A novel way to draw attention to a growing sport.

On May 30, 2025, Burger King released a bold new menu item in Japan called the Pickleball Burger. There are a lot of surprising things about this new release, so we immediately headed out to try it when it debuted on 30 May.

The first thing we noticed was the simplicity of the ingredients, with three flame-grilled beef patties sandwiched between patties of rice in place of buns.

A number of fast food chains have become known for their rice-patty burgers, but sometimes they can have a hard and rough texture that detracts from the moist deliciousness of the grains. With that in mind, we set the bar low for this burger, but held out hope as it’s been made in collaboration with Hachidaime Gihey, a long-established rice shop in Kyoto.

At 1,790 yen (US$12.46), this is on the pricey end of the fast food spectrum, but it’s a hefty burger, measuring close to 12 centimetres (4.7 inches) in diameter.

The cross-section shows just how simple this burger is, with nothing but rice, beef and pickles (11 of them, to be exact) as a nod to pickleball, the racquet sport that inspired it.

▼ Burger King recently signed a sponsorship agreement with the Japan Pickleball Federation (PJF), hence the new burger.

Taking a bite, we were amazed at how much flavour these simple ingredients delivered. Even the rice patty was fantastic, with the special blend of white rice and “Kin no Ibuki”, a brand of brown rice from Miyagi Prefecture, creating delicious mouthfuls of flavour.

▼ The rice patty keeps a nice, slightly grainy texture that’s moist but not sticky or mushy.

The seasoning consists simply of salt and pepper, which is a great way to enhance the taste of the rice and beef. With no sauce to get in the way, these two ingredients took centre stage on the palate, with bursts of crunchy, tangy pickles adding a fantastic contrast that had us going back for more after every mouthful.

This is a burger that serves up a lot of flavour, and although it doesn’t quite look like a pickleball, unless you see the grains as resembling the ball’s many holes, it’s a clever way to draw attention to the sport. It’s only available for a limited time, though, so you’ll want to get in soon to try it before it disappears from the menu, like the Kyoto Whopper that came before it.

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