McDonald’s Japan’s new Tsukimi “moon-viewing” burger takes melty cheese to a whole new level

In our humble opinion, this is the richest moon-viewing burger in history. 

On 8 September, McDonald’s launched their annual range of limited-time menu items dedicated to the autumn moon. Dubbed the “Tsukimi Family“, with “tsukimi” meaning “moon-viewing”, there are a total of eight items in this year’s range, and while some have graced the menu in previous years, there are three new products to tempt us in 2021.

▼ In Japan, “tsukimi” describes dishes containing a raw or fried egg, as it resembles the full moon.

Image: McDonald’s Japan

The three new members joining the Tsukimi Family this year are the kinako (roasted soybean flour) flavoured Tsukimi McShake, the limited-edition Yuzu Shichimi (“Seven Spice”) Mayo seasoning for fries, and a burger called the Noukou Torori Tsukimi (“Rich Melty Tsukimi“).

According to McDonald’s, the Rich Melty Tsukimi is billed as having “a new texture that allows you to fully enjoy the taste of rich cheese”. With both the sauce and the buns themselves containing cheese as the star ingredient, this was the moon-viewing item that intrigued us the most, so we stopped by McDonald’s when the range was released, purchasing a Rich Melty and a Cheese Tsukimi to compare them against each other.

▼ The Cheese Tsukimi is priced at 370 yen (US$4.55), while the Rich Melty is 420 yen.

It’s rare for McDonald’s Japan to tweak their burger buns, so we were very interested to find out how this would affect the overall taste of the burger. The Cheese Tsukimi is known for being rich in flavour already, so we had a hunch that the Rich Melty would be far richer.

▼ Rich Melty (left) and Cheese Tsukimi (right)

Upon closer inspection, the Rich Melty buns looked substantially more moist and supple than those of the Cheese Tsukimi, but based on appearances, if you didn’t know what they were made out of, you wouldn’t know they were made with cheese.

We eagerly raised the burger to our quivering lips, and the first thing to hit our taste buds was the cheese sauce. Instantly, we closed our eyes in delight, as the cheesy sauce we overwhelmingly rich and flavourful, and then as we chewed through the cheesy buns, our taste buds died and went to heaven under the richness, which was further amplified by the thick fried egg and fatty bacon.

After being floored by the sublime richness of the Rich Melty, we bit into the Cheese Tsukimi and were surprised to find that the usually rich burger tasted much, much lighter by comparison. It was still great, but by the time we’d finished it, we were instantly craving the illicit decadence of the Rich Melty again. As far as we were concerned, the Rich Melty is the richest, most luxuriously self-indulgent moon-viewing burger we’ve encountered in the history of moon-viewing burgers.

As we were yearning for a bite of the Rich Melty again, we were glad to have picked up a cheeky Tsukimi Pie, filled with adzuki red bean paste and mochi sticky rice, to satisfy our cravings for the time-being.

The Tsukimi Family is waiting to welcome you to the fold at McDonald’s branches around Japan until mid-October, and it’s definitely worth stopping by to pay them a visit. After viewing, and tasting, the moon at McDonald’s, we’re now looking forward to indulging in even more seasonal fast food by the light of the harvest moon, starting with the Tsukimi burger range at rival chain KFC!

Related: McDonald’s Japan
Images: SoraNews24
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