Gratin Croquette Burger at McDonald’s Japan

The Gratin Croquette Burger or Gurakoro (グラコロ) in Japanese is a winter tradition at McDonald’s in Japan. The popular seasonal burger is always a tell time sign that winter and the colder months are approaching in Japan. It is now back on the menu, so Japan Australia went to check it out!

What is the Gratin Croquette Burger? A gratin is a Western inspired dish in Japan that is like a pasta bake with creamy white sauce and a crispy topping. The Gratin Croquette Burger features a shrimp and macaroni creamy gratin inside a fried croquette, which is then sandwiched between two soft fluffy buns. It is served on a bed of shredded cabbage and topped with croquette sauce.

Gratin Croquette Burger

This winter the Gratin Croquette Burger comes in two forms; The traditional Gratin Croquette described above, and a new Demi Cheese Gratin Croquette. The Demi Cheese Gratin Croquette Burger features the addition of creamy cheddar cheese and a beef packed demi glaze sauce.

Demi Cheese Gratin Croquette Burger

The Gratin Croquette is available for 330 yen ($USD3.30) for just the burger or 620 yen ($USD6.20) for a M-size set. The Demi Cheese Gratin Croquette is available for 360 yen ($USD3.60) for just the burger or 650 yen ($USD6.50) for a M-size set.

How does it taste? It is very different from your usual burger with no beef patty to speak of but still very tasty with a soft fluffy bun and creamy oozy gratin inside a fried crispy croquette. We finished this burger off in no time and it was really good!

The Gratin Croquette Burger at McDonald's Japan

The Gratin Croquette Burger with M-size-set

McDonald’s Japan Website

Burger King Black Ninja Burger

Burger King Japan is just about to release its latest killer burger called the Black Ninja Burger. The Kuro Ninja or Black Ninja Burger features a pitch black bun that is coloured with bamboo charcoal, very similar to the popular Premium Kuro Burger that came out last year. The Black Ninja Burger also features an extra-large slice of flame-grilled bacon (called King’s Bacon) that protrudes out from the sides and looks like your burger is sticking its tongue out at you. The burger also comes with a whopper patty, hash brown, onions, lettuce, mayonnaise and a dark brown Chaliapin sauce, which is a garlic-onion soy sauce named after a Russian opera singer.

Why is it called the Black Ninja? Well basically the burger is meant to resemble to black hood of a ninja with the extra-large slice of bacon, the ninja sticking out its tongue. This is Japan after all, the land of all things cute!

The cute Black Ninja Burger

Japan has a mascot for everything and the Black Ninja Burger is no exception. Here is the cute new mascot for the Black Ninja Burger. You can get some Black Ninja character stickers when you order either a medium or large set meal.

The Burger King Black Ninja Burger Mascot

The Black Ninja Burger will go on sale in Japan from October 25 for 680 yen (USD$6.80) for a limited time.

What do you think?

The Burger King Black Ninja Burger

Burger King Japan Website

MOS Burger Tobikiri Hamburger

MOS Burger (モスバーガ) is a popular Japanese fast food chain famous for its fresher, healthier selection of hamburgers. MOS stands for Mountain Ocean Sun. MOS Burger recently announced that it will release a new burger as part of its Tobikiri Burger series. Tobikiri (飛び切り) in Japanese means extraordinary or superb and this range of burgers is a premium selection from MOS Burger. The Tobikiri Burger series made its debut in 2008 and has proved to be very popular.

Lotteria Super Cheeseday and Super Fryday

Japanese burger chain Lotteria is celebrating its 40th anniversary with an Autumn special that might interest all those ex-pat burger lovers here in Japan. Back by popular demand are Lotteria’s Super Cheeseday and Super Fryday burger deals.

Starting from September 23 until October 9, you can find two new items back on the menu. The Zeppin Cheeseburger will come with five beef patties and slices of cheese. It will be priced at 1360 yen (USD$13.60). The Ebi Tree Burger is a seafood option featuring ebi (shrimp). It contains five deep-fried shrimp patties and costs 770 yen (USD$7.70). You may remember that both of these classics featured in the recent Twin Burger.

Tsukimi Burger 2013

The Tsukimi Burger at McDonald’s Japan is an autumn favourite of mine and I always look forward to it making its annual appearance on the menu. Autumn in Japan, which is September – November is the time to enjoy delicious autumn food, cooler weather and koyo ~ the colourful autumn leaves. The Tsukimi Burger is only available for a limited time during autumn in Japan and made its appearance back on the menu in 2013 on August 23rd.

Okonomiyaki Burger at Lotteria Japan

Lotteria Japan is famous for its unique burger selections such as the Ramen Burger and the recent Twin Burger. This week they released their latest creation, the Okonomiyaki Burger. Okonomiyaki is a type of savoury Japanese pancake that is popular all over Japan. It originates from Osaka and is sometimes called Osaka Soul Food. Okonomiyaki is derived from the Japanese word “okonomi” which means “what you like” and “yaki” which means “grilled” or “cooked”, so it can contain just about anything you like! In modern Okonomiyaki, a wide variety of ingredients are used such as shrimp, squid, octopus, pork, cabbage and vegetables. It is usually served with a special sweet sauce and Japanese mayonnaise.

The Okonomiyaki Burger (お好み焼きバーガー) went on sale on August 19 and comes in two different versions. The “Hanjuku Tamago) 半熟タマゴ , which includes a soft-boiled egg, and The “Modern Style” モダン風 , which comes with stir fried noodles. The burgers will be available until late September in Japan. The Hanjuku Tamago costs 320 yen (USD$3.20) while the Modern Style costs 290 yen (USD$2.90).

The Okonomiyaki Burger at Lotteria

The Hanjuku Tamago (半熟タマゴ) comes with a soft-boiled egg, okonomiyaki patty and okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise.

The Modern Style (モダン風) features chukka-men (Chinese egg noodles), shredded cabbage, okonomiyaki patty and okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise.

The Modern Style (モダン風) Okonomiyaki Burger

The modern style seemed more like your traditional style Okonomiyaki for us, so Japan Australia gave it a try! We ordered a Modern Style Okonomiyaki Burger with small fries and small drink for 640 yen (USD$6.40).

The Modern Style Okonomiyaki Burger Wrapper

The Okonomiyaki Burger Okonomiyaki Patty

The Okonomiyali Burger topped with cabbage, sauce and mayo

How does it taste?

Not very good! Disappointing in fact!! The Okonomiyaki patty is doughy and lacks any Okonomiyaki flavour, while the fried noodles are soft and lack crunch (kari kari). Give us a regular Okonomiyaki any day of the week! It is a big disappointment after the high standards set by the recent Twin Burger.

If you are in Japan and want to try something different and unique then this might be the burger for you. 

Lotteria Japan Website

Twin Burger at Lotteria Japan

Lotteria Japan is famous for its interesting menu and unique burger selections such as The Ramen Burger, which Japan Australia tried back in May.

Lotteria’s latest creation is the Twin Burger that combines two of its most popular menu items, the deep-fried Shrimp Burger and the Zeppin Cheese Burger. The deep-fried Shrimp Burger has been on the Lotteria menu since 1977, while the Zeppin Cheese Burger comes piled with cottage and red cheddar cheese.

The Twin Burger available in Japan from July 4 allows you to enjoy both the Shrimp Burger and Zeppin Cheese Burger at the same time. The Twin Burger costs 500 yen (USD$5.00) and will be available until July 31.

How does it taste?

The deep-fried Shrimp Burger is really good with a crunchy patty with nice tartar sauce. The Zeppin Cheese Burger was really tasty as well with lots of melty gooey cheese. We picked up the Twin Burger with small fries and a medium drink for 850 yen (USD$8.50).

The Twin Burger comes wrapped in a two colour wrapper

The Twin Burger ready to be eaten by Japan Australia

A close-up of the Twin Burger ~ Love that gooey cheese and tartar sauce

Two burgers in one is a pretty good idea in our book! Have you tried the Twin Burger from Lotteria?

Lotteria Japan website

Quarter Pounder Jewelry Premium Burgers

McDonald’s Japan revealed this week that it will offer a special series of premium burgers called “Quarter Pounder Jewelry Burgers” for a limited time in July. Each burger will be priced at 1000 yen (USD$10.00) and will be sold at all outlets across Japan for just one day. The first burger was available today (July 6th) with the next on July 13th followed by July 20th.

You may remember that McDonald’s Japan only just recently launched the Premium Quarter Pounder Burgers with the Quarter Pounder BLT and Quarter Pounder Habanero Tomato.

The first Jewelry Premium Burger went on sale today (July 6th) and was the Golden Ring Burger featuring thick-cut smokey bacon, pineapple, beef patty, Monterey Jack cheese and fruity barbecue sauce.

The Golden Ring Quarter Pounder Burger

Next on the list is the Black Diamond Burger on July 13th, featuring a black truffle sauce, Emmental cheese, and grilled mushrooms and onions.

The last will be the Ruby Spark Burger on July 20th, featuring chorizo, avocado and pepper jack cheese.

The burgers cost 1000 yen (USD$10.00) with no French fries or soft drink, which can be added for an extra 200 yen (USD$2.00).

You will need to hurry as these have been very popular and the Golden Ring Burger was sold out around lunch time at a lot of outlets around Japan.

Japan Australia was intrigued by these new burgers, so headed out today to track down the Golden Ring Quarter Pounder Burger.

The Golden Ring Quarter Pounder Burger

The Golden Ring Burger is served up in a special jewelry box container and bag with ribbon. We felt like we had just made a purchase at Tiffany’s or something! It certainly is a luxurious start to a meal and made us feel very special. It was only available today and was sold out quite quickly so we had a little difficultly tracking one down, but managed to do it after a few stops.

The burger comes in a special jewelry bag with ribbon

Jewelry box container with the burger inside

Tip: You better hurry in on July 13th if you want to try the Black Diamond Burger.

The Golden Ring Burger features thick-cut smokey bacon, a slice of grilled pineapple, a decent size beef patty, Monterey Jack cheese and a fruity barbecue sauce with more than 10 different spices. These are all contained with a crunchy bun topped with poppy seeds.

How does it taste?

We were very happy with the taste and it was one of the best burgers we’ve had this year anywhere. The first thing we noticed was the thick cut smokey bacon, followed by the sweet pineapple which compliments the fruity barbecue sauce perfectly, and keeps the beef patty nice and moist. We also really liked the bun that was soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Some people will say that 1000 yen is too expensive for a burger. Yes, it probably is, but when you factor in the whole experience it was very worthwhile in my book. Already looking forward to the Black Diamond Burger next week.

Featuring thick-cut bacon, pineapple and fruity barbecue sauce

A medium size set will cost 1200 yen (USD$12.00)

McDonald’s Japan Website

Premium Quarter Pounders at McDonald’s Japan

McDonald’s Japan has just released some new premium quarter pounder burgers to its menu. The burgers will have 150% more burger patty than regular burgers on the menu and will come in two types: The Quarter Pounder BLT and the Quarter Pounder Habanero Tomato. The Quarter Pounder BLT combines the famous BLT sandwich with McDonald’s own Quarter Pounder Burger. While the Quarter Pounder Habanero Burger is designed to offer you a harmony of deep flavour and delicious spice.

The burgers went on sale across Japan on June 24th and will be available only for a limited time.

Premium Quarter Pounder BLT and Habanero Poster

McDonald's have also used the famous Japanese soccer player, Keisuke Honda to help promote the new premium quarter pounders, with the slogan "Bite". I guess he can't wait to sink his teeth into one of these new premium burgers.

Keisuke Honda promoting the Premium Quarter Pounder campaign

Bite into the new Premium Quarter Pounder Keisuke

The Quarter Pounder BLT Burger includes a 100% beef patty, smokey crispy bacon, cheese, fresh lettuce and tomato, a lemon flavoured sauce as well as a mustard sauce. It is available for 520 yen (USD$5.20) in Gifu. This makes it the most expensive burger McDonald’s has ever offered here in Japan at over 500 yen.

The Quarter Pounder BLT Burger

The Quarter Pounder Habanero Tomato includes a 100% beef patty, fresh lettuce, onion and tomato, cheese and a spicy sauce made from the habanero chilli pepper. It is available for 480 yen (USD$4.80) in Gifu. This is definitely the fiery partner of the BLT with lots of heat and spice.

The Quarter Pounder Habanero Tomato Burger

These burgers being promoted as premier burgers lead Japan Australia to McDonald’s to give them a try. We do love our premium/gourmet burgers after all.

What did we think?

The Quarter Pounder Habanero Tomato – the spice hits you straight away and is a nice sensation that keeps you coming back for more.

The Quarter Pounder Habanero Tomato Burger even has a fancy box

The Quarter Pounder Habanero Tomato opened up

A close up of the Quarter Pounder Habanero Tomato

The Quarter Pounder BLT – very filling compared to both the regular Quarter Pounder and the Habanero with a lot more ingredients. It comes with lots of sauce and the patty is nice and juicy. Definitely our favourite of the two burgers.

The Quarter Pounder BLT Burger with its fancy box

The Quarter Pounder BLT opened up - you can really see the size of it

A close up the of Quarter Pounder BLT Burger

McDonald’s Japan website 

Check out the other McDonald’s burgers in Japan we have tried in 2013:

• Golden Burger Week – BBQ Beef and BBQ Chicken
• TeriTama Burger
• Texas Burger
• Pork Tatsuta

Ramen Burger at Lotteria Japan

Lotteria is a fast food chain in Japan that is often overshadowed by its big rivals McDonald’s and MOS Burger. Lotteria always has an interesting menu with a great variety of choices and some unique burger selections. This month they released their latest creation: The Ramen Burger.

The Menya Musashi Ramen Burger has been developed in collaboration with the famous Japanese ramen restaurant chain “Menya Musashi”. The chain is popular for its ramen broth which is made from katsu dashi (bonito stock). The Menya Musashi Ramen Burger features such ramen staples as disposable chopsticks, ramen broth, and even an option for “Kaedama” or a second serving of noodles. The Menya Musashi Ramen Burger is on sale for a limited time only from May 20 until mid-June.

The Menya Musashi Ramen Burger

What’s in the Menya Musashi Ramen Burger? It consists of ramen noodles that have been seasoned and lightly grilled (in replace of your traditional patty). It is topped with mayonnaise and chashu (barbecued pork) in sweet brown sauce. The ramen broth is made from katsuo dashi (bonito stock).

ramen noodles topped with mayo, sweet brown sauce and chashu

The famous ramen broth made from katsuo dashi

The Menya Musashi Ramen Burger is available for 634 yen (USD$6.30) and extra noodles (kaedama) will cost you 100 yen (USD$1) each.

How does it taste? It doesn't taste as bad as we expected. The ramen noodles are tasty but a little oily and remind us of yakisoba. I thought they would be more カリカリ (crunchy). The sauce is probably the best part of the burger with the mayonnaise and sweet brown sauce proving to be a tasty combination. The chashu is fatty just like good chashu should be and the ramen broth is very good and has a strong flavour. We ended up eating half the burger and then putting the rest of the noodles and chashu into the ramen broth to enjoy it that way. Two different types of meals in one.

The Ramen Burger in all its glory

A great way to finish the burger with the noodles and chashu in the broth

What do you think? What you be willing to give the Menya Musashi Ramen Burger a try?

MOS Burger Tempura Rice Burger

MOS Burger (モスバーガ) is a popular Japanese fast food chain that originated in Japan. MOS stands for Mountain Ocean Sun. MOS Burger is famous for their original burger, which is called the MOS Burger.

They are also famous for their unique burgers such as the MOS Rice Burger, which they have been serving now for many years. The rice burgers use a bun made of rice mixed with barley and millet.

Last month on April 23rd they launched their new Tempura Rice Burgers, which will be available for a limited time (until the end of October). These are more than your typical burger as the tempura is sandwiched between grilled rice which acts as the buns and hence the name “rice burger”.

The two new Tempura Rice Burgers are:

Ebi Shinjo ~ Fried Shrimp Dumpling Tempura Rice Burger 

The fried shrimp dumpling contains grated shrimp and onions, which are fried in tempura batter and then topped with a Japanese style sauce that contains oroshi (grated daikon), with added ao negi (green onions) on top. This is all sandwiched between two plates of grilled rice.

The Ebi Shinjo costs 350 yen (USD$3.60)

Ebi Shinjo Tempura Rice Burger

Kisetsu no Yasai Kakiage ~ Seasonal Mixed Vegetable Tempura Rice Burger 

The tempura in this burger contains various vegetables such as onions, edamame beans, and sweet corn. This is all fried together in crispy tempura batter and topped with an original wasabi and seaweed sauce. The tempura again is all sandwiched between two plates of grilled rice.

The Kisetsu no Yasai Kakiage costs 280 yen (USD$2.85)

Kisetsu no Yasai Kakiage Tempura Rice Burger

How Do They Taste?

We tried the two new rice burgers and give them both the thumbs up. The rice bun is very much like a yaki onigiri and the fillings were tasty and reminded us of Japanese dishes like Ten-don (tempura on rice) and Kakiage-don (mixed vegetable tempura on rice). We would definitely have these again.

Ebi Shinjo Tempura Rice Burger

Close up of the Ebi Shinjo. You can see the oroshi and ao negi

Kisetsu no Yasai Kakiage Tempura Rice Burger

Close up of the Kisetsu no Yasai Kakiage Tempura Rice Burger

Visit the MOS Burger website for more details