LapLap

I saw. Paucity.

evergrn

As far as hamburg chains go, the ones that we go to are Tsubame Grill and Bronco Billy.
You can see Tsubame Grill's central kitchen next to the expressway on the way to HND.

They're not cheap, although they're still casual chain places and their prices are not that different than Royal Host.
Mind you, I don't really eat much red meat. At Tsubame Grill, I order other things. I like Bronco Billy for their salad bar. But my family likes their hamburgs.

evergrn

Yeah, come to think, probably half of Jpn's major cheap food chains exist in HKG. And while I have not tried too many of them in HKG, at least the MOS and Ippudo in HKG taste essentially the same as in Jpn. But I don't know that I would specifically try to pick out chains that haven't yet made their way abroad. Some of the best chains imo (eg, Gindaco, Ichiran) are the ones who have also opened up shops abroad, and plus it would be unwise for a ramen seeker to go out of the way to choose Hidakaya over Ippudo for ramen, for instance.

LapLap

Didn’t you say there needed to be 50+ branches for the chain to qualify for this thread? Tsubame Grill is out!

More seriously now, was just looking options at the Ginza Tsubame Grill (est. 1930) and, from that glance, it does seem to be more what I hoped a family resu would be than Denny’s or Jonathan’s. But I say this as someone who really appreciates Japanese style cabbage rolls!
I notice that Tsubame Grill has a “made in Japan” themed Bento stand in e-cute at Shinagawa Station. That is certainly something I will be checking out. Thanks for bringing this mini chain (similar size to Hageten) to my attention.
Search term would be: Made in Japan つばめグリル 品川駅

kaka

evergrn

Okay I forgot about the 50+ rule. But I'm surprised there aren't >50 Tsubame Grills. Seems like they're all over Tokyo.

Tsubame Grill is definitely higher quality than Denny's. My family approves. I really only get things like fish, croquette or cabbage rolls, though, and the last time I got their cabbage roll was quite a while ago. Unless I'm confusing them with another place, I seem to recall the inside of their cabbage roll was too meaty. I too love cabbage rolls if done right, but I love the ones that have bits of rice and higher contents of onions and such, usually found in cheaper places. Last time I was at Tsubame Grill, I tried a bit of my daughter's hamburg and remember thinking that was also too meat/steak-like in terms of flavor and content. If you're a meat lover, I think Tsubame Grill is right up your alley.

I did notice Tsubame Grill's outlet at Shinagawa Ecute when I was browsing through last month. One of many good-looking choices there.

roberto99

I have come to enjoy Freshness Burger.

It's sad that I've always been bored with MOS Burger. I wanted to like it.

I've been really enjoying Coco Curry lately!

evergrn

LapLap

The Lotteria ebi burger was my “guilty pleasure”. Last time I had it was about three years ago but LapChild chose another burger (beef) from the menu. She thought it was vile. It still comes up regularly in conversation as a “remember the time when...?” the ultimate example of a bad hamburger (I’ve never taken her to First Kitchen). She is keen never to repeat the experience.
Annoyingly, it means I will have to find a way to temporarily ditch her if I’m ever going to have another Lotteria ebi burger as she’ll never set foot in one again.

JMBResona

I mean, Hidakaya's gyozas are decent, but their ramen leaves a lot to be desired IMO.
Oushou is solid, and I like Korakuen too.

Matsuya's pretty good, and Tonkatsu Wako isn't bad either.

joejones

I have four personal favorites in the chain Japanese restaurant category: Coco Ichi, Sushi Zanmai, Tonkatsu Wako and Tsukiji Sushiko. Coco Ichi is the one I ate at the most, probably once a week on average.

In the Western-style family restaurant category: the Sizzler buffet in Nishi-Shinjuku, no question. Royal Host is probably second. Denny's is OK, Jonathan's makes me sick most of the time.

In the Western-style fast food category: again no question, Wendy's when combined with First Kitchen (e.g. the one by Roppongi Crossing), where you can get a Wendy's burger with First Kitchen fries/dips. The other burger chains in Japan are pretty disgusting for the most part, though there are plenty of excellent burgers available at local places in Tokyo (as discussed on another thread).

evergrn

I don't know if you ever tried Loteria's deluxe ebi burger, but that was definitely way better than their usual.
If you liked their regular ebi burger, then you should try the one at MOS. That way your child will come with you, and I think the one at MOS is better.

I go to Hidakaya to get reliably tasty food with fast service for 600y. It gets the job done. Also, their ramen is chuukasoba, so you won't care for it if you're more into thicker boths like tonkotsu. And for that price (600y gets you ramen + gyozas), you're only gonna get a few tiny slices of pork. I've had chuukasoba at many places, and I'd say Hidakaya's is average or a little better. I'd much rather spend 600y at Hidakaya for their decent, but not great, meal, than to drop 1500y for an average quality meal at Royal Host.

I also like Wako. They never let you down. This is why I almost exclusively stick to chains for budget food. Their cream croquette very good. It'd be nice if they brought back the miso-katsu.

Wendy's has come in and out of Jpn, haven't they? Last I heard they were back in Jpn, but not sure what their status is now. I haven't had them since I was a kid. Sizzler buffet sounds great. I'll have to check it out. Royal Host is kind of a rip-off. I don't care for Sushi Zanmai. The place I do love (and they're cheap) is Katsu-Midori, although they were better 2 yrs ago than they are now.

LapLap

I mentioned it in the original burger thread (which started off being just about MOS burger), I won’t argue that it is not superior, I just don’t like the seasonings MOS puts into their ebi burger.
Am not a fan and hardly ever go there, as I said earlier in this thread also, it’s cheaper to get a decent dinner at a place like Kohageten than at MOS Burger, service is slow too. Last visit to MOS was at Haneda Int Airport, and that’s only because they were one of the first landside restaurants to open. Menu was very limited there, I don’t even think the ebi option was available. On the other hand, it never comes up in conversation, so LapChild must have found the burger satisfactory.
I did get to have the Lotteria ebi deluxe. I don’t actually remember being particularly wowed by it, didn’t it have more wet stuff on it?
The McDonalds ebi burger is just OK. Not sure why it is that it’s the Lotteria version that hits the spot for me. As I said, guilty pleasure, especially when there are so many non chain restaurants offering breaded and/or tempura covered prawns - now THAT’s the good stuff!

evergrn

Got it. You're right that MOS is quite slow even considering they're made-to-order. It's been a while since the ebi deluxe was on at Loteria, but I do remember that the ebi patty part was not only bigger but also had a superior texture vs their usual. Loteria used to have sort of a semi-fake takoyaki (no sauce, but came in a bag that had sauce-flavored powder at the bottom and you shook the entire bag to get the balls coated in powder) which I for some reason loved, even though other people thought it was crap. So I can relate when you say you're drawn to a particular item from Loteria even if the place as a whole is not great.

LapLap

LapGirl independently asked to go to a TenYa the other day and, thanks to this thread, I was prepared. It was perfectly fine, not quite Ginza Hageten standard but decent enough. LapGirl certainly enjoyed it. She chose a small but varied donburi for under 500yen and gave it a big thumbs up.