It’s what’s inside that counts.
In Japan, cheeseburgers and teriyaki burgers are two major titans in the burger industry. They both exist side-by-side on a lot of menus at fast food joints in Japan, and while they usually look as pretty as can be, over at Burger King they pride themselves on being as ugly as possible.
▼ That’s because Burger King is home of the Ugly Burger.
Back in September last year, Burger King debuted their Cheese Ugly Beef Burger, which became so popular it’s since given birth to two other “Ugly” burgers: Shrimp Spicy (released on 30 April) and Teriyaki Ugly Beef (released on 2 April).
Our Japanese-language reporter Seiji Nakazawa is crazy for both cheeseburgers and teriyaki burgers, so he decided to pit the two uglies against each other in a taste test showdown.
▼ In the left corner, we have the Cheese Ugly, and in the right corner, the Teriyaki Ugly.
Seiji previously tried the Cheese Ugly Beef last year, and was looking forward to getting his teeth into it again. The main ingredients contributing to the burger’s roughed-up appearance are buns made with four types of cheese: Gouda, Egmont, mozzarella, and cheddar.
Inside, the burger contains pickles, lettuce, fresh tomatoes, onions, cheddar cheese, a flame-grilled beef patty and ketchup and creamy mayonnaise. When Seiji tried it, he was sucker-punched with a powerful hit of cheese that knocked him for six, before the acidity of the tomatoes kicked in to bring him back to his senses.
▼ Then the Teriyaki Ugly came powering into the ring, looking even more dishevelled than the Cheese Ugly.
Seiji went in for a bite, and as he caught a hold of the lettuce and tomatoes, he immediately slipped up on the sauce, which was totally out of control. Seiji felt himself being swallowed up by the taste of the teriyaki sauce, which overpowered everything with its sweet, salty, smoky flavours.
▼ Rich and overwhelming, this burger has a powerful sauce attack.
Out of nowhere, Seiji suddenly felt a burst of energy, which helped him demolish both burgers in one sitting. These two Uglies may have gone head-to-head but it was Seiji who came out victorious, as he got to down two absolutely delicious burgers, and it didn’t matter what they looked like, as his taste buds don’t judge appearances.
If he had to pick a winner, Seiji says he would give the title to the Cheese Ugly, purely because it put on a more solid performance, unlike the teriyaki, which buried everything under its saucy grip. At 740 yen (US$6.75), the Cheese is 50 yen more expensive than the Teriyaki Ugly, which is priced at 690 yen, but Seiji thinks the extra investment is well worth it, especially for cheese lovers looking to get KO’d by cheese.
Images: ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
[ Read in Japanese ]