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We try the new teriyaki burgers from McDonald’s Japan 【Taste Test】

Oona McGee Jan 22, 2019
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How do they stack up against the original Teriyaki McBurger?

Whenever you’re travelling overseas, a trip to McDonald’s becomes a fun fast food adventure, as your tastebuds get to enjoy familiar but entirely new flavours with regional-exclusive burgers that aren’t available back home.

Visitors to Japan get to wrap their mouths around the Teriyaki McBurger, and this year there’s more of the traditional Japanese sauce on offer as there are three teriyaki burgers currently on the menu.

Our Japanese-language reporter Seiji is a big fan of the Teriyaki McBurger, and with two new teriyaki burgers muscling their way onto the scene, he felt it was his duty to taste them all to find out which one was the tastiest.

He stopped by McDonald’s during his lunch break, and instead of eating in, he brought the three burgers back to the office, taunting us all with his lovin’-it grin and the lingering smell of fast food tinged with the sweet aroma of teriyaki sauce.

He laid all three out on a plate, where they all looked remarkably similar in terms of their sesame-seed topped buns.

Seiji decided to start off by tasting the original Teriyaki McBurger, which set the bar for the two new burgers.

As tasty as always, this one was dripping with a generous serving of salty sweet teriyaki sauce, which, along with the mayonnaise, completely covered the thick and juicy pork patty inside. The harmony of flavours here was outstanding.

With his love for the original burger reignited, the two new varieties would have to work hard to find their way into Seiji’s heart. Still, he was curious to find out what they had to offer, so he turned his gaze towards the Chee Chee Teriyaki McBurger, which is short for “Cheese Cheese Teriyaki McBurger”, given the addition of glistening cheese to the mix.

Though he’d tried some limited-edition deluxe teriyaki offerings in the past, namely the Teriyaki Chicken Fillet-O and the Gran Teriyaki, this was the first time for McDonald’s to bring out new varieties of the humble Teriyaki McBurger. And he had to say, the addition of cheese to his favourite menu item made it absolutely delicious.

The cheese worked to mellow out the strong flavour from the mayonnaise and teriyaki sauce brilliantly. The only problem here, though, was the extra calories, which Seiji said he’d prefer to avoid. After one burger, the extra rich flavours became a bit much, but still…it was delicious.

Wiping the grease from his chin, Seiji decided it was time to try the “Hee Hee Teriyaki McBurger“. This one gets its odd name from the fact that it’s spicier than the others, giving it a “Hee Hee” (“Whaaa”) factor.

Seiji could see the spicy sauce in this one straight away, and according to the description on the menu, the sauce’s main ingredient was habanero chilli peppers, which made him instantly fear for his tastebuds. How would something like that taste when combined with teriyaki sauce?

Seiji said this was a brilliant combination, with the spicy sauce working to tone down the strong flavour of teriyaki in a really wonderful way.

What made this so good was the fact that the hot sauce had a delicious acidity to it, so while it rounded out the flavours, it amped up the taste as well. Seiji says it was so good it actually ranked a level up from the regular Teriyaki McBurger.

But then again, Seiji is a sucker for sauce, and in his eyes, McDonald’s knows how to produce brilliant sauces.

Seiji was surprised to find one of the new burgers sweeping him off his feet and away from his loyalty to the original teriyaki burger which had held his heart for so long. He’s now totally sold on the Hee Hee Teriyaki McBurger and is hoping they’ll decide to add it to their regular menu.

The two new teriyaki burgers are only available for a limited time, though, so if you’d like to conduct a taste test showdown of your own, get in now before they’re gone for good!