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In honor of the Denny’s restaurant chain opening its first Japanese location 40 years ago, Denny’s Japan will be offering a special “American Fair” menu starting on April 15. Of course, such an announcement raises questions about just what exactly this American Fair involves and whether it’s authentic or not.

Fortunately, we here at RocketNews24 were able to enlist the services of a real, live American to specially sample the menu for us to tell us whether Denny’s offerings were anything like the real deal! This young man is none other than IKE, a member of the  six-man Japanese comedy group/band Choshinjuku who was born in New York and raised in Seattle. Ike vowed that if the menu didn’t live up to his expectations, he would send a message to the restaurant manager and shut down the whole campaign.

Do you think that Denny’s American Fair menu passed his test? 

“I love Japan and Denny’s, but if you’re going to call it “American Fair” it’s got to be authentic! If it’s fake, I’ll send a message to the company president and have him stop the campaign.” Those were the exact words of Ike, an American entertainer in Japan who agreed to try out different dishes on Denny’s American Fair promotional menu for us and shed light on whether the food could truly be considered “American.” Let’s see what he had to say!

First up was the Angus sirloin roast beef. Ike seemed pleased with the taste of the steak, which was seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked at a low temperature. “It’s great! It’s similar to true American flavor. The aroma isn’t half-bad either. So good,” he commented.

▼Introducing the American Fair menu!

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▼The Angus sirloin roast beef

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Next, we had Ike try another Angus sirloin roast beef menu item which was not actually from the new American Fair menu. This version of roast beef was definitely geared towards the Japanese palate, since it included a thick sauce prepared with mountain yams and citrusy ponzu sauce and was to be eaten with rice.

Japanese people would probably prefer this style of preparation, so we were curious to see what an American would think. “We don’t eat roast beef like this is America,” Ike said with some hesitation. But after taking a bite, he was quick to praise it: “I never knew what I was missing all this time!” While it may not be American-style, this version does appear to be something that Americans could enjoy.

▼The “Japanese-style” roast beef set

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▼Discovering a new way to eat roast beef

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For his third dish, Ike sampled the Cajun jambalaya & hamburg BBQ sauce plate, which can be ordered with either one or two thick slabs of meat over a bed of spicy jambalaya. Apparently it was also the number-one requested past menu item at Denny’s, and is now making a comeback to the menu! According to Ike, “Its appearance is authentic and the taste is spot-on! I recommend this to anyone.”

▼Cajun jambalaya & hamburg BBQ sauce dish

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▼”I’m so happy!”

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Finally, Ike sampled the tower pancakes, a tall stack of six pancakes topped off with fluffy cream and nuts. He commented, “Pancakes don’t really look like this in America, but they taste like pancakes you’d find at an American diner.”

▼Tower pancakes

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-yJZ2lgLGc

So what’s the final verdict? It seems that Denny’s Japanese administration won’t be getting any angry messages from Ike anytime soon!

You too can get a sneak peek at the Denny’s American Fair menu items and prices on the Denny’s official website (click here). Then be sure to head over to your local restaurant starting on April 14!

Source: Denny’s Japan
Images: RocketNews24
Model: IKE
Original article by Takumi Nakano
[ Read in Japanese ]