I am not a big fan of fast food restaurant, so I rarely get food from any of them unless I don’t have much option (like at an airport). I don’t remember the last time I willingly went to a fast food restaurant… But, when I am in Japan, I do get the desire to try out some food from their fast food restaurant. Why? Well, I believe the quality is higher, taste better, cleaner environment, and yes, the customer service is superb! So, while I was in Japan, I went to McDonald to try their limited only offers.
The inside is bright and spacious, and lots of English graphics everywhere. I am guessing it makes the place more modern and cool to the customers. I liked the black & white graphics and some pop of bright colors throughout the place.
It had a good amount of seating, and since we went during the weekday, it was not that busy. They had table seating all around the dining area, and had counter seating in the middle. The counter seat came with power plugs so that you can charge your phone and computers while you eat.
The table was fun too, they put together one colorful one and one simple one with no color or graphic on it, so that it is not too loud or too quiet. Each table also had a small sticker on the bottom that showed happy customer’s voice.
What I really love about Japanese fast food restaurant is that they all come with hand washing station. They have a law that requires every fast food restaurants to have this installed, which is super awesome! They are usually located near the entrance/exit. This way, it is much easier to get your hands washed before and after you eat, without going to bathroom for it. They also have a huge hand sanitizer next to it if you prefer to put that on after you wash your hands.
Japanese McDonald always have tasty menu, both regular and special limited time offers. This time, they had Tsukimi Burgers as their limited time offers. I have known about this burger for many years, as they have this around Autumn every year. But now, they have a fun drink and fries added to the offer, which was interesting.
But first, if you are not familiar with Tsukimi (or more formally Otsukimi), it is a fun Japanese festival for moon viewing around the mid-Autumn. It is to honor the autumn harvest moon, and celebration of the full moon. The dates of the festival changes each year, accordingly with solar calendar, but is around September and October. It has said that the shadows on the moon seen from Japan looks like a rabbit with mortar, making mochi on the moon. And from there, the Tsukimi Usagi (rabbit) was born. Japanese people eat round tsukimi dango that looks like the full moon during the festival, and rabbit is depicted often with Tsukimi graphics.
They had three kinds of Tsukimi Burgers, and since there were three of us, we ordered one of each. The first one was the simplest one, the Tsukimi Burger (640 yen/set). The paper on the tray had Tsukimi design on it, and it had a place for a burger to sit on top of a blue pillow. You can see rabbits fluffing the pillow under the burger.
Tsukimi Burger comes with sesame buns, beef patty, smoked bacon, egg, and special sauce. They call this year’s Tsukimi Burgers the “second generation” since they made changes from their original Tsukimi Burgers. And I do approve! It was super tasty! Look how everything is placed perfectly between the soft buns, put together with love and care. Not some crappy burger that was thrown together without love.
Next up, Tsukimi Cheese Burger (670 yen/set). This is basically is the Tsukimi Burger with cheese.
Again, every ingredients put together perfectly between the fluffy sesame buns. And they are made to order, so each one is hot, fresh, and put together only for your taste buds.
Just look at this…perfect egg, nice thick smoked bacon, juicy patty hugged by cheese, all in the center. Nothing off to the side or sliding off. They do take a nice effort to make each burger for their customers, so that we can enjoy each bite.
And the last but not least, Full Moon Cheese Tsukimi Burger (690 yen/set). This is the biggest one, and therefore, it comes in a box instead of being wrapped in a parchment paper.
This one comes with ham, instead of bacon. Also, it comes with a different kind of buns, not sesame buns. I moved each ingredients slightly off, so that they show better on the photo. It was originally put together perfectly in the center.
The buns are thicker than the sesame buns, but still very fluffy and airy. The eggs were perfectly round, same as the thick sliced ham. It was very satisfying and yes, tasty. All the burgers were really good, with fully buns, tasty patty and egg, and melty cheese. The secret sauce on all the burgers makes them to the next level. The egg is from Japan, and I feel that the quality of eggs are higher in Japan, which also makes it taste better too.
For the set, it comes with fries and drink, but we changed them to their limited time special kinds as well. For drink, they have Yuzu Fizz (+30 yen to the set) to go with the Tsukimi Burger. We of course all got the Yuzu Fizz. The photo of the Yuzu Fizz showed the drink in a very cute otsukimi design, but in reality, it came in a regular cup… But, it tasted good regardless. Very refreshing, nice yuzu flavor, not overly sweet and citrus-y.
As for the fries, they had Mentai-Mayo fries (+30 yen to the set). This one was interesting. I assumed the fries comes pre-seasoned, but in reality, you get the fries, plus the Mentai-Mayo seasoning packet. The size that comes with the set is M size, and we were given paper bag in addition. So, what do we do with them? Let me show you…
First, you put the fries in the paper bag…then the Mentai-Mayo seasoning…
Close the paper bag and shake it up! And finally, voilà! There is your Mentai-Mayo fries! It was kind of fun to make my own Mentai-Mayo fries, right before I eat them.
The fries got a bit of pink color from mentaiko, and its spicy flavor was complimented by the mild flavor of mayonnaise seasoning added to it. Together, they make the fries with a little kick that is toned down with mayo. It was pretty darn tasty. And the fries in Japan are somehow much less oily and definitely not coated with crazy amount of salt. I really liked that.
After we were done with our pleasant lunch, it was time to put away the trash. And they make that really easy too. They have a nice trash system, it has a drain on the top where you put liquid and ice that is left in your cup.
Then put away the rest of the trash. They have a clear sign and picture on them so that you sort the trash correctly. This is how Japan does recycling so well…but only if everyone respect the environment and follow the rule.
And the customer service, always pleasant and always polite. Never rude or unprofessional. Another reason why I like visiting fast food restaurants in Japan, even though I still prefer regular restaurant over fast food places… If you visit Japan, try out some of their special burgers that you can only get in Japan!
276-37 Toyofuta, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan