Is Burger King Japan’s new Crown The One Pounder really that hard to eat?

One person’s cheesy nightmare is another person’s divine dream.

Over the past few years, our Japanese-language reporters have been testing their mettle against Burger King’s intermittent series of “One Pounder” burgers. These massive four-patty monstrosities weigh over a pound (453 grams) each, and every time one of our confident reporters takes on the challenge of eating one, they find it hard to finish the whole thing.

So when a new One Pounder called Crown the One Pounder appeared at the chain on 11 August, our reporter Kouhey decided to see if he could do a better job of demolishing the burger than his colleagues.

▼ Kouhey headed down to the Funabashi branch of Burger King, in his home prefecture of Chiba.

This would be Kouhey’s first time trying one of the chain’s One Pounders, and while he was confident about it at first, that confidence soon began to waver upon seeing the gigantic burger on the poster outside the store.

▼ Just the look of it made Kouhey’s pulse quicken.

There was no turning back now, though, so he entered the branch and used the touch panel ordering system to purchase one of the burgers, at a cost of 2,040 yen (US$14.01).

It took around ten minutes for his order to be ready, and when they called his number, he went to the counter to collect his burger and take it home for the taste test.

Before he even lay eyes on the burger, he could feel its hefty weight just by lifting the bag. According to the official website, this One Pounder weighs 502 grams (1.1 pounds), and is loaded with 1,399 kilocalories of energy.

When he did take the burger out of the bag, he found it had “CP” written on it, which he assumed meant “Crown Pounder“.

It was a royal-sounding name, and when he unpeeled the wrapping, he saw the crown looked as royal as it sounded.

▼ Its cheesy greatness gleamed in the light.

The buns are called Cheese Crown Buns, and they contain four kinds of cheese — a refreshingly sour Gouda, a mild Egmont, and a slightly sweet mozzarella cheese, all of which are added to the dough before fermentation, followed by layers of cheddar cheese, which are added just before baking.

Beneath the cheesy crown lay four beef patties, topped with a classic combination of onions, pickles, ketchup and mustard.

Within the mound of beef are six slices of cheddar cheese, and when Kouhey heated it up a little in the microwave before eating, the cheese overflowed, enveloping the patties and merging with the ketchup for a visual that looked totally mouthwatering.

This burger was way too big for Kouhey to manage as is, so he decided to cut it in half first, for easier eating.

However, the half-cut now looked like a juicy, intimidating meat wall, and Kouhey feared he may never make his way over it to the other side.

Would Kouhey finish his mission triumphant? Or would he find himself buried somewhere in the middle of it all, crying in a flood of meat sweats? There was only one way to find out, so he prepared himself and took a bite.

Sinking his teeth down through the many layers, Kouhey felt the meaty juices flood his mouth, followed by sauce and then cheese…so…much…cheese. His first bite was a decadent mix of delicious flavours, and every bite that followed was equally delicious, with all the ingredients present in every mouthful.

He was glad he ordered takeout, because he really had to open his jaw wide to fit all those layers in. However, without any fear of other diners’ eyes on him, he was able to take huge bites, which made finishing the first half of the burger easy work.

He would usually be full at this point, but Kouhey ‘s appetite for this burger surprised him. Perhaps it was due to the cheesiness of the buns, as they helped to keep things light and cut down on the amount of dough he was eating.

The taste certainly helped of course, because every mouthful of this cheesy One Pounder was addictive. After finishing one mouthful, his taste buds were already calling out for another, so he gave them what they wanted until…

▼ …he was down to his last bite.

Kouhey felt a tinge of sadness as he enjoyed his last mouthful. It was so delicious he could’ve eaten more — in fact, if he was able to eat this at one of the chain’s all-you-can-eat One Pounder challenges, he reckons he’d be able to eat two or three of them without any problems.

He’ll have to watch his words though, because he might have a chance to put his money where his mouth is, seeing as the chain announced on 22 August that it would be holding an all-you-can-eat Crown the One Pounder challenge at 14 branches in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Aichi, Osaka, and Kyoto, priced at 3,900 yen. It’s not a bad price, considering one burger costs 2,040 yen and participants receive a free T-shirt and “Whopper Case“, which is a black, round, zippered pouch.

There will be four 45-minute all-you-can-eat sessions held on 1,2, 4 and 5 September, with prior reservations required online. According to Burger King, the current record to beat is nine One Pounders, which was achieved by a customer in May, when Strong The One Pounder was released.

While Kouhey absolutely loved the Crown, we’ll have to wait and see if he takes on the challenge of eating more than one of them. As we discovered at a previous challenge, eating more than one isn’t as easy as it’s cracked up to be.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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