McDonald’s Japan World Cup Menu

The soccer World Cup in Brazil will start this week and McDonald’s Japan has celebrated this great event by releasing some World Cup menu items. McDonald’s Japan is offering several burgers based on nations expected to do well at the World Cup. The nations represented are Brazil, Germany, Spain, France and Japan.

In total, McDonald’s Japan will release 14 new World Cup themed menu items starting from May 27.

Tonkatsu McBurger McDonald’s Japan

McDonald’s Japan earlier this month introduced its latest creation called the Tonkatsu McBurger. It went on sale from May 7 and features Tonkatsu (deep fried pork cutlet) which is a popular meal here in Japan. They have used a blend of both fine and coarse breadcrumbs to coat the pork cutlet giving it a crispier coating. The pork used is rosu (ロース) or pork loin, which is soft and juicy. It comes with shredded cabbage, which is the traditional accompaniment to a Tonkatsu meal in Japan. The burger is also topped with mustard and McDonald’s own special sweet Tonkatsu sauce, which contains grated onion, carrot, tomato and apple. All of this goodness is contained within bran buns.

McDonald’s Japan Avocado Burger

McDonald’s Japan is offering a new limited edition avocado burger that is surprisingly good. The burgers come in three varieties: Beef, Chicken and Ebi (Shrimp). All the burgers feature large chunks of avocado and Italian style ciabatta bread. The beef version contains a spicy wasabi soy mayonnaise sauce, while the chicken and shrimp contain a Cobb salad style sauce.

The burgers went on sale April 17th and cost around 399 yen (USD$3.90) each. They will be available through late May.

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

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

Golden Burger Week in Japan

The end of April through around May 6th is called “Golden Week” in Japan and is based around a period of Japanese national holidays. To celebrate this period, McDonald’s Japan has released a special series of burgers called “Golden Burger Week”.

The burgers are the BBQ Beef Burger and the BBQ Chicken Burger. They are only available for a limited time (April 26 – May 6), so hurry in if you want to give them a try.

BBQ Beef Burger

The BBQ Beef Burger contains fried onions, spicy barbeque sauce, egg, bacon, cheese and a beef patty.

BBQ Chicken Burger

The BBQ Chicken burger contains fried onions, yellow mustard mayonnaise sauce, spicy barbeque sauce, lettuce and a crispy chicken fillet.

Both burgers come in Golden Brown buns coated with sesame seeds.

We tried the BBQ Beef Burger and it was pretty good. Reminded me of the recent Texas Burger but on a smaller scale.

The BBQ Beef Burgers costs 340 yen (USD$3.50) for just the burger, or 640 yen (USD$6.50) for a Medium Set.

The BBQ Chicken Burger costs 330 yen (USD$3.40) for just the burger, or 630 yen (USD$6.40) for a Medium Set.

Note: Prices may vary depending on the region in Japan

McDonald’s Japan also has a special campaign going, where if you purchase a Large value set you can get a FREE French Fries Holder. It is made to fit any cup holder, so you can use it in your car or on your bike.

McDonald’s Japan Website

Check out some of the other McDonald's Burger that have been available in Japan recently.

• TeriTama Burger
• Texas Burger

McDonald’s Texas Burger 2013

McDonald’s Big America ALL STARS Texas Burger is back in 2013. The burger made its original debut in 2010 and now returns to the menu for a limited time. The Texas Burger went on sale from 1 February and will stay on the menu until the end of the month. The burger itself costs 370 yen (USD$3.90) in the Gifu area, or 590 yen for a Small Set (USD$6.20).

The Texas Burger features mustard relish, barbecue sauce, bacon, cheese and fried onions. The burger is unusual because it also has a middle bun aimed to separate the ingredients. It was created to bring the crowds back to McDonald's and offer them a taste of America.

I’m not too sure how authentic the burger is, but it does taste pretty good, and I really like the mustard relish and barbecue sauce combination.

Poster advertising the return of the Texas Burger

The Texas Burger packaging

The Texas Burger in the box

Bacon, fried onions, mustard relish and barbecue sauce feature in the Texas Burger

Close up of the Texas Burger

Check out the video I made of the Texas Burger below

McDonald's Japan website

Tsukimi Burger 2012

My last post was about Tsukimi (月見) or moon viewing and I left a little teaser at the end about how I usually celebrate Tsukimi. Well here it is! I love to celebrate Tsukimi with the Tsukimi Burger.

September in Japan usually brings with it Autumn or Aki (秋) with cooler weather, beautiful fall leaves and Autumn food and drinks. One of my favourite Autumn foods in Japan during this time is the Tsukimi burger. When this starts appearing on The McDonald's menu I know for sure that Autumn has arrived in Japan. The burger is only available for a limited time during the Autumn and will be on the menu again from the 18th of September.

McDonald's Japan Big America Burgers are Back in 2012

The McDonald’s Japan Big America Burgers have returned for 2012. If you loved the previous editions of the burger get ready for the set of four being released this year. The series has already started with the Grand Canyon Burger released at the end of December.

The Grand Canyon Burger offered a quarter-pound beef patty with “steak filling,” cooked egg, cheddar and mozzarella cheese, crispy onions, steak sauce (with soy and "smoked" flavors) and an extra middle bun.

The Las Vegas Burger has just made its debut and is topped with a spicy sauteed sliced beef, onion “salsa”, and drizzled with special cream cheese sauce.

Tsukimi Burger

September in Japan usually brings with it Autumn or Aki (秋) with cooler weather, beautiful fall leaves and Autumn food and drinks. One of my favourite Autumn foods in Japan during this time is the Tsukimi burger. When this starts appearing on The McDonald's menu I know for sure that Autumn has arrived in Japan. The burger is only available for a limited time during the Autumn and is currently on the menu again.