KazBond — Restaurant in Karuizawa

Update: Returned to try the burger set featuring Shinshu, Matsuzaka, and Kobe beef patties as well as the Shinshu beef fillet. It's indeed amazing to taste the sweetness in the Shinshu beef come through as we learned that the cattle are raised on local apples as part of their feed. The steak is in a different league and perhaps the best in the world. Chef's preparation involves a long, slow cook before a light sear over the wood fire with nothing more than a perfect seasoning of salt. At this point, only a butter knife is required to slice off a bite of perfection. I've had a little time to think about this now. This restaurant is about Japanese care in preparation, serving a woodfired, American menu with refinements from French influences in technique throughout. It's a combination of culture and marriage of the best of all worlds to celebrate local ingredients.

First Visit: When someone turns their attention to flipping the humble burger into something of an art form, the result is truly divine. The mastery of first smoking the coarse ground patties that are seasoned with salt just before they hit the grill, finished on a higher heat sear, each patty individually checked for doneness, shows a level of refinement unmatched in any other restaurant. There's a level of theatre to watching every burger created and assembled in the open kitchen - each chip carefully positioned on the plate. This restaurant is helmed by a chef in every regard beyond the burgers - all the dishes felt balanced and refined. Truly inspiring to see the effort that goes into...

We had 2 hearty dinners at Kazbond. The meat and corns are freshly cooked over Nara wood, giving it a special smoky taste. The Kazbond & Wagyu burgers are not only beautiful to look at and very appetizing, but also carefully made. It has a golden-brown brioche bun, fresh Karuizawa greens, tomatoes, and caramelised onions. A rustic wooden skewer holds it together in an artful way due to its generous size. The minced Wagyu patty burst with rich flavors & a delicious charcoal aroma.

We loved the grilled chicken dish - it was served with a large yet adorable & sweet baby corn. The beef steak is also our favourite. It is perfectly cooked over Nara wood, making it less oily & wonderfully aromatic, succulent, and delicious. The clam chowder is also splendid - light and fresh, made with whole clams and all fresh ingredients. The potato salad is also special - made with warm potatoes and topped with a thick slice of bacon, not the usual small bacon bits. On top of that is an onsen egg, which oozes out when broken, adding a delicious touch to the dish.

Amazingly, all of this is run by just 2 young Japanese people - a friendly & lovely lady, Sayuri-san, & a dedicated chef, Kazuma-san. Both of them served us with genuine care & attention. Sayuri-san patiently used Google translate to communicate & understand our requests, making us feel truly welcomed. They even went the extra mile to prepare a special Mapo tofu for us, beautifully cooked with thinly sliced ginger that perfectly balanced...

We had the beef burger and wagyu burger

Usually high ratings on google in Japan is mostly due to two reasons High proportion of foreign reviewers (because Japanese are really tough with their ratings), or 2. The whole experience is really amazing. I think the latter applies to this establishment.

First of all the chef and staff were really friendly.

Second, the cooking process was really interesting to see through the open kitchen.

And the food itself was really good. Best burger in my life? This is difficult to answer. But it is definitely the burger where I felt that there were the most attention paid to each ingredient. (Extremely fresh lettuce, thick tomatoes, really nicely done patty and the brioche was to die for) - cooking process was sophisticated and it took ~10-15 mins. So not fast food by any means

One complaint is that add ons seemed expensive. 300yen for a side of avocado for eg on top of burger that is already ~2500

So if u r craving burger in karuizawa, or want to experience this Chef’s full dedication to his craftsmanship, I really...