

The other half of the first hamburger was served with a seasoning called “Jiao Ma,” which caught my attention when I saw the name. The description says it is “a stimulating combination of Japanese pepper, green onion, ginger, and sesame oil,” but while it has flavor, the stimulation is milder than I imagined, and it neutralizes the oil in the meat, making the overall taste mellower.

Oroshi Ponzu

Just before the second hamburger is cooked, the restaurant’s homemade ponzu and grated Japanese radish are brought to the table. The grated Japanese radish is not the usual grated daikon, but rather chopped one. In this way, it does not become watery, so when it is used as a seasoning for hamburgers as grated ponzu, it does not dilute the flavor of the hamburgers. The flavor of the hamburger steak, the refreshing ponzu, and the crunchy texture of the grated Japanese radish went well with the hamburger steak.

Green pepper salt and lemon

For the second half of the second hamburger, I selected the green pepper salt lemon from the tabletop condiments. Although it is labeled “green pepper,” it is not nearly as spicy as it sounds, and is mostly salt and lemon juice. Unlike the previous jiao ma, this seasoning is quite salty and sour. Just a little bit of this seasoning on the hamburger steak will neutralize the juices in the meat and make it more refreshing to eat.

Rice topped with egg (TKG) Part 1

The last hamburger is served as tamago kake gohan (TKG) with a raw egg. The yolk is blended with the “Eating Soy Sauce” on the table, and then the hamburger steak is served with the egg yolk on the rice… The richness of the egg yolk on the hamburger steak and the garlic flavor in the “Eating Soy Sauce” is so good that the rice and hamburger steak are gone in no time! Both the rice and the hamburger were gone in no time at all…

Rice topped with egg (TKG) Part 2

The second half of this dish was made with leftover egg whites. As in the first half, “Eating Soy Sauce” is used as the sauce. By blending with egg whites, the “Eating Soy Sauce” is applied more firmly to the hamburger steak, giving it a moist sensation. The egg white effect dilutes the taste of the soy sauce, so it is perfectly suited as a seasoning for white rice.

I left Hikiniku to Kome Kyoto after trying six different ways to eat it like this. In conclusion, I am very satisfied. At first glance, the price of 1,800 yen may seem high, but it is because the three hamburgers weigh a total of 270 grams, which is 1.5 times the amount of a regular hamburger. The taste of the hamburgers is as I have told you so far. The hamburgers are not the only thing that makes the dish special; the rice is also fluffy and fresh, and is clearly of a different quality than the rice served at most set menus. The rice is served in a hagama and refills are free…even from the perspective of an adult male.

Frankly, the fact that I could have lunch at this restaurant so easily makes me wonder, “Why isn’t it more popular?” I feel. Is this restaurant not well known in Kyoto yet? I think it is better to visit this restaurant now when the hurdle to visit is not so high.

The waiting bar “Bar Hikiniku to Kome 2F” is located on the second floor… Access to Hikiniku to Kome Kyoto is a 4-minute walk from the nearest station, Gion Shijo Station on the Keihan Electric Railway Line.

On the second floor of Hikiniku to Kome Kyoto, there is a waiting bar, “Bar Hikiniku to Kome 2F”. It seems that on this second floor, in addition to beer, sours, and sake, a homemade ice bar using Kyoto-only and seasonal fruits can be enjoyed, and it would be nice to have a light drink on the second floor until a seat becomes available on the first floor. The location of the restaurant is also tasteful and cozy, so it may be wise to not stop at just the food, but to relax at the bar as well.Now, here are the details of the restaurant…

It takes 8 minutes on foot from Kyoto Kawaramachi Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line.

P.S. If you are looking for delicious hamburg steak in Kyoto, please stop by this article below…