So you want to try a black Japanese burger? It’s not as disgusting as it looks

SAKAI CITY, Japan – After the recent advertisements of Japanese black burgers flooding my social media account in the past weeks, I decided that it was going to be included in my bucket list when I went to Japan.

 

Fortunately, my little trip to Sakai City to cover the Sakai-ASEAN week 2014 from October 7 to 13 was just in time for the black burger promo, which was actually a limited run for Halloween.

 

I went to McDonald’s at the Sakai City train station and ordered their black burger, which came with regular fries and soda for 670 Yen. The à la carte version costs almost half the price at 370 Yen.

 

The black burger is not exclusive to McDonald’s, as other fast food chains like Burger King also serve it. But these can only be found in Japan.

 

So after getting my black burger, I found a good spot to eat and noticed the neat Halloween themed packaging of my food.

 

I opened it up and was somewhat surprised since the burger looked a bit different from the way it was portrayed in the advertisements (no surprise there, though).

 

Instead of being black, it actually has more of a grayish tint to it. It doesn’t really look as disgusting as it does in the advertisements, but it still felt weird to be eating one.

 

After inspecting the burger before munching on it, I identified its ingredients as double beef patties, a slice of cheese, squid ink dressing, chipotle sauce, fried onions, and sesame seeds on the black bun. 

 

The black bun was soft and there were no "weird" tastes whatsoever. 

 

Apart from the color of the bun, everything else seemed pretty much what you would find in your regular burger at home.

 

The beef patties were tender and went well with the cheese and gave it the fast food chain's signature tangy taste.

 

The squid ink was both sweet and salty, while the chipotle sauce spiced up things a bit. The fried onions added a crunchy texture with every bite.

 

Overall, the black burger tastes like any other burger out there, but trying it out of curiosity is a fun idea.

 

The promo started last October 8 and will end on October 28. So if you are en route to Japan, it’s a good experience to try a black burger for yourself.

 

The media tour for the 2014 Sakai-ASEAN Week from October 7 to 13, 2014 was organized by its Executive Committee and sponsored by the city government of Sakai in cooperation with several private groups. — VC, GMA News