Tokyo Hamburg

Located on the far left side of the Irvine Westpark location of H Mart inside the H Market Eatery food hall, Tokyo Hamburg was the satellite location of a Los Angeles-based restaurant specializing in Japanese style hamburger patties, as well as deep-fried panko-crusted cutlets (katsu), tempura, and soups. Originally launched with 21 official choices at H Mart, Tokyo Hamburg sometimes offered seafood choices that weren’t on the digital menu: we loved their chilled oysters and wasabi octopus, the latter served raw with lemon, salt, and a light wasabi sauce that made every bite interesting rather than overpowering.

By contrast, their hamburgs were served sans buns in a bento-like tray with fries, macaroni, broccoli, and slaw. Our group tried the standard, egg-topped Hamburg and one topped with mashed sweet potatoes, finding both to be passable – a step or two better than meatloaf. We also tried and preferred a pretty good Shrimp katsu and shrimp croquette set, adding a bowl of curry dip as a $2 extra. Their core menu items weren’t particularly good or bad – we didn’t feel the desire to visit more than twice.