We try McDonald’s Japan’s new, as-yet-unnamed, Hokkaido hot potato burger

11:22 cherishe 0 Comments

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We got a sneak peek at McDonald’s Japan’s upcoming menu item: a burger topped with Hokkaido-grown mashed potato, cheese, and onion soy sauce.

On February 2, McDonald’s Japan plans to release a new, as-yet untitled, burger tentatively described as “Hokkaido hot potato and cheddar cheese with a juicy beef patty topped with onion sauce full of roasted soy sauce flavor”. They gave Makku enthusiasts the chance to get a first taste test at one location from January 26, so naturally we had to be there. Here are our heroic reporters’ findings!

Overall, the burger’s appearance didn’t differ much from a typical McDonald’s burger, and our reporters were a little disappointed that the burger didn’t really compare to the promo images; the buns looked to be on point, but otherwise the outside of the burger left much to be desired.

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Of course, everyone knows it’s what inside that really makes or breaks a burger, so our men quickly flipped their respective lids to look inside. The upper deck of the burger contains bacon slices topped with creamy Hokkaido-grown potato while the lower level of the burger is where you’ll find the beef patty topped with Hokkaido cheddar cheese and the delicious-sounding onion sauce mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a tremendous amount of any of said toppings, however, and the burger is a little bit sad-looking.

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Going in for the first bite, our reporters noticed that these were no ordinary buns, however. The bread, they told us, was some of the finest they’d had at McDonald’s—so good, in fact, that they went so far as to say that McDonald’s should use these buns for all of its hamburgers. High praise indeed.

After the buns comes the hot potato filling. Combined with the taste of the bread, it has an almost synergistic effect and is really quite potent, but sadly the taste of the bacon, beef patty and sauce below are somewhat lacking in punch by comparison. Great start, mediocre ending.

As the men chomped their way through their burgers, they started thinking up possible contenders for its name while sharing their thoughts on the new McOffering.

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P.K.
“It was surprisingly good—it makes me think McDonald’s is really out to get it this time! I’d name it the ‘Get it! Burger’.”

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Nakazawa
“It could have used a little more of that potato filling, so I’m calling it the ‘Could Have Been Better Burger’.”

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Mr. Sato
“I wasn’t crazy about the taste. It just didn’t deliver enough in the tasty department so I’m calling it the ‘Weak Sauce Burger’, or possibly the ‘Quick Climax Burger’ because of all the potential it looked like it had after taking that first bite.”

In any case, we’re curious for the big name reveal coming soon! Got any name suggestions? Let us know below!