Owned by Takuya Tsutomi of the local restaurant group Funergy Group Inc. which operates Tori Ton, Izakaya Tenkichi, and Totoya, a new restaurant concept has opened that specializes in hamburger steak called Marujuu opened on 11/24/25 at the former Chubbies location near 12th Ave in Kaimuki. The restaurant name reflects "Maru" meaning hamburger steak shape, and "ju" meaning sizzling steak when it's cooked.
Also known as "hambagu" to Japanese nationals, these comfort food hamburger steaks are thick, juicy, tender and flavorful. The hamburger steaks are first cooked on a griddle, then in oven, and served on a sizzling grill with its signature sweet and savory onion sauce or other sauces poured by you on tableside. All sauces are house-made, with the signature sauce taking 7+ hours to make. The hamburger steak comes in two sizes, regular and large, and accompanied with rice, veggies, pasta, and onion soup.
Marujuu also serves braised beef tendon, braised hamburger steak in kids' siz, sizzling chicken steaks, American wagyu beef steaks, salads, fries, chicken karaage, and self-serve soft ice cream.
We had the following:
* Large hamburger steak with signature onion sauce. Loved that the hamburger was still cooking on the sizzling cast iron platter! Some of the pasta and cabbage (with bean sprouts and long bean) were charred, so enjoyed its crispiness! The onion & ground beef soup was served piping hot and very flavorful. Separate plates are provided to diners for serving items from the sizzling platter.
* Chicken steak. Also served on a sizzling cast iron platter, the chicken thighs were very moist and went well with the suggested ginger shoyu garlic glaze that was sweet and savory.
* American Wagyu beef steak. Daughter's/husband's choices who say it was very good, moist and tender.
* Keiki braised hamburg. Served on a regular plate with demi-glace sauce, this generous portion also included potatoes, carrots, broccoli, and pasta. A great discounted price for keiki only. My daughter noted that the sauce was really good!
* Self-serve soft ice cream. Refreshing pineapple/vanilla ice cream that seems overpriced, as it's portion-controlled coming out of the machine. Unless you have a craving, skip it.
As reservations are not taken, all orders are made 1st come, 1st served and are made to order. As a result, it's better to be there when they first open, instead of after diners have ordered, as there will be a long wait.
Interesting tidbit about Japan and its beef industry. Beef is expensive in Japan due to its geography, as not much land is available, making the cattle industry much smaller than that of the US. As a result, hamburger steak is popular and a more affordable way to serve an otherwise over costly meat. On one of my first church mission trips to Saitama, Japan, the Japanese residents get very excited about steak and perceiving hamburger steak as regular steak, much to the different perspective that we have for hamburger steak.
The interior is clean, bright and u-shaped with a counter, small tables, and booths that can easily fit 6 people. The walls are yellow with anime theme photos.
Hours of operation are Tues to Sun 11a to 2:45p (2p last call) for lunch and 5p to 9p (8:45p last call) for dinner, Mondays closed. Metered parking in municipal parking lot adjoining the restaurant.
Nice concept, as we look forward to returning to try different options, such as Gorgonzola cheese sauce over hambagu. Wishing much success to the owners for bringing this concept to HI! read more