McDonald’s celebrates launch of humongous burger with teeny tiny toys.

To accompany their launch of the limited edition Grand Big Mac (two meat patties) and Giga Big Mac (FOUR meat patties) earlier this month, McDonald’s Japan has teamed up with Nanoblock, the “amazingly small micro-sized building block”, to offer a matching build your own burger set.

In contrast to the irregularly large burgers, these toys use the world’s tiniest building block to recreate the chain’s iconic burger, fries, and soda.

Each kit costs 400 yen (US $3.60) or you can get the three-item set for 1,150 yen (US$10.40) and they’ll be on sale at McDonald’s stores across Japan while stocks last.

Check out our post for more details on the mega burgers shown above or, if you’re more into miniature Lego-like toys than meat monstrosities, take a look at Nanoblock’s upcoming Evangelion Unit-01, due on sale later this month.

Source: Narinari
Images: McDonald’s, Nanoblock

They’re billed as “five-star” hamburgers, but can these two new offerings help return McDonald’s to its former glory in Japan?

While McDonald’s continues to struggle in Japan following an unfortunate tainted meat scandal, you have to admire how much effort they put into spicing up their menu, constantly tinkering away to come up with new burgers that will create buzz and help them get back to the top of the fast food chain. And that’s great news for us, of course, as we love trying out their new offerings.

McDonald’s two new Clubhouse Burgers are a little different from previous creations in that they boast brand new patties—beef and chicken, respectively—and they certainly look pretty authentic at first glance, appearing much more “independent burger joint” than “multinational fast food chain”, so McDonald’s fans are right to be excited.

▼ The burgers cost 490 yen (US$4.40) each. Of course, being “club” sandwiches, they come with a wedge of bacon!

With a tasty bun, thick slices of bacon, and a redeveloped patty that is purported to be extra delicious, the Clubhouse Burgers sound great on paper—but are they going to become popular enough to make it onto Makku‘s regular menu? We sent our man Seiji to try them both, starting start with the hamburger version.

According to our reporter, the fluffy bun and sweet and spicy sauce are definitely worthy of the “five star” tag. With the melted cheese smothering the patty and bacon, there’s a really nice savory taste that is accented by the fresh tomato. This is a truly tasty bite indeed.

Despite the effort that had gone into the new patty, however, Seiji admitted that he actually preferred a regular Burger King hamburger patty over McDonald’s new one. Even so, he was happy to declare the Clubhouse Burger amongst most delicious burgers offered by the Golden Arches.

▼ The chicken Clubhouse Burger

When our writer moved on to the chicken version, however, he was disappointed to find that the chicken patty didn’t stand up nearly as well as its beefy brother, commenting that the patty didn’t even compare to those he could find at virtually any Lawson convenience store. The rest of the burger is still pretty tasty, he added, but given the choice he’d take the beef Clubhouse Burger over the chicken any day.

▼ Clubhouse purchasers are invited to tweet and comment to be entered into a lottery to win a 5,000-yen (US$45) voucher

These two new offerings from McDonald’s Japan probably aren’t going to convince you to be an exclusive fast food diner, but they are definitely pretty delicious burgers and we’d rate them a solid four-stars. It’s clear that McDonald’s is looking at its shrinking market share and is willing to step up its taste game in order to bring it back to number one. With a few more efforts like this, it might just make it.

Photos © RocketNews24

The area-specific sweet will be available for a limited time only.

One of the main reasons less adventurous travellers go to multi-national fast food joints when they’re abroad is because their menus and layouts are instantly familiar. If you see a typical McDonald’s, Pizza Hut or Subway, you can usually be pretty sure what you’re going to get, regardless of the country you’re in—indeed, these companies usually go out of their way to make restaurants look and feel similar for this very reason.

But McDonald’s in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, decided to mix things up recently when, apparently in response to local residents’ requests for dishes more becoming of the area, they unveiled these Ogura Soft Hotcakes (the ‘soft’ refers to the ice cream rather than the pancakes), which will be on the dessert menus of 174 McDonald’s outlets in the prefecture from June 6 until an unspecified date at the end of the same month.

▼ 小倉ソフトホットケーキ, or Ogura Soft Hotcakes

The sweet dish consists of three fluffy pancakes, a dollop of soft-serve ice cream and, most important of all, a generous serving of sweet adzuki paste, the like of which is commonly enjoyed in regional treat ogura toast (Japanese).

This isn’t the most inspired dessert creation ever, admittedly, but it’s actually kind of cool to see a big company like McDonald’s doing something a little more area-specific, and it’s definitely something we’d like to see a lot more of in the future.

▼ Ogura toast, which features butter or margarine and a layer of Ogura-an sweet red bean paste, is popular in Aichi Prefecture, especially Nagoya.

Wikimedia Commons

McDonald’s Ogura Soft Hotcakes will retail for 360 yen (US$3.30) per serving. We’ve yet to try them for ourselves for obvious reasons, but they look like they’d go down an absolute treat with a cup of strong coffee, so if you happen to be down in Aichi next month and have chance to try them, do let us know how they taste!

Source & photo: Narinari

This McDonald’s customer paid for his order in cash and received his hamburger — without setting foot in the store!

Yes, a recent tweet showing a customer getting a hamburger to go at a McDonald’s restaurant has received quite a bit of attention on the Japanese internet. But what could be so unusual about someone taking home a hamburger from McDonald’s?

Well, as you can see from the pictures in the tweet, it turns out the order was placed in quite an unusual way!

これが真のドライブスルー。 https://t.co/DQYu7gXH04

—
宮崎純一朗 (@jun1218_) June 07, 2016

The order was placed with a note pasted on to a remote-controlled toy car! The hand-written message on the note reads:”One hamburger to go, please.” It even came with a 100 yen coin attached to cover the cost of the hamburger.

▼ What does the store staff do? Very calmly pick up the order and payment!

▼ After a while, the car is sent back carrying the hamburger!
We have to say, the staff did an ace job dealing with the unexpected order.

You can see the process in the video below. It’s in two segments, one showing the toy car placing the order and the other showing it coming out with the bag.

We had a laugh watching this, but it seems a good number of Japanese netizens commenting on the video apparently felt it was an extremely childish and annoying thing to do, possibly inconveniencing the store staff unnecessarily. In fact they were quite vehement in their criticism, making it clear that they thought the antics of the person placing the order were downright despicable and idiotic.

What do you think — was this just a bit of fun, or was it a prank in bad taste?

Source: Twitter/@jun1218_, YouTube
Images: Twitter/@jun1218_

McDonald’s Japan’s “Summer Shake” series this year will start off with Okinawa Pineapple!

McDonld’s shakes are always a great way to cool down, and this summer in Japan, you’ll be able to do exactly that with their series of “Summer Shakes“, which will be released as part of their “By McSWEETS” line of products.

They’ll be kicking off the seasonal shake series on June 22 with a refreshing pineapple flavor using 100% Okinawa grown pineapples. The cool drink infused with the rich sweetness and tang of pineapples should be perfect as the weather gets warmer in the coming months.

Okinawa, the islands in the south of Japan, is a major pineapple producing area for the country and is also known as a resort with beautiful beaches, which adds to the tropical image of the drink.

▼ Okay, your McDonald’s shake won’t look quite like this,
but we’re sure you get the idea of the image they’re trying to project.

The Okinawa Pineapple shake will be available at McDonald’s locations across Japan from June 22 to mid-July for 120 yen (US$1.13) in a small size and 200 yen in a medium size. And for those of you lucky enough to be on the tropical island this month, they’re now already selling the pineapple shake at the 33 McDonald’s locations in Okinawa, ahead of the rest of the country.

If you’re looking for cool, zesty sweetness this summer, this chilled, “drinkable dessert” could be the way to go — it may even transport you (if only momentarily in your imagination) to a beautiful resort on a southern island. And we’ll definitely be looking forward to seeing what shake flavors will follow in the series!

Source: Nikkei press release via Narinari.com
Images: Nikkei press release (edited by RocketNews24)

The young boy is melting hearts for navigating his way back to the car while carrying his meal out of the store and into the street on a tray.

While much of our internet time is spent fawning over clips and pictures of cute cats and pups, when it comes to our own human species, we manage to do some pretty cute things too. In Japan, one young child is winning the internet with an adorable picture that captures his triumphant return from a solo trip to McDonald’s. After telling his parents that he wanted to buy a meal from the fast food joint on his own, his relatives couldn’t help but laugh when they saw him return to the car proudly holding his food and drink on a tray.

▼ It looks like the cute youngster wanted to enjoy
the full eat-in experience at home.

「1人でマックを買ってきたい」と言われたから、行かせてみると満面の笑みで商品を持って帰ってきたらしい。 ・・・甥っ子よ、君は重大なミスを犯している。 https://t.co/b8HR1xuoro

—
新垣 勇人 (@hayato_arakaki) June 23, 2016

The boy’s uncle, who took the photo, is actually a professional baseball player who plays for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. His Twitter account is full of hilarious photos of his young nephew, who always makes everyone smile with his crazy antics and funny personality.

▼ Here the two ham it up with a face swap.

ちなみに甥っ子を僕に足すとこうなる。 https://t.co/0rvibwuUO2

—
新垣 勇人 (@hayato_arakaki) May 03, 2016

While his nephew is known for his cheeky ways, it’s not clear why the boy’s trip to McDonald’s had him returning to the car with a tray instead of a takeout plastic bag. Captioned with a joking “Nephew – that’s a big mistake you made there”, it may have been that the child requested eat-in service or the staff member had not heard correctly; whatever the case, though, Twitter users are lovin’ it, leaving comments like:

“The look of satisfaction on his face is just too cute!”
“The tray is too much!”
“Imagine the looks he would’ve gotten from people on the way back to the car”
“I’m sorry – that’s not the way we do takeout!”
“There’s no way you could scold a child for doing something that cute!”
“This is a great way to give out ‘free smiles’ – the company should use this as part of their ‘smile for zero yen’ campaign.”

Having received more than 80,000 likes over the course of just one day, the proud boy is continuing to bring joy to people around the world, all with one picture. We hope he and his uncle continue to share more of their funny photos with us all in the future!

Source: Curazy
Top Image: Twitter/@hayato_arakaki

Not as bold a combination as chocolate fries, but still a tasty match made in fast food heaven.

While loyal customers will enjoy having an unchanging menu of classic favorites at their restaurant of choice, seasonal and limited-edition menu items are no doubt an ingenious way to keep customers interested and periodically coming back. McDonald’s of Japan are masters of the seasonal menu, it seems, with new menu items coming out nearly every month or so.

Last time they tried out something crazy with their French fries was back in January, with the McChoco Potato, which may have had some people questioning McD’s sanity but in reality, as we found out, the sweet-savory combination was actually a nice match.

This time, however, they’ve stuck to a more recognized pairing with their new Classic Fry Hachimitsu Mustard (honey mustard). Always with a taste for something new, we headed to our nearest McDonald’s on June 6, the day the honey mustard fries became available.

The fries can be bought alone for 330 yen (US$3.30), or can replace a plain order of fries in any value meal for 60 yen ($0.60) extra. When you order the hachimitsu mustard fries, they come served in a specially-designed box – same as the chocolate fries were – with a squeeze packet of honey mustard sauce on the side. You are also provided with a fork for more clean-fingered eating.

The packet of honey mustard sauce is designed for simple, clean dispersion of sauce over the fries. Simply fold the packet in half, squeezing the two pouches together to force the sauce through the opening.

▼ So easy, the packet can be opened and applied single-handedly!

The yellow honey mustard, when applied to the fries, looks strikingly similar to nacho cheese sauce, but the presence of mustard seeds and the pungent vinegary scent makes sure there’s no mistaking the sauce for cheese!

The sauce is creamy and the mustard scent very distinct over the hot potatoes.

Next was the moment of truth — the taste test. With our thoughtfully provided fork, we dug into the saucy pile of fries and took our first bite. The taste of mustard is as strong and distinct as the scent, to the point that the first bite was a little overwhelming. After stirring up the fries a bit, allowing the sauce concentrated on the top to evenly coat the sad, sauce-less fries underneath as well. With the honey mustard distributed more evenly, we took another bite. The taste was still distinctly mustard, yet more subtle this time, allowing the familiar potato-ey saltiness through too.

As it turned out, one of our Japanese writers, Ryou, also happened to grab a box of the limited-edition fries! So, here’s an accounting of his take on the fries as well for comparison.

▼ “Friiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiies!”

Aside from feeling a bit like Winnie the Pooh gobbling down jar after jar of honey, Ryou seemed to enjoy the fries…

▼ “This is…actually way better than expected!”

…and he was pretty pleased with the combination of honey and mustard, saying that the sweet honey drew out the flavor of the mustard. But! That wasn’t the end of his thoughts on the fast food dish — perhaps due to the strong flavor or maybe because of how thick the sauce was, Ryou told us he suddenly felt a violent desire for something to drink while eating the fries. In the end, with the mustard base, he felt the sauce matched the fries well — but was certainly glad to have a glass when done eating.

So, fans of mustard will surely be pleased by this classic mix of flavors. The Classic Fry Hachimitsu Mustard is, like its chocolate-y predecessor, only on sale for a limited time, so if you’re in the mood for a tangy, salty snack, you had better hurry!

Especially in case that adorable Disney bear hears about it…

Photos ©RocketNews24

The three new designs give us a sneak peek at what McDonald’s has in store for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Hot on the heels of McDonald’s Japan’s popular Olympics-themed “Victory Menu” comes a new range of “Victory Tumblers” to gear everybody up for the next games, which will be held in Tokyo in four years’ time. The three exclusive designs will be sold at outlets across Japan in limited numbers from 17 August, with customers able to choose from “City”, which includes popular landmarks like Mt Fuji, Tokyo Tower and the Rainbow Bridge; “Sakura”, which has a pink-hued cherry blossom theme; and “Checkerboard”, which incorporates the Tokyo Olympic Games emblem in its design, along with the words “Tokyo 2020” written in Japanese.

The 290-milliltre (9.8-fluid ounce) capacity tumblers will retail separately with any purchase for 490 yen (US$4.84) each or they can be combined with a value meal set for 990 yen each. As an official worldwide sponsor of the Olympic Games, the golden arches of McDonald’s appear on all the tumblers, along with the Tokyo Olympic Games emblem and the Coca Cola logo. While the designs on the “City” and “Sakura” varieties feature different images on the front and back, the “Checkerboard” version stays the same on either side.

These are bound to sell like hotcakes once they’re released so be sure to get in quick when they go on sale on 17 August. Even if stocks last, they aim to limit sales to the end of August, so they won’t be around for long!

Source, Images: McDonald’s Japan

What the heck is a ‘moon viewing’ burger? Why does McDonald’s Japan sell these lunar sandwiches at this time of year? Is it actually good? We solve all these riddles with this taste test!

RocketNews24 Japan writer Seiji recently tried McDonald’s newest seasonal sandwich “The Full Moon Cheese Tsukimi Burger,” the newest addition to the Tsukimi Burger (literally “moon viewing burger”) line, and delivered a report on the sandwich with a mouthful of a name!

▼ One of the company’s commercials for the burgers

Before we get to the tasty bit of this article, here’s a quasi-educational explanation about moon-viewing and seasonal imagery in Japan.

In autumn, people in Japan traditionally observe a moon-viewing festival, called tsukimi, to celebrate the change of seasons and mark the harvest time. This tradition has been a cherished part of Japanese culture since the Heian Period, when aristocratic types would use it as an excuse to get drunk and write poetry about the moon. The festival remains popular to this day, and many people in Japan still enjoy moon viewing at this time of year.

Okay, but what’s with the cute rabbit imagery, you ask? In Japan, legend holds that rabbits live on the moon and pound mochi (rice-cake). That’s why rabbits often appear alongside pictures of the moon.

So, let’s get to the sandwich already! The burger boasts an elegant-sounding name, but open the box, and you might not exactly be moved to create poetry when you look at it. Basically, the sandwich features the same brownish palette and configuration of ingredients we’ve come to expect from the American fast food giant.

▼Don’t worry, this isn’t actually a bunny burger!

The sandwich’s defining characteristic is its fluffy, round bun. One might even say it’s moon-like when viewed from certain angles! The insides consist of your standard McDonald’s beef patty, cheese, an egg, and a large, disk-like serving of ham. What these ingredients have to do with the moon is beyond us, though I kind of get that the egg is somewhat evocative of the moon’s pocked, white surface.

At 390 yen (just a bit under US$4), Seiji went into this taste test with a slightly skeptical stance, particularly because the restaurant has offered the similar sounding, but cheaper, “Cheese Tsukimi Burger” in the past. 20 yen cheaper to be precise! According to our writer, this new sandwich doesn’t disappoint when it comes to volume, at least.

But how’s the taste? Seiji told us that the unusual bun immediately distinguishes this from other McDonald’s sandwiches, and he reportedly struggled to get all the ingredients in his mouth with one bite. After considerable effort, he simply ended up eating the ham separately.

The verdict? The ham was a nice touch, offering an interesting twist on McDonald’s usual approach to sandwich-craft, but does it warrant the 20 yen price hike? Like a Stanley Kubrick moon-landing conspiracy, it’s ultimately up for you to decide for yourself!

Images ©RocketNews24

Matcha lovers will want to try all five of the deliciously green items on the menu!

McDonald’s Japan loves to blend their signature western style menu with traditional local ingredients, giving us everything from anko red bean pies to sakura drinks and awesome purple potato shakes. This autumn, they’re bringing out a series of matcha powdered green tea drinks and a pretty slice of cake to star on their McCafe by Barista menu, and while the lineup looks absolutely amazing, it’s also said to be made from quality ingredients too.

▼ These are all filled with the goodness of powdered green tea from Japan’s top matcha-producing region, Uji, in Kyoto Prefecture

The drink items include three popular hot and cold beverages which were also available on the menu last year.

The Matcha Latte (350 – 390 yen/US$3.38 – $3.77) is light and fluffy, filled with milk and a rich green tea aroma that gives the drink a gentle sweetness.

The Iced Tea Latte (390 – 430 yen) is a dessert-style drink that uses a rich combination of bittersweet green tea and milk, topped off with a good serving of freshly whipped cream.

The Matcha Latte Frappe (430 – 470 yen) has a fragrant matcha base, blended with plenty of milk to give it a rich and sweet full-bodied flavour.

The two new matcha offerings on the menu this year include the Green Tea Cake (340 yen on its own or 290 yen with a drink purchase), which features pretty layers of cocoa sponge interspersed with kanoko red beans and green tea cake, all topped with an exquisite matcha sauce and fragrant green tea mousse.

And the Matcha Chocolate Brownie Frappe (480 – 520 yen), which combines a milky green tea frappe with three pieces of rich chocolate brownie for a luxurious, decadent drink.

The products are only available for a limited time, at McCafe By Barista stores around the country from 7 September to the beginning of October, so be sure to stop by for a taste of McDonald’s matcha while you can, before they disappear for good!

Source, Images: McDonald’s Japan

Satisfy your midday McDonald’s cravings without breaking the bank!

Starting September 12th, McDonald’s Japan will introduce a Value Lunch Menu that allows you to eat cheap during the midday rush. A Big Mac or Chicken Fillet and a small drink will only cost you 400 yen (USD$3.85).

You can also get a Teriyaki McBurger, Double Cheeseburger, or Filet-O-Fish Set with one side menu item and a medium drink for only 550 yen (USD$5.29). In the end, you’ll actually only save 50 – 80 yen (USD$0.48-0.77) total, but any savings are worth it, we suppose.

Lunch time starts at 10:30 a.m. and ends at 2:00 p.m. The menu won’t be available at every McDonald’s in Japan, so make sure to check your target McDonald’s before you go!

Sources: Esuteru, Yahoo! Japan
Image sources: McDonald’s

How would you like to bite into a flaky pie filled with peach goodness?

That’s right, in addition to their standard apple pie, McDonald’s Japan has offered seasonal triangle-shaped pies (sankaku pai) in different flavors such as Chocolate and Hokkaido Milk over the years, and this time they’ve cooked up a sweet fruit-flavored snack. Their new creation uses the white peaches highly coveted in Japan, so it’s sure to delight fruit lovers.

The “Triangle Peach Cream Pie” is filled with a light pink cream made entirely with the Hakuho variety peach grown in Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai Region of Japan’s main island. Hakuho is one of the most popular peach varieties in Japan, and Wakayama Prefecture is also a well-known peach producing area, so it certainly sounds like they’ve chosen the main pie ingredient well. Plus, the flaky texture of the pie and the smooth, subtly sweet peach cream should make for a highly enjoyable combination.

The Triangle Peach Cream Pie is priced at 120 yen (US$1.17) and will be available at McDonald’s stores across Japan until early October.  If you’re going to be in Japan this coming month, it looks like this could be a tantalizing (and affordable) snack or dessert.

▼ We’ll leave you with a video of the commercial for the pie. Enjoy!

Source: McDonald’s Japan news release
Top image: McDonald’s Japan website special campaign page
Insert images: YouTube/ McDonald’s Japan channel, McDonald’s Japan news release

Hot potato chips covered in pumpkin and chocolate sauce? According to our taste test, it’s like a delicious McDonald’s pumpkin pie!

Earlier this year we brought you news of the McChoco Potato, a serving of fries slathered in a double chocolate sauce from McDonald’s Japan. While it was only available for a limited time, now the concept of chips and chocolate is back for Halloween, with an all-new addition of pumpkin added to the mix.

▼ Say hello to the “Halloween Choco Potato”.

▼ The fries come in a box covered in cute Halloween images, including a bright orange pumpkin and a witch on a broomstick.

On the underside of the lid, there’s information on how to join a special Twitter campaign by tweeting a photo of the sauced-up fries with the hashtag #チョコソース占い (Chocolate Sauce Fortune-telling). Twitter users will receive an automated response with details of their character “type”, depending on how the sauce has been drizzled on the fries.

▼ The sauce is served separately in a large plastic snap pak sachet.

On the left is the chocolate flavour, and on the right is the pumpkin sauce. As the pack is squeezed back on itself, the two sauces drizzle out together, creating evenly distributed ripples of flavour.

As soon as we began drizzling the sauce on the fries, we could smell the sweet aroma of chocolate. Combined with the heat of the potatoes, it became surprisingly similar to the smell of a freshly baked doughnut.

▼ The spindly hues of dark brown and bright orange are a great colour combination for Halloween!

The first mouthful was a strange mix of unfamiliar flavours. The chocolate was there, but its sweetness was mild and subtle, and while it provided a creamy richness to the hot fries, it was the bright orange pumpkin sauce that sang out with a fruity sweet flavour.

Though sweet, the pumpkin still had a distinct savoury flavour to it, which, when mixed with the salty crispness of the potatoes, was remarkably similar to a slice of baked pumpkin pie.

Not as sweet as the double chocolate fries released earlier this year, the new Halloween Choco Potato is a more subtle combination of savoury and sweet. The delicious treat has a fantastic bold appearance and a mix of surprising flavours, which is everything we want in a limited-edition release for Halloween!

Retailing for 330 yen (US$3.28) each, or for an extra 60 yen as part of any set deal, the new fries will only be available for a limited time until Halloween so be sure to stop by for a taste before they vanish from the menu forever!

Photos © RocketNews24

Which of these cute items do you think will really be appearing on the menu?

Hot on the heels of the Funassyi mascot Happy Meal set, McDonald’s Japan is now teaming up with another cute anime-style character for its next adorable release, and as an insatiable teaser to lovers of Sanrio characters everywhere, the fast food chain is asking customers to guess which of these five menu items will really be appearing on the menu.

予想クイズです❗️10/14(金)から期間限定発売の #マックのポムポムプリン は、ど〜れだ⁉️5つの候補メニュー🍮から正解を予想して、 #ポムポムプリン のオリジナル壁紙をゲット✨詳しくはこちら→… twitter.com/i/web/status/7…

—
マクドナルド (@McDonaldsJapan) October 03, 2016

The star of the new release is Sanrio’s popular Pompompurin, a beret-wearing cream-coloured golden retriever dog who loves drinking milk and eating soft things like his mother’s pudding, which is fitting, seeing as he looks like a “purin” Japanese-style crème caramel pudding. Let’s take a look at the five menu items on which he might be appearing.

1. The Pompompurin Burger is a regular hamburger, only a thousand times cuter, featuring the adorable pup’s image on the top bun, in ten different poses.

2. Chicken McNuggets with Pompompurin Sauce will have customers adding crème caramel flavours to their bite-sized pieces of chicken.

3. The Pompompurin McFlurry is said to contain caramel and custard sauce flavours, along with mini marshmallows and an adorable tub design.

4. The Pom Chiki is described as “Pompompurin meets Shaka Chiki”, which is a crispy serving of fried chicken found on menus at McDonald’s restaurants around Japan. This special release is said to include a sachet of caramel sauce to slather over the chicken.

5. The Babepom (BBQ Pompompurin Burger) is said to contain plenty of delicious sauce and a patty of crème caramel pudding sandwiched in between two buns.

Which one will be on the menu from 14 October? Customers are encouraged to register their guess online, with those who vote for the correct item receiving a cute Pompompurin wallpaper to use on their computers. According to Japanese Twitter users, the Pompompurin McFlurry is one of the most feasible choices, but a lot of other people are hoping all five items will be released. The mystery will be solved when the company makes an announcement on 7 October, so watch this space for more details!

Source, Images: McDonald’s Japan

Come with us as we bite into Pompompurin!

Earlier this month, McDonald’s Japan released a teaser for their next limited edition menu item, asking customers to choose which Pompompurin menu item they thought would make it to their menus in October. It turns out it was the McFlurry that was released, featuring Sanrio’s delightful beret-wearing cream-coloured golden retriever dog and promising all the delightful flavours you would expect from a character styled in the shape of a “purin” Japanese-style crème caramel pudding. We stopped by for a taste of the treat and were thrilled to find its adorable little face greeting us from the menu!

Once it was served, we couldn’t take our eyes away from the sweet. This was the cutest looking McFlurry we’d ever seen!

Not only was his bright yellow face smiling out at us from the outside of the tub, there was also an adorable little mini version of the character on the side, dressed up as a McDonald’s staff member.

Peering inside, we could see the McFlurry was going to be as sweet as the character that inspired it, with swirls of caramel sauce and a generous topping of mini marshmallows.

We pulled out a spoonful of thick ice cream, which was absolutely dripping with ingredients. The first mouthful was filled with caramel flavour, which was bitter on its own, but delightfully sweet when combined with the vanilla ice cream. The tiny little marshmallows provided a lovely chewy element to the soft dessert, while also giving it a pudding-like texture, which made it taste very similar to a “purin” Japanese-style crème caramel.

The custard sauce it contained was hardly noticeable, but it worked well to give the McFlurry a luxuriously rich flavour. While the icy cold dessert was sweet, it also had a depth of flavour that both adults and children will love.

On sale for a limited time only, this unusual McFlurry is worth every yen of the 290 yen (US$2.78) it retails for. Delicious, cute, and incredibly unusual, it’s everything we love about McDonald’s in Japan!

Photos © RocketNews24

You’ll go batty for this purple new flavor!

Halloween means one thing in the States: fistfuls of chocolate and candy that end up keeping your dentist hard at work for an entire year. While the act of going door to door to trick-or-treat isn’t that popular in Japan, McDonald’s Japan still understands that adding a little sugar to the spooky season is a recipe for success.

We’ve already taste tested their Halloween Choco Potato that made us think of “pumpkin pie” more than anything else. On October 19, they’re taking flavored French fries to a new level with the Halloween Majo Potato!

▼ “Halloween Witch French Fries”? But which flavor is this witchcraft?!?

マックのポテトに紫色の衝撃！👻✨　色の秘密は紫いも！？あま～く広がる紫いもの香りと、やめられないあまじょっぱさがたまらない💜 #ハロウィン魔女ポテト 紫いも＆チョコソース🍠デビュー✨✨ https://t.co/OBhiWZ5H42

—
マクドナルド (@McDonaldsJapan) October 18, 2016

While purple is a color that is sometimes associated with Halloween, McDonald’s has taken full advantage of the tenuous link by topping the fries with Japan’s favorite purple treat: murasaki imo (purple sweet potato)! If the color is a little standoffish and looks too bright to eat, you don’t have to worry. Just close your eyes, don’t think about the potential chemicals entering your mouth, and enjoy the delectable taste of sweet potato pie. The flavors might shock and horrify you, but that seems suitable for Halloween.

McDonald’s Japan

This side order of fries costs will cost you 330 yen (US$3.17) or an additional 60 yen with a meal. Just be sure to grab these flavors while you can!

Source: Kai-You
Top image: Twitter/@McDonaldsJapan

The giant creamy croquette burger comes in two delicious varieties, with a very special overhaul for 2016.

As one of Japan’s top ten most popular McDonald’s burgers, the Gurakoro is a limited-edition classic that customers look forward to when it appears on menus at the end of every year. For 2016, McDonald’s Japan has just announced that this year’s Gurakoro has been given its first overhaul in 23 years, with a new “evolved” flavour thanks to improvements made to the taste of its sauce and buns. To mark the new changes, the burger will now be called the “Cho Gurakoro” or “Ultra Gratin Croquette“, and sold for a limited time from 14 December.

According to the company, the thick egg sauce will now have a richer egg flavour, with the spice levels of the croquette increased to work as a nice contrast to the mellow sauce. The addition of fresh cream and butter to the dough means the buns are softer and more flavour-filled than before, with a light and fluffy texture that works well with the crunchiness of the fried croquette.

The Demi Cheese Gurakoro will also be renewed this year. The cheddar cheese and demi-glaze sauce will now have a richer flavour to enhance the flavours of the spicy croquette.

McDonald’s Japan is recommending the new burgers be paired with a side of chips (or fries depending on where you’re from!), which include the awesome-sounding “Tomato Cream” seasoning for a limited time.

These menu items won’t be around for long, with the campaign due to end after the first week of January, so if you’re curious to try the new flavours, be sure to stop by from 14 December. The Cho Gurakoro will retail for 340 yen (US$2.98), while the Demi Cheese Gurakoro will be priced at 370 yen and the Tomato Cream seasoning can be purchased with any chip/fry order for an additional 30 yen. And don’t forget to end your meal with a limited-edition crème brûlée latte. Oh là là!

Source: Net Lab
Images: McDonald’s Japan (edited by RocketNews24)

How special are these burgers that they’re calling “ultra?” We try them to find out!

Ever since its release in 1993, the Gratin Croquette Burger, or “Gurakoro” as it’s affectionately called for short, has been a popular offering from McDonald’s Japan each winter season. And not to disappoint fans, the Gurakoro is back again for a limited time this year, but this time, the burger has been given an upgrade.

This year McDonald’s Japan gave their Gurakoro its first makeover in 23 years and renamed it the “Cho Gurakoro” (Ultra Gratin Croquette Burger), with all new sauce and buns. The revamped Gurakoro is supposed to have an extra rich flavor and the buns also extra soft, so we naturally had to try it to find out how special this transformed, “ultra” version of the burger actually was.

They’ve come out with two Gurakoro items this winter, the regular Cho Gurakoro for 340 yen (US$2.88) and the  Cho Demi Cheese Gurakoro for 370 yen.

The Gurakoro Burger has always been loved for the crispy texture of the fried croquette combined with the smoothness of the creamy white-sauce filling inside, but will the newly transformed ultra burgers live up to their expectations and delight us with even more crispiness and creaminess than before? Our own Mr. Sato tried the burgers to give us his impression.

According to the product description, the reason why the new Gurakoro is being labeled as an “ultra” version of its former self is because the sauce accompanying the croquette has been made spicier with a more complex flavor, and they’re also using soft, steamed buns. The Demi Cheese version comes with the addition of a demi-glaze sauce full of beef flavor and a slice of cheddar cheese, which is supposed to give the burger an even richer taste than the regular Gurakoro. Will that prove to be the case here?

▼ This is what the burgers looked like opened up.

▼ And here’s a look at the inside of the fried croquette patty.

McDonald’s ushers in the New Year with a special bag filled with discount coupons, a blanket, a cushion, and even a pair of gloves!

With limited-edition merchandise featuring the likes of Doraemon, Mario, and Pikachu accompanying their Happy Meal sets throughout the year, McDonald’s Japan knows how to lure customers to its golden arches. But what about those customers who have a fascination with the fast food chain itself? That’s where the annual New Year’s fukubukuro “lucky bag” comes in, offering fans the chance to receive some rare, limited-edition McDonald’s merchandise. After getting our hands on the McDonald’s lucky bag last year, we ventured out to see if this year’s bag was as good as the last one, and we’re happy to report it was even better than we expected it to be!

▼ 3,000 yen (US$25.56) gets you all this plus a pack of coupons.

The coupons offer a 3,270 yen discount in total on a variety of menu items, although they all have to be used within a short time period, by 28 February. Still, if you’re able to get all your money back by using up all the coupons, that means everything else in the bag is a free added bonus!

▼ Merchandise in the bag this year comes in the form of bright red-and-yellow goods, all dedicated to the “golden crispy fries”from McDonald’s.

▼ There’s a sturdy carry bag, with a cute pop art-style design…

▼ A soft and cushiony pack of fries…

▼ A small blanket…

▼ A box of tissues…

▼ And a cute pair of gloves that transforms your fingers into golden fries!

While this is one of the most unusual lucky bags we saw this year, it’s also one of the hardest to get, seeing as they’re not available in all stores. Some bags even went on sale just before New Year’s Day, meaning they’re more than likely to be sold out at the locations where they were available. If you do manage to come across one of these, count yourself lucky and don’t hesitate to make the purchase – it’ll be another year before these are available again!

Photos © RocketNews24

The words “Donald Trump” are even printed in katakana at the top of the packet.

McDonald’s Japan is known for producing limited-edition exclusive products that can’t be found anywhere else. Nowadays, these items usually come in the form of Happy Meal toys, featuring characters like Mario and Luigi and Pikachu, but many years ago, there were other types of McDonald’s trinkets in Japan featuring characters created by the fast food chain itself.

Twitter user @mickey_kudo came across one of these unusual products while cleaning out a desk at home. This green pack of Ronald McDonald playing cards was actually given to his mother decades ago when she was in elementary school, and while it was a cute find, the thing that caught @mickey_kudo‘s eye were the words written in Japanese katakana syllabary on the front and top of the packet: ドナルド トランプ, which reads as “Donald Trump” in Japanese.

▼ It’s Donald Trump!

So how did the name of America’s President-elect come to be printed on a pack of McDonald’s playing cards from decades ago? Well, it’s all thanks to the intricacies of the Japanese language.

While McDonald’s characters are well-known around the world, in Japan the famous red-haired clown is known as “Donald” instead of “Ronald”. Many speculate that the reason for the slight name change has to do with the fact that English words containing the letter “r” are harder to pronounce in Japanese, so the letter “d” was used instead.

Check out these Japanese commercials featuring Donald McDonald below:

The word for western-style playing cards in Japanese is “trump”, which means this pack of Ronald playing cards is called “Donald Trump”. While this would’ve been taken on face value back when they were created, today there’s a different connotation attached to these two words, and Twitter users were keen to comment on the unusual find when @mickey_kudo posted these pictures on Twitter.

机の掃除してたらこんなの出てきたww お母さんが小学生の時もらったらしいから数十年の時を経て脚光あびてるわ https://t.co/LlKuehaNQR

—
ミッキー (@mickey_kudo) January 08, 2017

“What a timely discovery!”
“Does this look like a young version of Trump?”
“I bet you could sell these for a high price on an online auction site!”
“It’s like this was predicting something all those decades ago.”
“I wonder if the joker in the pack looks like Donald Trump?”

With Donald McDonald not looking to change his name in Japan anytime soon, there’s a possibility that “trump” cards like these could make a return to the golden arches here in coming years. Given McDonald’s Japan’s love of unique campaigns and promotions, which have seen prizes like gold fries and a gold chicken nugget offered in the past, who knows what lengths the red-headed Donald will go to now in order to make McDonald’s great again.

Source: Net Lab
Featured image: Twitter/@mickey_kudo (edited by RocketNews24)
Insert images: Twitter/@mickey_kudo