Dec 2

WIT Life #256: Seattle’s Katsu Burger!

Travel/Tourism, Uncategorized, WIT Life, Writers Comments Off on WIT Life #256: Seattle’s Katsu Burger!

WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03).  She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.

I spent the weekend here in Seattle for the purpose of running the local marathon, which I successfully completed this afternoon!  Due to Seattle’s large Japanese-American population and their great influence, on previous visits I have taken advantage of cultural offerings such as the Uwajimaya shopping center (similar to our Mitsuwa), but I was excited to discover a new Japan-related restaurant this time around.  I was pretty ravenous after running and craving something substantial, so on the way to the airport I found myself at Katsu Burger.  It is in an area surrounded by several fast-food teriyaki joints, but not much else.  However, once stepping into the shop you are greeted by a wide variety of Japanese memorabilia, as well as a map adorned with push pins indicating where customers have visited from.  As you would expect of Chikyu no Arukikata bearing Japanese tourists, Japan was full from Hokkaido to Okinawa!

Katsu Burger bills itself as serving “Japanese-style burgers and beyond,” and all items on the menu can be made with beef, pork, chicken or tofu.  All of the meat is  natural, meaning the livestock aren’t given any antibiotics or added hormones, and they are raised locally.  I was tempted by the Mt. Fuji mega burger as I had seen a picture of it in an article (which was what initially tempted me to check out Katsu Burger!), but I instead opted for a Katsu Curry burger.  Pictured here, this was a pork cutlet on an American-style bun along with cheese, curry mayonnaise and tonkatsu sauce.  I was worried about the curry mayonnaise as I love curry but am not a fan of mayonnaise, but it was just the right consistency.  That plus the tonkatsu sauce and the automatic additions of cabbage, tomatoes, red onions and pickles made for a perfect combination.

For those who have a sweet tooth, I would also recommend trying one of Katsu Burger’s hand-dipped milkshakes.  I went for the limited edition Kinako Cup, kinako and black sesame with a touch of chocolate, and it was absolutely heavenly!  The Dorayaki Crunch, a katsu fried dorayaki dessert, also caught my eye but it will have to wait until my next visit.  After looking up the company online, I learned that it was started in 2011 by a veteran sushi chef who was looking to make Japanese cuisine more palatable to Americans.  I am sold on Katsu Burger and would love for them to open a franchise on the East Coast.  In the meantime, I’m definitely planning on stopping by again the next time I’m in Seattle!