We find out if this is the best way to introduce Mac ‘n’ Cheese virgins to the delights of the unfamiliar western dish.
Mos Burger might be a home-grown fast food chain known for its rice burgers and domestically sourced produce, but that doesn’t mean they’re not willing to explore the world and introduce local customers to new and unusual flavours from overseas.
Case in point: the new Mac ‘n’ Cheese & Croquette Burger, which made its debut on menus around Japan this week. According to Mos Burger’s research, mac and cheese–aka mac ‘n’ cheese in the U.S. or macaroni cheese in the U.K.–is a dish 88 percent of Japanese still don’t know about.
As any fan of mac ‘n’ cheese will know, this is a travesty that ought to be corrected, so we headed out to Mos Burger on release day to see if the new burger has what it takes to win over a whole new crowd of mac ‘n’ cheese virgins.
As soon as we laid eyes on the new burger in person, we felt ourselves immediately falling in love. It was beautifully made, with butterhead lettuce leaves providing a fresh pop of colour to the meat sauce, croquette, and creamy mac and cheese that sat on top of it.
▼ Priced at 436 yen (US$4.16), this looked like great value.
Lifting the soft bun, we could see the wholegrain mustard topping inside, but what we couldn’t take our eyes away from was the glistening mound of cheesy mac and cheese.
It’s a bold move to introduce customers to the cheesy dish by way of a burger, but helping to ease the uninitiated into the experience is a familiar local favourite, the croquette. This particular croquette is filled with a creamy potato filling to add even more creaminess to the mac and cheese.
While 88 percent of Japanese people may not have tried mac ‘n’ cheese, there’s a good chance 100 percent of people everywhere haven’t tried a Mac ‘n’ Cheese & Croquette Burger. It looked like it might make for a heavy, filling meal, but when we picked it up with one hand it was surprisingly light, and when we chomped into it, the soft layers of the burger yielded to our bite, oozing its rich, saucy, juicy flavours on the tongue.
There was a beautifully balanced heartiness here, with the cheesy pasta and potato flavours creating a fantastic fusion of flavours. The wholegrain mustard added a delightful kick of heat, while the meat sauce fooled the taste buds into thinking there was a minced meat patty hiding in there as well.
It was rich and creamy yet light and flavourful, and when we checked the calories, we were surprised to find the burger contained just 479 kilocalories. By comparison, the regular Mos Burger clocks in at 367 kilocalories, while the Moss Cheeseburger contains 420 kilocalories and the Double Mos Burger has 516 kilocalories.
That makes it a surprisingly good option for people watching their calorie intake, and for us, we’d choose this delicious cheesy Mac ‘n’ Cheese Burger over a beef-patty Mos Burger any day of the week.
The only downside to the new burger is the fact that it’s only available for a limited time, until the end of March, so you’ll want to get in soon for a taste of its cheesy deliciousness. And while you’re there don’t forget to try the special “Navel Cola“, which is designed to help cut through the rich flavours of the mac and cheese as well.
Photos © SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]