Yoshoku (Japanese Western-style dishes)

The dishes behind chain flavors

The flavors of national chains are said to trace back to dishes from particular places. Pick a chain to see the dish behind it.

• Bikkuri Donkey — Aleph's hamburg steak family restaurant chain

  Bikkuri Donkey's hamburg steak is said to represent how hamburg-steak dining, starting from a small Western-style eatery in Morioka, Iwate, spread as a nationwide chain.

  • →Hamburg steak — a pan-fried patty of ground beef or beef and pork
  • →Curry rice — a British-route curry sauce ladled over Japanese rice

• Sawayaka — Shizuoka's charcoal-grilled "genkotsu" hamburg chainOnly in Shizuoka

  Sawayaka's charcoal-grilled hamburg steak is said to have grown from western Shizuoka while deliberately keeping its stores within the prefecture.

  • →Hamburg steak — a pan-fried patty of ground beef or beef and pork
  • →Hayashi rice — sliced beef and onion in a demi-glace-style sauce over rice

• Steak Miya — Atom Corporation's Utsunomiya-born steak and hamburg chain

  Steak Miya is said to have started in Utsunomiya, Tochigi, with a mission to make steak dining more accessible, spreading nationwide alongside its house-made hamburg steak.

  • →Hamburg steak — a pan-fried patty of ground beef or beef and pork
  • →Beef stew — beef and root vegetables simmered in a demi-glace-style sauce

• CoCo Ichibanya — nationwide curry rice chain from Aichi

  CoCo Ichibanya's curry rice is said to have spread from its first store in Aichi Prefecture nationwide and overseas, carrying its system of detailed order customization.

  • →Curry rice — a British-route curry sauce ladled over Japanese rice
  • →Katsu curry — a fried pork cutlet served over curry rice

• Go Go Curry — Kanazawa-curry-style chain based in Ishikawa

  Go Go Curry is said to be spreading the format of "Kanazawa curry," said to originate in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, complete with its stainless steel plate and shredded cabbage, nationwide and overseas.

  • →Curry rice — a British-route curry sauce ladled over Japanese rice
  • →Katsu curry — a fried pork cutlet served over curry rice

• Hinoya Curry — Tokyo Yushima's soy-based curry chain

  Hinoya Curry's curry rice, said to be rooted in the taste of a Chinese restaurant in Tokyo's Yushima, has spread nationwide through franchising.

  • →Curry rice — a British-route curry sauce ladled over Japanese rice
  • →Katsu curry — a fried pork cutlet served over curry rice

• Joto Curry — Osaka's quick-serve curry rice chain

  Joto Curry is said to have grown out of Tokumasa, a hand-made udon shop, which turned to curry rice as a dish it could serve quickly without keeping customers waiting.

  • →Curry rice — a British-route curry sauce ladled over Japanese rice
  • →Katsu curry — a fried pork cutlet served over curry rice

• Pomu no Ki — creative omurice specialty chain

  Pomu no Ki's omurice is said to have taken omurice, once a coffee-shop yoshoku staple, and spread it nationwide as a dedicated specialty format.

  • →Omurice — ketchup-fried rice wrapped in a thin sheet of egg
  • →Doria — butter rice and creamed shrimp baked under white sauce and cheese

• Kitchen Jiro — Tokyo's long-running Showa-era yoshoku diner chain

  Kitchen Jiro's set meals are said to carry on the taste of a yoshoku restaurant founded the year of the Tokyo Olympics, centered on staples like hamburg steak.

  • →Hamburg steak — a pan-fried patty of ground beef or beef and pork
  • →Omurice — ketchup-fried rice wrapped in a thin sheet of egg

• Tsubame Grill — Tokyo's veteran hamburg steak yoshoku chain

  Tsubame Grill's hamburg steak is said to be the taste nurtured by a yoshoku restaurant founded near Shimbashi, named after an express train.

  • →Hamburg steak — a pan-fried patty of ground beef or beef and pork
  • →Roll cabbage — ground meat wrapped in cabbage leaves and simmered