It’s been just over a week since the release of Burger King’s two pitch-black hamburgers, which might have left some fast food fans in a bit of a bind. On the one hand, they’re definitely eye-catching and intriguing, but their buns owe (and cheese) their sinister shade to an infusion of bamboo charcoal.
While it’s perfectly edible, we imagine some people are just a tad averse to eating charcoal. So if your palate isn’t quite that wide, but you’re still adventurous enough to eat squid ink, McDonald’s has got you covered with their own dark burger.
Just in time for Halloween, McDonald’s is serving up the Squid Ink (Ikasumi in Japanese) Burger. 370 yen (US$3.40) gets you two patties covered with fried onions and cheese, all sandwiched inside a bun dyed with squid ink.
Unlike Burger King’s black burgers, which feature black cheese, McDonald’s melted dairy retains its standard, slightly more appetizing, golden color, and the hue of McDonald’s bun is lighter, too. Really, it’s closer to a deep brown than black, and if you lean more towards the first half of the “trick or treat” bargain, you could probably fool your more squeamish friends into thinking the color comes from cocoa powder, then reveal the actual ingredients after they remark, “Hey, this doesn’t taste like chocolate at all!”
▼ Mwahahahaha!
Oddly enough, the second McDonald’s Halloween sandwich, a chicken fillet with camembert, isn’t scary at all, unless you’re terrified of cheese.
▼ If so, you might want to cover your eyes.
But while McDonald’s thinks there just might be room in Japan’s fast food landscape for three different dark burgers, it’s not ready to completely unleash the Squid Ink Burger just yet. For the time being, it’s only available at three branches in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district, at Seibu Shinjuku Station, Shinjuku Minamiguchi, and Shinjuku Oguard Nishi. Hopefully it’ll spread to the rest of the country in due time, so that everyone can munch on one during this season when the weather gets colder, the nights longer, and the burgers darker.