MOS Burger

UPDATE:  April 2005
MOS Burger has closed.

For me, Japanese-influenced restaurants are a curious thing.  They often serve unexpected things on the menu, and at MOS Burger, it's no exception.  Located in Waikiki since 1989, I believe this is the only MOS Burger shop remaining in Hawaii (out of 4). 

The inside is clean and spacious and actually a bit crowded today.

Since the last time I was here, years ago, MOS Burger has introduced some new and interesting menu items.  The one that really caught my eye was the yakiniku MOS rice burger (US$3.59).

This rice burger is made up of thinly sliced beef that has been stir-fried with bell peppers and onions (I think) and served on compressed "rice buns" with lettuce.  While the concept was unusual, the taste was actually quite conventional.  The "rice buns" were grilled, much like the Japanese yaki-onigiri (grilled rice ball), but they had soaked up the juices from the grilled beef and had absorbed their flavor without becoming mushy.  The "rice buns" went very well with the grilled beef which had the typical teriyaki beef flavor.  It was a meal in sandwich form.

Just in case the yakiniku MOS rice burger didn't work out, I also ordered the old standby, the teriyaki burger combo (includes french fries, tossed salad and medium sized soft drink, US$5.69).

The teriyaki burger was a standard MOS offering.  In fact, it was the first burger that MOS Burger actually offered.  The teriyaki sauce was delicious and a little bit on the sweet side.  The patty was thin (maybe 2 ounces) and a bit overcooked this time.  The sandwich, though, did have loads of lettuce and lots of mayonaisse.   

And no, all of this was not eaten in one sitting, the yakiniku MOS rice burger was eaten at home.

If you're looking for something unconventional, or a simply great teriyaki burger, pay MOS Burger a visit, you won't be disappointed.  This is, in my opinion, the best fast food hamburger around.

MOS Burger
2184 Kalakaua Avenue
Telephone:  808.926.9993

Comments

[anthony]

Yum Yum Yum. I love Mos Burger especially their rice buns. If there was any justice in this world Japanese burger chains would be as ubiquitous as their cars.

[Shirley]

Hi Reid,
MOS burger is my "fast food" of choice if I'm pressed for time. I like the beef yakiniku as well, but my recent love is the ebi burger. Their corn soup and fat fries are nice too, but nothing beats their ice milk tea.

[Shirley]

Hi Reid,
MOS burger is my "fast food" of choice if I'm pressed for time. I like the beef yakiniku as well, but my recent love is the ebi burger. Their corn soup and fat fries are nice too, but nothing beats their ice milk tea, IMHO. The MOS burger chains are doing very well here in Singapore.

[Reid]

Hi Anthony,

I agree. If only MOS Burger could be found everywhere like McDonald's then I'd be set. =) I have to agree that the burgers here are great (for fast food that is)! I was wonderfully surprised at how good the rice burgers were. Next time I think I'm going to try the kinpira.

Hi Shirley,

I was quite surprised as to how good the yakiniku rice burger actually tasted. The flavors matched so well with the rice buns. I think this is going to become something that I eat often (or when I'm in that part of town). They do have the shrimp sandwich on the menu here and I'll keep that in mind for the next time I visit. Unfortunately, there is no corn soup or milk tea on the menu for me to try! =(

[santos]

hi reid

i've only had the rice burger, i'll have to try the teri next time. i wish parking easier, though!

[Janet]

Yum...teriyaki burgers! Ahhhh, man...this is why I want to live in Hawaii! All the Japanese foods I love w/o the hassle of the high cost of living in Japan (altho Hawaii is high, too!).

[Mariko]

The Kimpira Rice Burger is my FAVORITE thing! I've been meaning to try to make it at home, but it's kind of tough to find gobo around here. I miss MOS Burger! Thanks for the great post.

[umami]

I like Mos Burger too. They make an effort to package the food intelligently, e.g. baskets rather than trays, wrapping the burgers so that it is easy to unfold and hold the sandwich for eating, providing little sauce containers, all very civilised and practical.

I prefer their Teriyaki Burger to the rice burger because the rice bun always disintegrate in my hands, burger bun is less messy. The fat fries are lovely too.

[Reid]

Hi Santos,

Hope everything is OK in your part of the Pacific. This is the first time I've tried the rice burger and it was really good. The only thing about it is that it was a bit too much rice for me. You should definitely try the teriburger, it's really yummy!

Hi Janet,

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to live in Japan myself, if only I had the guts to move there. There's so much food there that can't be had here! But yes, I think the cost of living is much higher in Japan than it is here.

Hi Mariko,

Thanks and nice to see you here again! When I went to MOS burger, it was a toss up between the kinpira and the yakiniku...the yakiniku obviously won, but now that you've endorsed the kinpira, I definitely will try it on my next visit!

Hi Umami,

Haven't heard from you in a while. Thanks for taking the time to drop in. I love the way they package the food too. So easy to eat...and so neat too! No spills anywhere. I didn't have a problem with the rice burger, I guess it's because I brought it home and ate it with a fork and knife. =) The fries are wonderful aren't they?

[husky9]

Hi Reid, I luff Mos burger...yummie....sadly we dun have it in Sydney australia...however one of my mate who knows the founder, told me that he retired in sydney...but where is our Mos..

[Reid]

Hello Husky9,

Long time no hear! =) Hope you're doing well. I like MOS Burger too...it's unfortunate that we only have one outlet and it's located quite far from where I live. =( Hopefully, you can get on in Australia too!

[chika]

Hi Reid,
MOS would be my first choice of fast food chain in Japan, too... Now that I've read your post, I miss it so bad!!
I liked rice burgers a lot, and now it looks like they've got seafood tempura rice burger out there... mmm...

[Reid]

Hi Chika,

Nice to hear from you again! MOS Burger is really good. If you should come to Honolulu, it's right in Waikiki near the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. Unfortunately, they do not have the seafood tempura rice burger here. =( They do have the shrimp tempura burger though. As for rice burgers, they have yakiniku, kinpira and ham and egg.

[stef]

I miss Mos Burger - waaaaaaaa :*(
I was looking at pics we took in Singapore and saw those yummy rice burgers. Love the ebi one so much...and the seafood one of course. Yum!

[Reid]

Hi Stef,

I like MOS Burger too, even though I don't eat it that often. The yakiniku beef is now one of my favorites! =)

[Thomson Lee]

I love to have something like this in hong kong if you allow us to open up something in here... it will be the best thing in the decade..

[Reid]

Hi Thomson,

Thank you for visiting my website. Perhaps you can contact MOS Burger directly for franchise information... =)

[rich]

i think the best mos is the spicy mos with cheese i could eat that everyday i hope MOS comes to NYC some day

[Reid]

Hi Rich,

Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving me a comment. I've never had the spicy MOS with cheese. I didn't see it on the menu here. If I see it in Japan, I'll be sure to try it...I love spicy food.

Hope to hear from you again!

[sandra oktaria]

To:
Mos Burger Management

We are from Jakarta, Indonesia, and we would like to have your franchise to open in Jakarta. So could you help us how to have bussiness with you.it We are glad to hear a good news from you.

Regards

Sandra

[Reid]

Hi Sandra,

Thank you so much for leaving a comment on my site.

Unfortunately, my website has no affiliation with MOS Burger, and I'm sad to report, their location in Honolulu closed down about a month ago.