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

Pocky Japanese Biscuit Stick

Pocky (ポッキー) is a Japanese biscuit stick produced by Ezaki Glico. Pocky made its debut in 1966 and the original Pocky was a biscuit stick coated in chocolate. The original was followed by almond in 1971 and strawberry in 1977. Today there are many different flavours of Pocky in Japan including chocolate, almond, strawberry, milk, chocolate mousse, green tea, honey and banana. Pocky is extremely popular in Japan especially among teenagers and young adults. It has also spread to other East Asian nations and has a significant presence in both South Korea and China. It has just started becoming popular in Western countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States.

Pocky can be found in dozens of varieties as mentioned above. Some of the more unusual flavours include seasonal flavours such as honey (spring) and kiwifruit mango (summer). There are also regional versions of Pocky including grape (Nagano), yubari melon (Hokkaido), tangerine (Kyushu), azuki bean (Kyoto) and Kobe wine (Kobe).

Special variations of Pocky also sometimes appear and these include “Decorer Pocky” (features extra decorative icing), “Men’s Pocky” (a dark bitter chocolate version), “Mousse Pocky” (mousse like icing that is thick and creamy) “Dessert Pocky” (features sticks covered in cream), and Pocky Midi (shorter, stubbier version).

Pocky even has its own National Day, Pocky Day, which is November 11th (11-11). The event is held on November 11th as the date (11-11) resembles four sticks of Pocky.

Pocky Chocolate

The original and still the best in my opinion with a rich delicious milk chocolate coating.

Pocky Chocolate Snoopy Special

Pocky Chocolate

Pocky Chocolate Biscuit Sticks

Pocky Tsubu Tsubu Strawberry

A flavour boost from the original strawberry with pieces of dried strawberry and very addictive.

Pocky Tsubu Tsubu Strawberry 

Pocky Tsubu Tsubu Strawberry Packet

Pocky Tsubu Tsubu Strawberry Biscuit Sticks

Here are some of the recent editions of Pocky we at Japan Australia have tried:

Pocky Matcha Cream

One of my new favourites is matcha cream. Slightly bitter but the cream adds a nice sweet balance.

Pocky Matcha Cream

Pocky Matcha Cream Packet

Pocky Matcha Cream Biscuit Sticks

Pocky Star Wars

A collaboration with Star Wars to produce these limited edition Star Wars Giant Pocky. They come in two different boxes and feature three flavours, Strawberry, Kyoho Grape and Matcha Green Tea. Read all about them on my Star Wars Pocky post.

Front Cover Star Wars Pocky

The Star Wars Pocky Lightsabers come individually wrapped

Star Wars Pocky Strawberry

Pocky Panda ~ Cookies & Cream

Pocky Panda is a limited edition Panda inspired Pocky. The flavour is cookies and cream and the biscuit stick is made with cocoa. The topping is really sweet and features white chocolate cream with specks of real crunchy chocolate cookie.

Pocky Panda with a cute panda on the box

The packaging has cute pandas printed all over it

The biscuit sticks with a creamy topping and real pieces of cookie

Fuyu no Kuchidoke Pocky

A new Winter Pocky in Japan ~ Fuyu no Kuchidoke! Winter Chocolate Pocky with Fine Chocolate. It has a stronger chocolate flavour than normal Pocky with the outside coated in powdered cocoa. Hurry it is limited edition!

Fuyo no Kuchidoke Pocky 

MORE POCKY FLAVOURS TO COME.....

What is your favourite Pocky?

Matcha Japanese Green Tea

As an avid Japanese tea fan and also the founder of a matcha green tea company, Zen Green Tea, I always have people asking me what matcha is and why it holds such a special place in Japanese culture. There is a bit of a matcha craze at the moment- big multinational companies are using matcha to produce everything from KitKats, Starbucks frappes to French macaron. America features a growing matcha market with Dr Oz and Oprah all shouting its health benefits from the rooftop.

So how is matcha actually different from standard green tea? Well first off the production of the two teas is vastly different. The green tea plants chosen to be used for matcha (typically the healthiest plants in a harvest) are covered with shade cloths for weeks at the end of the harvest. This makes the plants work harder for sunlight so it turbo charges their levels of chlorophyll and nutrients. Only the finest leaves on the top of the plants are hand picked, oven baked and rapidly stone ground into an ultra fine, jade green powder. Normal green tea uses the leaves at the middle- bottom of the tea plants which are then steamed, rolled and dried. This process destroys a lot of the amino acids and ECGC catechins well known for cancer prevention and anti-aging.

A small amount of matcha powder (2 grams) can then be added to hot water and finally whisked with a bamboo whisk forming a stunning green tea. With matcha you are consuming the whole tea leaf dissolved in water. As a result matcha is a powerhouse of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

So what are some of the health benefits of matcha? Scientific studies highlight that it helps people lose weight through increasing the amount of energy your body burns, it also suppresses appetite and helps block the absorption of fat in your large intestine so you excrete the fat Vs storing it. Matcha has also been linked to inhibiting a percentage of the neural cell death in those suffering Alzheimer’s Disease. Many studies are linking it to inhibiting the growth of tumours and preventing cancer. You can find the links to the scientific studies on my website. If you are interested in joining the matcha lifestyle just make sure you buy premium Japanese matcha that is bright green in colour. This indicates freshness while Japan also employs incredibly clean and sustainable farming processes.

Article contributed by Erin Young who is the founder of Zen Green Matcha Tea - a premium matcha green tea powder brand in Australia. To find out more information you can visit her website Zen Green Matcha Tea.

McDonald’s Japan Summer Menu

I love the seasonal menu items they come out with here in Japan and McDonald’s is no exception. Recently they came out with some new menu items just for summer.

These include such goodies as the Pork Tatsuta, Chicken McNuggets with Wasabi Sauce and Fruit Curry Sauce, Shoyu Butter Shaka Shaka Fries, and Banana Oreo McFlurry.

The Pork Tatsuta

The Pork Tatsuta was released on May 31 and is based on the popular Chicken Tatsuta. The Pork Tatsuta contains a grilled pork patty, onion ginger sauce, shredded cabbage and a slightly spicy sauce all contained within a soft fluffy bun. The burger is really easy to eat and we liked the flavour combination of pork and ginger, which reminded us of the popular Japanese dish shogayaki. The soft bun is a nice touch as well and sets this burger apart from the regular burgers on the menu.

The Pork Tatsuta in the Box

Opening up the Pork Tatsuta

About to eat the Pork Tatsuta

Chicken McNuggets with Wasabi Sauce

Chicken McNuggets with Wasabi Sauce is now one of my all-time favourites. Why didn’t they think of this flavour before? The combination of wasabi and sweet Japanese mayonnaise is a classic and I could easily dip all of my future food into this awesome combination. The wasabi sauce has a sweet initial taste with the wasabi hitting you later as an after-taste. It wasn’t as hot as we would have liked and is very mild, so don’t be afraid to give it a try. Definitely my favourite of all the summer menu items. A must try if you are in Japan this summer.

Chicken McNuggets with Wasabi Sauce

You can see the creamy Wasabi and Japanese Mayonnaise Sauce

Shoyu Butter Shaka Shaka Fries

Shoyu Butter Shaka Shaka Fries are a limited edition, where your fries come with a paper bag and a special seasoning. You simply put the fries in the bag, sprinkle in the seasoning and shake vigorously. The special seasoning for this one is shoyu butter (soy sauce and butter). The seasoning is quite mild and not too strong, so it adds a nice gentle kick to the flavour of the French fries.

The Bag and Special Seasoning for the Shaka Shaka Fries

The seasoned fries ready to be eaten by one hungry JA

Banana Oreo McFlurry

Banana Oreo McFlurry makes a summer comeback and is always very popular. It is easy to see why as banana and chocolate is such a great combination.

Banana Oreo McFlurry

Chicken McNuggets with Fruit Curry Sauce

A new sauce is available for Chicken McNuggets in Japan called Fruit Curry Sauce. It is a curry sauce that is very fruity and is like a mix of a curry sauce with chutney. I would definitely recommend this one!

Fruit Curry Sauce

A mix of curry sauce with fruit chutney

McDonald’s Japan Website http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/

Have you tried any of these new summer items from McDonald’s Japan? What would you like to try? Please leave your comments below.

Kappa Zushi

Kappa Zushi or かっぱ寿司 in Japanese is a family chain of kaiten sushi restaurants in Japan. The chain is well known for offering delicious sushi at reasonable prices. The sushi passes your table via a conveyor belt and you can just take the sushi that you want to eat. You can also order your choice of sushi by using the touch screen computer at your table. The order is then delivered to your table via a plastic shinkansen (bullet train) that runs on a separate track. It is fun to do and watch the train arrive with your sushi.

The kaiten (conveyor belt) at Kappa Zushi

The Kappa Zushi Shinkansen (Bullet Train) with our order

The interior is very plain and simple with wood a common feature. You can either sit at a bench type table or at a counter.

Table at Kappa Zushi

Most of the sushi cost 105 yen for a plate of two. There is a large selection of sushi ranging from nigirizushi to makizushi. There is also salad, soup, fresh fruit, pack juice, cakes and desserts along with side menu items like karaage (fried chicken) and French fries.

Maguro Nigirizushi (tuna)

Salmon & Avocado Nigirizushi

Ebi Tempura Nigirizushi (prawn tempura)

Tuna Makizushi

Gyuushigure gunkan Makizushi (Japanese beef)

There are many condiments which can be found at your table and these include things like soy sauce, wasabi, plastic chopsticks, green tea powder, pickled ginger and small dishes for the soy sauce.

The green tea at Kappa Zushi is also very good and you can make your own for free at your table.

Japanese Green Tea

The final bill is based on the number and type of plates you have eaten. The plates come in different colours and shapes ranging in price from 100 yen to 500 yen. The bill is calculated by counting these plates. When you are done you just select the bill on the touch screen computer and one of the shop staff will come and work out your bill for you. The final price is recorded on a paper tab which you take to the register to pay as you leave. It is a very simple, quick and effective system.

Kappa Zushi can be very busy so if you arrive at peak times (12 – 2pm or 5:30 – 7:30pm) you might need to wait to be seated at a table.

If you are looking for a good affordable sushi restaurant in Japan then give Kappa Zushi a try.

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?