McAloha Burger? McDonald's Japan is Great マクドナルド; Tokyo

You can't escape the Golden Arches.  They are everywhere, even here in Japan.  They call McDonald's マクドナルド　, transliterated (butchered) into makudonarudo  or simply makudo.   Almost every station has one, and there are two within a five-minute walk from my apartment.  Recently, however, like in the U.S., McDonald's has been suffering here in Japan.  Scandals involving their Chinese-chicken suppliers, shortage of potatoes and foreign objects being found in the food has really hurt them.

Essentially, the beauty which allowed Mikey-D's to spread throughout the world, systemization of food supply and preparation, is naturally at work here, and Chicken McNuggets here taste and look identical to the ones you eat at O'Hare airport, Tsim Sha Tsui and at the Luxor.    However, the food here looks a bit better than the food in the U.S. it seems, more like the pictures of the food.  Maybe that's due to the Japanese attention to detail.  Another difference is the selection of food items here.  As described in my Mister Donuts post, seasonal and limited-time items are very popular here.  McDonald's is no different, and they have new items on an almost monthly basis.

The current seasonal items on the menu involve Japan's favorite vacation spot, Hawaii.  They have two different special Hawaiian sandwiches for late February and the month of March, a pulled-pork sandwich somewhat resembling the McRib, and a Loco Moco burger.  If you aren't familiar with Hawaii, Loco Moco is a staple of lunch plates there, a hamburger with a sweet sauce and an egg on top with white rice.   The Loco Moco burger featured at McDonald's has everything but the rice. 

Here it is.

Cheese, two patties, a nice specialty bun, special Loco Moco sauce and an egg.

I definitely think that I maxed my daily caloric intake with this single burger, but it was pretty darned good.  Back to the systemization of food, the fries are identical here.

Fry mountain!!!

Along with the specialty sandwiches, they have a pineapple pie, banana milkshake and Hawaiian fruit pancakes (for some reason, Japanese people associate I-Hop style pancake creations with Hawaii; they have no idea that pancakes are the staple of many breakfast places) to round out the limited-time Hawaiian items.

 I whole-heartedly recommend you try the Loco Moco burger.  The patties and cheese taste the same, but that sauce and egg combo really hit the spot.  A really nice blend of sweet and savory.  Hurry up because the month/campaign is ending soon.

Here are some past limited-time items:

Chili-cheese fries 

Funky BBQ Beef and Funky BBQ Chicken.  Gotta love the names.

Speaking of the above, (American Vintage 1980's), I remember a time when McDonald's was not something you got for dinner.  It was the mid-80's when this change occurred, and soon McDonald's was enjoyed throughout the day and night.   Remember this campaign?

Right. They took Bobby Darin's Mack the Knife and conveniently turned it into Mac Tonight.  I actually remember reading that the advertising agency that created the campaign and McDonald's did not obtain the proper rights and ended up settling with the Darin estate due to such violation.  No fair use defense there as a lot of midnight hamburgers were sold as a result of the campaign. They even had Happy Meal toys for that creepy Moon Man.  That get's me thinking.  Maybe I'll hit up eBay to satisfy my nostalgic toys fix in the Moon Man.  In any event, have a good one and try the Loco Moco burger if you have the chance.