McDonald’s Japan American Vintage 1980s Funky BBQ

McDonald’s Japan earlier this year released their new menu series called ‘American Vintage’. The first in the series was the 1950s American Diner, followed by 1970s Soul Food. The last in the American Vintage series is the 1980s themed Funky BBQ. McDonald’s Japan has chosen a BBQ variety from the US with a special smoked flavour from birch and cloves, and made with a blend of 10 different spices and herbs. The 1980s Funky BBQ went on sale at McDonald’s restaurants across Japan on February 18th and will remain on the menu until early March.

McDonald’s Japan American Vintage 1970s Soul Food

McDonald’s Japan recently released their new menu series called ‘American Vintage’. The first in the series was the 1950s American Diner, which went on sale across Japan on January 7th. The next to feature in the series is 1970s Soul Food with the Hot & Groovy Burgers. It features the Hot & Groovy Beef and Hot & Groovy Chicken. The burgers are topped with a special Hot & Groovy salsa sauce. The burgers went on sale at the end of January and will remain on the menu until mid-February.

Hot & Groovy Beef 

The Hot & Groovy Beef Burger features two beef patties, two types of cheese (cheddar & white cheddar), shredded lettuce, spicy salsa sauce, jalapeno sauce and buns topped with grinded corn. They were going for a Tex-Mex flavour when designing this burger.

Hot & Groovy Beef

Hot & Groovy Chicken 

The Hot & Groovy Chicken Burger features a crispy chicken patty, cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, spicy salsa sauce, jalapeno sauce and buns topped with grinded corn. This one is also meant to have a Tex-Mex flavour.

Hot & Groovy Chicken

The Taste Test 

Japan Australia headed to our local McDonald’s to check out the Hot & Groovy Beef. Unfortunately, we didn’t bump into the Groovy one Austin Powers, but did get our hands on the burger. The Hot & Groovy sauce is nice and spicy and is a good combination with the two beef patties and cheese. We really liked the two types of cheese which gave the burger a strong taste. The buns were soft and fluffy and a little more fancy than the regular McDonald’s buns. The only let down was the jalapeno sauce, which was kind of like a creamy wasabi mayo. It didn’t fit the theme or match the taste of this burger and left us with a funny after-taste. It should have been left out in our humble opinion.

There you have it! If you are in Japan and want to try something Hot & Groovy, give the Hot & Groovy Burgers a try.

Hot & Groovy Beef all boxed up

Hot & Groovy Beef opened up

Hot & Groovy Beef close up

McDonald’s Japan Website

1970s Hot & Groovy Burgers

McDonald’s Japan ‘American Vintage’ 1950s American Diner

McDonald’s Japan recently released their new menu series called ‘American Vintage’. The first in the series is the 1950s American Diner, which went on sale across Japan on January 7th. It features three new menu items, which are the Diner Double Beef, Diner Honey Mustard, and Classic Fries with Cheese. Japan Australia being a burger lover and very curious ventured out to our local McDonald’s to check it out.

Diner Double Beef 

The Diner Double Beef looks very interesting and is served with Chicago-style steak sauce and mashed potatoes. It also includes cheese, onions and an egg. The Chicago-style steak sauce includes roughly grounded black pepper, roasted garlic, and is sweetened with apple juice & raisins as well as flavoured with wine. It was created to resemble a typical meal at a 1950s American Diner, or with that image in mind.

Diner Double Beef

Diner Honey Mustard 

The Diner Honey Mustard comes with a crunchy chicken breast, honey and North American mustard sauce, grilled bacon, cheddar cheese and lettuce. It was created with a harmony of flavours in mind.

Diner Honey Mustard

Classic Fries with Cheese 

Classic Fries with Cheese is your standard McDonald’s French Fries topped with a cheese sauce and bacon flavoured topping. It was created with a typical American Stand or Stadium Snack in mind.

Classic Fries with Cheese

The Taste Test 

What did we think?

The Diner Double Beef was pretty good. We liked the double beef patty and egg which made this burger very filling. The Chicago style steak sauce was tasty with strong bold flavours and very peppery. The real winner for us was the silky smooth mashed potato sauce at the bottom, which reminded us of a creamy mayonnaise.

The American Vintage 1950s American Diner Double Beef

The Diner Double Beef  Out of the Box

The Diner Double Beef Under the Skin

The Diner Honey Mustard lived up to its name and had a nice balance of flavours. The sweet honey combined well with the stronger spicier mustard sauce. This wasn't quite as filling as the Double Beef but was the better tasting burger in our opinion.

American Vintage 1950s American Diner Honey Mustard

The Diner Honey Mustard Out of the Box

The Diner Honey Mustard Up Close and Personal

The Classic Fries with Cheese was a real disappointment. The cheese had that fake processed cheese taste and the bacon flavoured topping didn't taste like bacon at all. You also have to assemble this yourself as you can see in the pictures below. Just stick to the regular fries which are great tasting on their own.

Classic Fries with Cheese Ready to be Assembled

Step 1 Regular Fries in the Box

Step 2 Add the Cheese Sauce

Step 3 Add the Bacon Flavor Topping

Classic Fries with Cheese Fully Assembled

McDonald’s Japan Website

McDonald’s Japan ‘American Vintage’ Series

McDonald’s Japan this week launched the first of their new menu series called American Vintage. The series features three campaigns that represent a different decade of American culture designed to create a feeling of nostalgia. It is a trip back in time through the 1950s, 70s and 80s. McDonald’s Japan has created this menu to sum up American culture, and classic American food from the past.

The first in the series is the 1950s American Diner, which went on sale across Japan on January 7th. It features the Diner Double Beef with Chicago-style steak sauce and mashed potatoes, as well as the Diner Honey Mustard with honey, mustard, bacon, cheddar cheese and lettuce. They have also jazzed up their standard fries with Classic Fries with Cheese, served with a sprinkle of bacon flavoured topping.

Diner Double Beef

Diner Honey Mustard

Classic Fries with Cheese

Next is the 1970s Soul Food, which will be available from the end of January to mid-February. It will feature the Hot & Groovy Beef and Hot & Groovy Chicken. The burgers are both topped with a Hot & Groovy salsa sauce. I guess the 70s was a Hot & Groovy time! Maybe they could get Austin Powers to promote these.

Last is the 1980s Pop Culture, which will be available from mid-February to early March. It will feature the American BBQ Beef and American BBQ Chicken.

McDonald's Japan 'American Vintage' Future Series Poster

McDonald’s have created some wonderful old time posters for the American Vintage campaign.

McDonald's Japan 'American Vintage' 1950s Burger Poster

McDonald's Japan 'American Vintage' 1950s Classic Fries with Cheese Poster

As always, they will be limited edition, so hurry in while you still can.

McDonald’s Japan Website