Yonekichi
“Along with the burger, I also got a small order of the furi furi fries with yuzu salt.”
“The two most popular dishes, and recommended by the chef himself – who is Japanese, are the Tsukune and the Salmon rice burgers.”
“Be warned, the Fire is SPICY but it was all so good that I sat on a bench by myself and ate everything in 5 minutes.”
Yonekichi
Take-out: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Under $10
8 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Sandwiches with "buns" made of rice; not much of a stretch from the ramen burger. But as a self-proclaimed food fad aficionado, I had to give Yonekichi a try.
Firstly, note that Yonekichi is not a sit-down restaurant. Their storefront is an ordering window which opens onto the sidewalk, with one small wooden bench out front. Definitely a grab-and-go joint. That said, their service is pretty slow so you won't be going anywhere too quickly.
When I came on a Sunday mid-afternoon, there were a couple people waiting for their orders. I stood at the window for a while before either of the only 2 employees acknowledged me as they were busy chatting with each other (maybe that explains the slow service). When they did notice me, however, they were very friendly and helpful. They even gave me an extra couple of stamps on my newly acquired frequent buyer card.
I tried their signature Tsukune (pronounced soo-KOO-nay), the Unagi, and the Kasu soup. The Tsukune was good; chicken was juicy and had great flavors. The Unagi was like a deconstructed eel roll, key word: deconstructed; the saucy eel caused the rice bun to fall apart. By the end of the "burger," I was just eating rice and eel with a spoon out of a bag. And the Kasu soup was just a miso with some added veggies and other Japanese fixins; not great.
Overall, cute concept. Worth a try once, but probably not more than that. Anyone want my frequent buyer card?
Wouldn't go back again- the price is way too high: burger is small and flavorless. Two burgers average of $8/ burger. I had the pork and didn't taste much out of it and my friend's chicken burger had the same feedback. The wait time for the burger to be done is around 10min with no line….
Note that this is a window-shop that does not provide indoor seating.
I make rice burgers at home from time to time and they can be tricky to make. You have to use the right kind of rice, shape the bun just-so, and the binder is just potato starch. I also cheat and wrap mine in lettuce or seaweed to maintain its shape. I've never tried another rice burger other than my own, until today. It was bitter cold out and the surrounding restaurants were busy. While waiting for our table at Cha An, we ordered and cosumed the rice burgers at the takeout window. The burgers were hot and piping, but man, did they hit the spot! I had the Ginger Mujifuji and my boyfriend ordered the Saikyo Salmon, which is gluten free. The Furi Furi Fries were potato wedges with your choice of gourmet salt. They were crispy and deliciously creamy with each bite. While the price point is not ideal, they have a frequent punch card for loyal customers.
Let's be real–rice burgers are never going to be the next taco but they are nice and filling and more varied than eating onigiri (rice balls). Unlike rice balls they can be messy to eat. Since my boyfriend is gluten and yeast sensitive, sometimes he can't have a gluten free bun without feeling sick, and lettuce wraps get old. Rice burgers provide more options. Glad we were able to give this place a try!
Passed by this place many many times and for some reason only decided to try this tonight since I just felt like having a snack. This place is just a shack with an outside bench for you to sit on to eat after you get your order. The outside of the shack is attractive and cute with lanterns hanging, brightly lit in the dark during the evening. So each type of burger is $8 and you can add $4 for combo which includes fries (choice of 4 diff seasonings) and a drink. You can also add a fried egg to your sandwich for $1.25. Burger choices include chicken, pork shoulder, salmon, eel, and a couple of others which I'll post pictures of. We ordered the pork shoulder (sandwich only) and the chicken combo with fries and ginger yuzu lemonade. The pork shoulder meat was really good, tender, flavorful, full of sauce. The rice patty was also really soft which I did not expect (good surprise), but I think it was lacking flavor. Might have been nice if they possibly seasoned the rice even though rice is usually not seasoned. Something was missing about these burgers, but I can't put my hands on what still. I would try another burger again, but maybe if I passed by and felt like having a snack at that moment. I wouldn't come back on purpose just to eat it though. Also, it was pretty pricey for what they were. I feel like $6 for this burger is the max I would pay, but I understand the rent here on this block is probably not cheap. The wrapping of the burger was also very fancy and nice. Maybe they could use a cheaper wrapper and decrease the price for the burgers lol. The fries with the Kombu salt was really good though. Very fresh flavorful fries. That was kind of the best part of the meal. The ginger yuzu lemonade was different and I really enjoyed that too. Can't really describe the flavor because it is really different, but a good different.
The only good thing on the menu is the cold buckwheat tea. The rest is just overpriced, overcooked (the salmon). In my opinion, just plain not worth it.
Everything here (besides the exterior design) ticked me off:
The very long wait (minimum 20 min) till they prepare your order.
How bland the rice bun itself was.
How distasteful the whole burger was including the salmon.
How tiny the rice burger is, compared to the price you pay for it ($9),
$13 minimum on a credit card? WTF? Just plain pretentiousness.
To make matters worse, they chose the east village where so many of my favorite shops are located, over any other neighborhood in the city, I don't appreciate that.
Moral of the story:
Their cold buckwheat tea is still something worth getting.
I want to love t his more. I love rice, and I love burgers. But Yonekichi doesn't quite serve either.
Yes by the most basic definition it is a burger: meat in between two buns. But the rice portion isn't quite solid (begins to fall apart towards the end of your meal) and the beef burger didn't quite have enough meat.
Checking in at $8+ per burger, the expectations are high and unfortunately I would have to say that the burgers are just a novelty.
What I did really really enjoy was the Tatsuta fried chicken skewer. Well fried chunks of dark meat generously seasoned with red pepper powder that even gave me a kick. Buyer beware : the spicy is more than "a little spicy" as the guy claims. It's very, very spicy. But man was that chicken skewer good.
Since now I can practically walk Midtown East with my eyes closed I needed new walking grounds to Yelp on, literally. I check my Yelp bookmarks and see Otafuku and Nohohon Tea Room.
So I hop on the subway to Astor Place and little did I know the part of town is littered with small shops and restaurants many catering to fast food for people on the go and many of them Japanese. I felt like I was on a side street in Tokyo. While walking to Otafuku I see a whole in the wall place called Yonekichi and it only has a bench in front to sit down and eat no table or counter.
So I'm looking at the menu and see pictures and these descriptions for Yone Burgers;
Sukiyaki – thinly-sliced beef, onion, lettuce, togarashi threads
Unagi – bbq eel, avocado, tempura flakes, shredded egg crepe
Saikyo Salmon – kyoto-style miso salmon, pickled daikon radish, shiso, sakura-miso
Kakiage – onion-kale-carrot mixed tempura, shiso, Akoh salt
Kinpira – sautéed lotus root, carrot, sesame seed, togarashi threads
Ginger Mugifuji – thinly-sliced premium pork shoulder, ginger soy sauce, cabbage
Tsukune – chicken meatball patty, shishito pepper, Tokyo scallion
I got problems speaking English so you can imagine my Japanese but I ask for the Ginger Mugifuji and it sounds like Ginger Muga Fu$^&ker, but the girl at the counter said I pronounce it correctly, OK then it was about $7.
Now I made a few other stops and went back to the office and I take a look at what I got from
Yonekichi and I see that this burger doesn't have bread buns but buns made of pressed grilled rice.
I then realize I didn't catch the word Rice on the menu only the Burger. I take a bite and its delicious, with these thin slices of meat with a little ginger soy sauce, oh man I clumped it down. Being half Puerto Rican I have steak and rice all the time so this is up my ally. The rice burger was small I would need two or something else with it to call it lunch.
Why didn't I eat it before, I would have skipped all the other places and got more goodies from here. The unplanned part of my trip was the best part, I am definitely going back soon to try not just this burger again but the other ones too with a fired egg and those Furi Fries with Wasbi Salt, Oh…… I can't wait.
More of a 3.5 star than a 4 star for me. I got the signature combo and got the unagi rice burger.
Got the fries also which had Wasabi flakes sprinkled on them.
Overall I enjoyed the burger, the fries were great.
I also came a second time and got the Ginger Mugifuji which is sliced pork with Ginger sauce. For the price, there just not enough to make you really full, kind of just makes you craving for more! Just wish the portion sizes were bigger.
Overall enjoyed the food though