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» We try McDonald’s Japan’s new “five-star” Clubhouse Burgers【Taste Test】

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We try McDonald’s Japan’s new “five-star” Clubhouse Burgers【Taste Test】

KK Miller Apr 29, 2016
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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.