Is this enough to turn a McDonald’s teriyaki hater into a fan?

At the risk of it getting him thrust out of celebrity circles, our writer P.K. Sanjun has to admit he doesn’t really like McDonald’s Japan’s Teriyaki McBurgers. It’s not that he hates them outright. He just feels that if he’s in the mood for a teriyaki burger, he’d much rather go somewhere else, specifically to Mos Burger.

▼ A regular Teriyaki McBurger

That being said, he loves McDonald’s Teritama Burgers, which are essentially the exact same thing as the Teriyaki McBurger but with a fried egg on top of the patty. That might seem irrational, but it really does make sense. P.K.’s main gripe with Teriyaki McBurgers is that the taste of the sauce is just too overbearing, but the egg helps to diffuse it and makes the entire burger much more palatable.

▼ But between you and me, I think eating these burgers with black coffee might have something to do with why he finds the sauce off-putting. That feels like an awkward pairing.

So, he was really excited to learn about a new addition to the Teritama series, the Seaweed Salt Potato Butter Bacon Teritama Burger (“Nori Shio Jaga Butter Bacon Teritama” in Japanese). Its lengthy name promised an even more balanced and complex flavor. These limited-time burgers usually sell for 490 yen, but since P.K. is in the heart of Tokyo, it’s a little more at 540 yen (US$3.64).

Even in Japanese, the name is a little confusing as to how all these toppings actually go together. P.K. popped open the bun to examine it before eating and found that rather than seaweed and salt, it’s salt derived from seaweed that’s used to season the mashed potato made with butter. This is globbed on top of lettuce, a slice of bacon, a fried egg puck, and a beef patty drenched in teriyaki sauce.

After eating, P.K. thought it was absolutely the best Teritama ever. Just as he expected, the added toppings worked well to keep the teriyaki sauce in check. However, McDonald’s didn’t just throw toppings on for the sake of adding something. The flavors of the potato and bacon seemed carefully chosen to blend well with everything else.

The only problem was that, much like the Tsukimi Burgers in autumn, the Teritama series is only sold during spring. This means that just as the cherry blossoms bloom for but a fleeting moment, so too will these delicious burgers float away on a warm breeze someday soon.

If the Seaweed Salt Potato Butter Bacon Teritama Burger sounds like a bit too much for some, McDonald’s is also selling standard Teritama and Cheese Teritama Burgers. But P.K. highly recommends the biggest one, even despite it being the hardest to order at the counter without screwing up the name. He would even recommend it as a way to convert all the other Teriyaki McBurger haters out there.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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