A new restaurant that’s about to open in Toronto will be the only place in the city specifically devoted to a unique Japanese dish.
When one thinks of steak, a fairly singular image quickly comes to mind. There are different cuts, sure; some with bones in and others wrapped in bacon, but, generally speaking, steak means a homogenous cut of beef, grilled or seared in a pan.
In the case of Japanese Hamburg (or Hamburger) steak, that is absolutely not the case.
This dish is more akin to a Japanese version of meatloaf or oversized meatball: a juicy patty of ground beef, slow-cooked in soy sauce and stock or grilled, and topped with curry sauce of demiglace. Don’t let the conceptual proximity to Salisbury steak deter you, though; it’s kind of the ultimate comfort food.
If you live in Toronto, you soon won’t just have to take my word for it, as Boru, which touts itself as the city’s “first authentic Japanese Hamburg Steak restaurant,” is coming in hot to the King West area.
The restaurant will serve patties made of locally-sourced beef, ground fresh in-house daily, that are cooked on individual charcoal grills positioned in front of each seat. Each order, priced around $40, comes with three “steaks,” miso soup, unlimited rice and plenty of sauces to experiment with.
A selection of cold sides, like cucumber salad and kimchi are also available at an extra cost to spice things up even further.
There have been a handful of Japanese restaurants in Toronto over the years to serve Hamburg steak, but Boru boasts the distinction of being the first restaurant in the city specifically and exclusively dedicated to it.
There’s something to be said for doing just one thing really, really well, and, given that it’s the only restaurant in the city really doing said thing, it’s all but guaranteed to be a major hit.
Boru will be located at 495 Adelaide St., and while the official opening date has yet to be announced, the restaurant’s team has confirmed that it’s coming soon, so the wait shouldn’t be much longer.