McDonald’s in Australia and Japan

Posted October 23rd, 2008 in Eat out in Japan 9 Comments »

I believe that McDonald’s is the biggest fast food chain in Japan.  You can find McDonald’s everywhere, even in train stations and some sport gyms.  Apparently they have different menus in each country and there are few menus that I can’t have in Perth.

In Japan, their menu is magnificent!  Along with their standard menus, they have campaigns for new or seasonal items quite often and there are always something new/special.

Let’s talk about my favorite:)  I love their Chicken Tazta Burger!  The burger is only available in Japan (I assume so, as Tazta means a kind of karaage) The Chicken Tazta Burger is one of the standard menus and you can buy it anytime.  (There might be a possibility that they don’t sell Tazta anymore after I left Japan… :p)

They sell Teriyaki Burger as well.  Teriyaki is typical Japanese cuisine and other fast food chains like Mos Burger also sells Teriyaki Burger of their own recipe.

In Perth, we have few Mcdonald’s products which you can’t find in Japan.  They are trying to have “healthy image” on their products (I guess all McDonald’s over the world are same) and they sell Lean Beef Burger, Avocado and Tomato Mac Burger and Chicken Tandoori on Multigrain etc here.  They used to sell McOz which contains beetroots as well.  I love their concept, but the price at McDonald’s in Australia is unbelievably EXPENSIVE (>x<)

For example, I remember cheese burgers and hamburgers were less than 80 yen (about $1.20 now) in Japan.  Happy Meal was about 500 yen, I guess.  Also, you can easily download coupons from the website and get Regular French Fries, Mac Shake and more for just 100 yen each.  That was normal price in Japan.

However, here in Perth you have to pay about A$3.00 to get just a hamburger.  We rarely get a coupon or special price… actually, it’s never happened since I came here!  So we always pay at normal price :p  Since I know the price in Japan, I feel that McDonald’s products here are expensive…. although it maybe just because of the currency matter.

McDonald’s has McFlurry over the world and I’m a big consumer of it, but the variety is also different in Japan and Aus.  In Japan you can get McFlurry Caramel Macchiato (McFlurry Caramel Macchiato), McFlurry KitKat and McFlurry Oreo Cookies.  In Aus you can get McFlurry M&M’s Minis and McFlurry Oreo.  I don’t know about other countries… but I guess they have different flavors??

It’s actually interesting that you can try out the country’s specialty even at fast food chain.  I hear that there is Rendang (Indonesian Coconut Beef Curry Dish) Burger in Indonesia.  I’d love to try it out (^0^)/



9 Comments on “McDonald’s in Australia and Japan”

  1. 1 toranosuke said at 1:09 pm on October 23rd, 2008:

    I think KFC is still the largest chain, but, yeah, McD’s are everywhere.

    Just out of curiosity, what is Tazta? It’s not an English word, and it’s certainly not a Japanese word – the Japanese language never has a “z” without a vowel after it.

  2. 2 tokyo5 said at 2:43 pm on October 23rd, 2008:

    McDonalds Japan has the ¥100 Menu…a hamburger, a coffee, pie, or McPork sandwich are ¥100 each. (Cheeseburger used to be on this menu…but it’s ¥120 now).

    I don’t need StarbucksDoutor Coffee or McDonalds ¥100 coffee is good enough for me 😉

    Your post made me check out the difference between McDonalds’ menus in Japan, Australia and USA.

    Japan:
    http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/menu/index.html

    Australia:
    http://www.mcdonalds.com.au/

    USA:
    http://www.mcdonalds.com/usa/eat.html

  3. 3 umepontarou said at 11:48 pm on October 23rd, 2008:

    Hi Toranosuke , thanks for your comment:)

    Tazta, I meant Tatsuta Burger. I thought “z” is more easier for English speaker:p
    Anyway, Tatsuta age = a kind of karaage in Japan.

    >I think KFC is still the largest chain, but, yeah, McD’s are everywhere.
    Do you live in Japan?? Do you think KFC is the largest chain??
    Hmmm when I was in Japan I rarely went to KFC. There are just few KFC shops compared with KcDonald’s. Has it changed?? People often go to KFC in Japan is it??

  4. 4 umepontarou said at 11:56 pm on October 23rd, 2008:

    Hi Tokyo5 🙂
    Wow I did not know that cheese burger is now 120 yen :p
    So it’s changed…

    I just remember how cheap it was and I saw many tv ads saying “if you have 100 yen, let’s go to McDonald’s” 「100円あったらマックに行こう」

    McPork is the new menu to me. Juicy Chicken Red Chili looks delish too (>v<)
    I checked US site, they seems to have lots of sandwiches, wraps and salad on menu.
    Do you think McDonald’s is the biggest chain in US? or is there something else?

  5. 5 tokyo5 said at 4:53 pm on October 24th, 2008:

    toranosukeさん…

    >I think KFC is still the largest chain

    In Japan? No, McDonalds is the largest fast-food chain.

    >Tazta?…it’s certainly not a Japanese word – the Japanese language never has a “z” without a vowel after it.

    There are different styles of Roma-ji for Japanese words.
    し is usually “shi”…but sometimes “si”
    ち is usually “chi”…but sometimes “ti”
    and
    つ is usually “tsu”…but sometimes “tu” and occasionally “z”
    The Japanese car company “Mazda” is from the Japanese last name 「松田」 which normally would be written with a tsu rather than a z (Matsuda).

    umepontarouさん、

    >few KFC shops compared with KcDonald’s. Has it changed?? People often go to KFC in Japan is it??

    No, McDonalds still outnumber any other fast-food place in Japan.
    And KFC’s number of customers hasn’t changed. Christmas is still KFC’s big day!

    >Wow I did not know that cheese burger is now 120 yen :p
    So it’s changed…
    I just remember how cheap it was and I saw many tv ads saying “if you have 100 yen, let’s go to McDonald’s” 「100円あったらマックに行こう」

    Yes, I remember that TV commercial, too.
    McDonalds Japan still has the ¥100 Menu…but the cheeseburger isn’t on it anymore.
    I sometimes go to McDonalds for a coffee break and get a McPork and a coffee for ¥100 each. 🙂

    >I checked US site, they seems to have lots of sandwiches, wraps and salad on menu.

    I don’t know much about McD’s in America. Their menu on the website looks quite different from when I lived in America!

    >Do you think McDonald’s is the biggest chain in US?

    I think McDonald’s is the biggest fast-food place in every country that has fast-food, probably.

  6. 6 umepontarou said at 3:28 am on October 25th, 2008:

    Thanks tokyo5
    I was thinking about Mazda too actually. Your explanation is perfect!

    I remember I used to see lots of ads on tv before Xmas season:) Yeah, I agree, Xmas must be the biggest day for KFC 🙂

    >I sometimes go to McDonalds for a coffee break and get a McPork and a coffee for ¥100 each.

    “Coffee Break” .. is it like a special set or something? or you just mean coffee break? ( you wrote the words in angle, so just wondering..)

  7. 7 tokyo5 said at 5:03 am on October 25th, 2008:

    I just mean when my wife and I take a break and get a cup of coffee.
    Sorry about the confusion.

  8. 8 umepontarou said at 7:08 am on October 25th, 2008:

    Haha, no it’s ok 🙂
    But a burger and a coffee for ¥100 each is very cheap… easy quick break, and good for the wallet too:)

  9. 9 tokyo5 said at 4:38 am on November 29th, 2008:

    I just did a post about McDonalds too. (Because Japan added the “Quarter Pounder” burger to their menu).

    My post is here:
    http://tokyo5.wordpress.com/2008/11/29/quarter-pounder/


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