McDonald’s Japan earlier this year released their new menu series called ‘American Vintage’. The first in the series was the 1950s American Diner, followed by 1970s Soul Food. The last in the American Vintage series is the 1980s themed Funky BBQ. McDonald’s Japan has chosen a BBQ variety from the US with a special smoked flavour from birch and cloves, and made with a blend of 10 different spices and herbs. The 1980s Funky BBQ went on sale at McDonald’s restaurants across Japan on February 18th and will remain on the menu until early March.
The Funky BBQ Beef
The Funky BBQ Beef Burger features two beef patties, cheddar cheese, lettuce, pickles and a slab of grilled bacon with BBQ sauce and mustard relish.
The Funky BBQ Beef
The Funky BBQ Chicken
The Funky BBQ Chicken Burger features a crispy chicken patty, cheddar cheese, lettuce and pickles with BBQ sauce and mustard relish.
The Funky BBQ Chicken
The Taste Test
Japan Australia having tried all the others in the American Vintage series just had to complete the holy trinity and we weren’t disappointed. We picked up a Funky BBQ Beef Burger and it was the best of the lot in our humble opinion. It came with two beef patties, cheddar cheese, lettuce, and a slab of bacon. The sweet BBQ sauce went well with the slightly sweet and spicy mustard relish sauce on top of the burger. It was good also to have pickles back again on a burger.
The Funky BBQ Beef in its retro 1980s style box
A look at the 1980s Funky BBQ Beef Burger
Inside The 1980s Funky BBQ Beef Burger
Have you tried the 1980s Funky BBQ? Which has been your favourite of the ‘American Vintage’ series? Please leave your answer in the comments below.
McDonald’s Japan recently released their new menu series called ‘American Vintage’. The first in the series was the 1950s American Diner, which went on sale across Japan on January 7th. The next to feature in the series is 1970s Soul Food with the Hot & Groovy Burgers. It features the Hot & Groovy Beef and Hot & Groovy Chicken. The burgers are topped with a special Hot & Groovy salsa sauce. The burgers went on sale at the end of January and will remain on the menu until mid-February.
Hot & Groovy Beef
The Hot & Groovy Beef Burger features two beef patties, two types of cheese (cheddar & white cheddar), shredded lettuce, spicy salsa sauce, jalapeno sauce and buns topped with grinded corn. They were going for a Tex-Mex flavour when designing this burger.
Hot & Groovy Beef
Hot & Groovy Chicken
The Hot & Groovy Chicken Burger features a crispy chicken patty, cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, spicy salsa sauce, jalapeno sauce and buns topped with grinded corn. This one is also meant to have a Tex-Mex flavour.
Hot & Groovy Chicken
The Taste Test
Japan Australia headed to our local McDonald’s to check out the Hot & Groovy Beef. Unfortunately, we didn’t bump into the Groovy one Austin Powers, but did get our hands on the burger. The Hot & Groovy sauce is nice and spicy and is a good combination with the two beef patties and cheese. We really liked the two types of cheese which gave the burger a strong taste. The buns were soft and fluffy and a little more fancy than the regular McDonald’s buns. The only let down was the jalapeno sauce, which was kind of like a creamy wasabi mayo. It didn’t fit the theme or match the taste of this burger and left us with a funny after-taste. It should have been left out in our humble opinion.
There you have it! If you are in Japan and want to try something Hot & Groovy, give the Hot & Groovy Burgers a try.
McDonald’s Japan recently released their new menu series called ‘American Vintage’. The first in the series is the 1950s American Diner, which went on sale across Japan on January 7th. It features three new menu items, which are the Diner Double Beef, Diner Honey Mustard, and Classic Fries with Cheese. Japan Australia being a burger lover and very curious ventured out to our local McDonald’s to check it out.
Diner Double Beef
The Diner Double Beef looks very interesting and is served with Chicago-style steak sauce and mashed potatoes. It also includes cheese, onions and an egg. The Chicago-style steak sauce includes roughly grounded black pepper, roasted garlic, and is sweetened with apple juice & raisins as well as flavoured with wine. It was created to resemble a typical meal at a 1950s American Diner, or with that image in mind.
Diner Double Beef
Diner Honey Mustard
The Diner Honey Mustard comes with a crunchy chicken breast, honey and North American mustard sauce, grilled bacon, cheddar cheese and lettuce. It was created with a harmony of flavours in mind.
Diner Honey Mustard
Classic Fries with Cheese
Classic Fries with Cheese is your standard McDonald’s French Fries topped with a cheese sauce and bacon flavoured topping. It was created with a typical American Stand or Stadium Snack in mind.
Classic Fries with Cheese
The Taste Test
What did we think?
The Diner Double Beef was pretty good. We liked the double beef patty and egg which made this burger very filling. The Chicago style steak sauce was tasty with strong bold flavours and very peppery. The real winner for us was the silky smooth mashed potato sauce at the bottom, which reminded us of a creamy mayonnaise.
The American Vintage 1950s American Diner Double Beef
The Diner Double Beef Out of the Box
The Diner Double Beef Under the Skin
The Diner Honey Mustard lived up to its name and had a nice balance of flavours. The sweet honey combined well with the stronger spicier mustard sauce. This wasn't quite as filling as the Double Beef but was the better tasting burger in our opinion.
American Vintage 1950s American Diner Honey Mustard
The Diner Honey Mustard Out of the Box
The Diner Honey Mustard Up Close and Personal
The Classic Fries with Cheese was a real disappointment. The cheese had that fake processed cheese taste and the bacon flavoured topping didn't taste like bacon at all. You also have to assemble this yourself as you can see in the pictures below. Just stick to the regular fries which are great tasting on their own.
McDonald’s Japan this week launched the first of their new menu series called American Vintage. The series features three campaigns that represent a different decade of American culture designed to create a feeling of nostalgia. It is a trip back in time through the 1950s, 70s and 80s. McDonald’s Japan has created this menu to sum up American culture, and classic American food from the past.
The first in the series is the 1950s American Diner, which went on sale across Japan on January 7th. It features the Diner Double Beef with Chicago-style steak sauce and mashed potatoes, as well as the Diner Honey Mustard with honey, mustard, bacon, cheddar cheese and lettuce. They have also jazzed up their standard fries with Classic Fries with Cheese, served with a sprinkle of bacon flavoured topping.
Diner Double Beef
Diner Honey Mustard
Classic Fries with Cheese
Next is the 1970s Soul Food, which will be available from the end of January to mid-February. It will feature the Hot & Groovy Beef and Hot & Groovy Chicken. The burgers are both topped with a Hot & Groovy salsa sauce. I guess the 70s was a Hot & Groovy time! Maybe they could get Austin Powers to promote these.
Last is the 1980s Pop Culture, which will be available from mid-February to early March. It will feature the American BBQ Beef and American BBQ Chicken.
McDonald's Japan 'American Vintage' Future Series Poster
McDonald’s have created some wonderful old time posters for the American Vintage campaign.
McDonald's Japan 'American Vintage' 1950s Burger Poster
McDonald's Japan 'American Vintage' 1950s Classic Fries with Cheese Poster
As always, they will be limited edition, so hurry in while you still can.
