Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
fast food (Page 41)
Apparently, if you could taste fear, it would taste like cool lemonade.
Starting July 27, Japanese burger chain Lotteria will offer a limited-time lemonade shake flavor themed after classic Japanese horror icon Sadako – the unmistakable and absolutely horrifying long-haired ghost girl from The Ring.
‘Tis the season of the “Summer Gentei” (“Summer Specialties”) in Japan; an exciting time of year where near every food vendor in the country offers up some sort of cold, frozen, or energy-packed limited edition summer-themed menu. And even the foreign chains are getting into it, with Krispy Kreme Japan currently offering three new summer-only doughnuts and two summer-themed drinks. Because we love you, we went and stuffed our faces.
We’re still searching for that perfect way to survive summer, whether it be by eating cow tongue ice cream or tossing water onto the street. However, Burger King claims they have the answer we’ve all been looking for: grilled meat, fried garlic, and lots of both.
Starting on 26 July they will be releasing two sandwiches as part of their Summer Stamina series dubbed the Garlic Meat Monster and Garlic Double Cheese.
There’s a fast food chain in a small number of the western states in the US that is popular among the locals for its ridiculously tasty burgers. It goes by the name of In-N-Out Burger and is a place that our Japanese reporter Yoshio makes a point of visiting whenever he’s in the US. Join us below as Yoshio lists four solid reasons why, even for a man who grew up on Japanese food, In-N-Out Burger shouldn’t be missed.
KFC Japan president Maseo “Charlie” Watanabe surprised and angered the front page of the Internet itself, Reddit, yesterday when he won Colonel Sanders’ iconic white suit at auction for US$21,510 and promptly tried it on for all to see.
For those of us born without trust funds, there will be precious few purchasing decisions in life where cost is no object. As a result, it’s important to take advantage of, and savor, that rare opportunity to purchase the very top of the line, whether it takes the form of preferred parking or double-ply toilet paper.
Or, as it did for us at RocketNews24 recently, McDonald’s most expensive Quarter Pounders ever.
McDonald’s Japan is getting fresh with us this summer, and they’re not even waiting ‘til noon.
With so many hamburger chains in Japan, each has to find a way to differentiate itself from the others. For example, MOS Burger prides itself on its high quality ingredients, and Freshness Burger tells diners right up front where its priorities lie.
With Lotteria, there are two things we’ve come to expect; multiple patty sandwiches, like the nine-layer Evangelion Q burger, and unconventional ingredient pairings, as seen in the chain’s ramen burger. But Lotteria’s newest offering combines both of the restaurant’s signature sales points.
There’s something quite wonderful about the humble french fry. That combination of starch and grease, the crunchy outside and fluffy inside; it stimulates something deep in our reptile brains to create a tuber-induced euphoria. We could easily plow into and finish a new Mega Potato in one sitting; that’s child’s play. But there must be some upper limit to the amount of golden, crisp french fries one single human being can eat at one time, right? Right?!
McDonald’s Japan’s returning limited-edition Mega Potato side is so frighteningly large it ought to come with graphic warning photos of what happens to people who make a habit of eating it, like cigarette packs in the West.
The reintroduced Mega Potato is equivalent to two orders of large fries and comes in a container so comically huge you could just stick your face directly into it like a pig at a trough, if that’s your thing. Or you could share it with “friends” or something, like anyone actually has that in mind when ordering one of these.
According to rumors on a 2ch thread and “confirmed” by a current “McDonald’s employee,” the Mega Potato is coming back to Japan and it’s just as awesome as the name implies. Consisting of the equivalent of two large orders of fries, the Mega Potato is said to arrive in a specially made doublewide vessel on May 17.
Just as KFC’s Kentucky Chicken Rice and other mega size deals appeared to put Japan on a slippery trans-fat laden slope to rampant morbid obesity, Japanese burger chain Mos Burger has stepped up and offered their own line of bunless burgers.
This time, rather than a pair of fluffy golden meat holders, your favorite Mos Burger sandwich will be nestled in the leafy green goodness of a wad of lettuce.
If number of stores is any indication, McDonald’s is the world’s most loved fast food chain with over 34,000 locations in 119 countries. We’re guessing the most common order at the golden arches is a burger with a side of fries, but if you happen to find yourself in Thailand, you might be surprised to find a bowl of curry and rice on the menu right next to the McDonald’s classics. The official name for this bizarre burger joint item is the McGrilled Chicken Curry Rice.
The collapse of McDonald’s Japan continued as the company recorded declining year-over-year sales for the 12th consecutive month at the end of March. The situation is dismal, as whatever the company does seems to end in failure.
Its 100-yen menu (about one US dollar) and free giveaways no longer impress customers who have grown accustomed to deflationary pricing. Its “Food in 60 seconds or next burger free” campaign, which the company initiated in January as a measure to help revive fortunes, also failed to deliver. And there doesn’t appear to be any light at the end of the tunnel. Its most recent venture, free gum and other “unique”gifts to purchasers of breakfast sets, has been roundly criticized on the Internet as being a “hackneyed idea.”
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Yoshinoya has been serving “tasty, low-priced and quick” gyudon (beef bowls) in Japan for over a century. In recent years, the chain’s bright orange signs can also be found at around 600 locations throughout Southeast Asia and the United States. It seems the world has fallen in love with the original Japanese fast food.
Now anyone can enjoy the beefy goodness of gyudon from the comfort of their own home thanks to this easy recipe. It’s the closest you’ll get to an authentic Yoshinoya beef bowl without having to put on pants.
Word has been swirling in the weeks leading up to the release of Burger King’s “anime viewing hamburger” which, as its name suggests, is a burger designed to be enjoyed while watching anime. Watching anime certainly would be an ideal snacking time, so the concept seems solid, but how is it really?
Our fast food specialist Kuzo went to investigate. Here is his report.
Cup Ramen, known to Westerners as “Grade A college student feed,” is perfectly formulated with enough sodium and other preservatives to both fuel late-night study sessions and cure massive hangovers, but nobody’s ever accused it of being a gourmet food.
The January long promotional even Enjoy! 60 Second Service at Japanese McDonald’s franchises has been making waves all over the nation’s fast food consciousness. Although a lot of negative stories have emerged over possibly being too fast or pushing the workers too much, it’s still tempting to get into the idea of ultra-fast food.
Rival Japanese burger chain Mos Burger might be feeling the heat this month as well. One outlet in particular released a statement written on a chalkboard in front of their store explaining the virtues their considerably slower service.
Domino’s Pizza, one of the world’s most well-known home delivery pizza services, has recently released a new luxury pizza in Japan– an exclusive to the pizza fast food market.
Priced at 5,800 yen (about US$66), however, you’d be right to think twice before parting with your cash; after all, this is essentially just a circle of baked dough with fancy toppings. Sure, after piling all of your favourite toppings onto a pizza pie, one might hit the 5,000 yen mark, but a large-sized pizza starting at 5,800 yen?!
This had better be something very special…
From January 4 to January 31, McDonald’s Japan will run a marketing campaign they’re calling “Enjoy! 60 Second Service”, where customers who are made to wait any more than a minute for their order during the hours of 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM will receive a coupon for a free McDonald’s burger of their choice.
Even if staff are able to prepare the order within a minute, all customers who visit during the 4-hour time frame will receive a coupon for a free small-size ‘Premium Roast Coffee’.
To prove that the campaign isn’t all talk and no substance, staff at each of the 3,300 participating McDonald’s restaurants will be required to flip over an hourglass measuring one minute each time an order is placed.
Let’s go open a Lego Japan lucky bag…o
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Possessing Harry Potter’s Sword of Godric Gryffindor is now illegal in Japan
[Deleted] Article written for April Fool’s Day 2018
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
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