I had many nicknames over the years, given to me by friends and family.
One of them is Word Girl.
I love words. I have to. They are sandboxes that I play every day and I always learn new things.
This is what I’ve only learned over the past year: Gairaigo.
It is a Japanese language about languages other than Japan. “Lender’s words,” they call them. A word used in Japanese from other languages. Some of them are easy to identify. For example, Biru (Beeru).
“Bill, shit?” I asked the Japanese server.
They bring me a beer.
Hibol is different. It means “highball.”
You need to know that I also ate it in Japan.
I am delighted with these wonderful words. It sounds like it’s itself and runs through the Japanese filters.
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biruand hai-boru.
Aisu Kohi (Ice Coffee).
Konbini (convenient like a convenience store).
sumūzu (smooth).
Double (double). Toruburu (trouble).
It’s all fun.
Sururu, meaning “round,” sounds like Gairaigo, but it’s not.
But it is the name of chef Lewis Lynn’s first Orlando restaurant, and the first Izakaya ever. Its sister, Michelin-choice Juju, opened soon.
These informal pubs (post-work, happy hour types) are all over Japan, with a variety of iterations, ranging from small hyperlocal haunts to popular budget-friendly chains.
Beer, highballs and skewers are the most common bites and bites, but they also have a variety. Some offer another common dish (and examples of Gairago): Hanbug. My father’s business has always brought his family from Taiwan to Japan, so he’s a favorite of the comfortable foods he enjoyed while growing up.
“When I was little, my dad took me to a truly old-fashioned Western restaurant in Japan,” he says. “They’re going to be serving this hambaga dish. It’s a little different from what I’m doing now, but I remember the experience. I remember the taste.”
Hambuga and Hambug are slightly different. The first describes something like an American burger. The latter was an original German Hamburg steak take, preceding the national “ownership” of the burger.
Hambug, like the German version (or Salisbury Steak), is traditionally served with bread sauce, steamed rice, perhaps vegetables and often eggs. Because the egg yolks don’t really improve.
Hanbug, like many other dishes, kats, curry rice, omurice – is a culinary style that combines Japanese ingredients and culinary styles with western ingredients. It goes back much further back than the Showa era, but this time it was a truly rooted part of Japanese history, with Western culture in its history.
“That’s exactly what happened after World War II,” explains Lynn. “The Japanese were influenced by Western culture, which included food. During the Showa era, the working class was developing and they were looking for faster diets, non-traditional foods.
Yoshimoto, he explains, saw the rise of the use of panko for fast-fried cutlets in French.
“Italian and Japanese Mentaico Pasta too. All of these were created during the Showa era, when the Japanese were changing the style they lived and moving towards a faster pace. And during that time they saw a lot of American culture after the war as the United States was helping to rebuild.”
The popularity of hambugs has also increased. And on Lin’s last trip to Japan, he realized it was reaching new heights, so he tried to add it to his own menu with a twist of his own.
“What we do at Juju is the version baked with handmade binchatan charcoal,” he explains. “And I thought it was really suitable for the new concept that brought to Orlando and allows people to see another aspect of Western Japanese cuisine.”
Lin is already a very busy bee, and there are more hives.
Nabe, a Wagyu Wat Pot concept with partners Khoa Nguyen and Keren Swan, recently opened with Dr. Phillips. He also has a 12-seat hand roll bar at the 2025 docket, Mao Zedong. And perhaps this year, the next Lin is planning to open Hikiniku to a concept rooted in Hambāgu (Hikiniku translated into “mince or ground meat” and Sumi is “carbon” – charcoal).
But for now, he introduces the food to the city via a new lunchtime pop-up that will become a regular feature of Juju. There, a gorgeous grilled pate with a killer fat content sits in a fluffy pile of rice decorated with flavorful colours.
“There are different takes, different sauces, different pickles,” Lynn says. “We probably use three different types of Japanese Wagyu beef, so we can mix not only A5 but also different textures.”
Imagine a bread sauce.
“Now we have a reduction of wazhou fat, Sichuan chili sauce. It has a flavour, sweet and hangs out, a bit spicy numb from Sichuan pepper, but we also enjoy other things, such as mapo tofu sauce, curry sauce, mushroom sauce, etc.
Lynn will bring in the Zidorian eggs, known for their deep orange yolks from California.
“These are from Japanese heritage (hinai-jidori) chickens.”
Imported Koshi Hikari rice prepared in traditional clay donabe pots is the perfect complement, he says.
Susuru was my pick for the Best New Restaurant of 2020 at the Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards. Juju is one of my favourites in the city. I trust Lin. Plus, I have had hambugs many times. He’s not wrong.
Whether in Japan, Thailand or Taiwan, some Hanbug restaurants wait for hours due to the popularity of their food. Luckily, you don’t need to camp at 3am for your first seat on the 407.
Instead, don’t take your eyes off Juju’s social media (instagram.com/juju.orl). Because Juju is open for lunch. And once that happens, Lin will allocate one day per week to Hanbug.
And if it seems good for you as a dish, or even a word (once, it goes ahead, it’s fun!) – it could become a new favorite.
Find me on Facebook, Tiktok, Twitter, Instagram @Amydroo, or Osfoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more food fun, join Let’s Eat and Orlando Facebook Group.
If you’re going
Juju: 700 Maguire Blvd. Orlando, 407-412-6678; Susuruorl.com/juju-restaurant
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