KFB Asian Odyssey Part 1: Japan

As you'll have realised from our previous coverage of Thailand,
America, China, New Zealand, Germany and a whole lot more, here at KFB we like
nothing better than to explore the offerings of different KFCs around
the world. With that in mind we set off on a 3 month tour of
Asia to report back on how the Colonel goes about his business on the
other side of the globe. First up: Japan.

Having eaten enough raw fish in Tokyo to bore even a penguin we were
almost at the end of our collective tether. And then a moment of
divine inspiration - what should whizz past us on the street but a KFC
delivery moped. Yes you read that right: delivery. There was only one
thing for it: time to order some take out. Unfortunately the fact that
we don't speak a word of Japanese made this slightly troubling and we
settled for finding the nearest outlet in the Ginza district.

Much like Thai KFCs, Sanders stands proudly outside most branches in
Japan. Rather than adopting the thai 'prayer' greeting though, here he
has his arms outstretched as if to say "Where in God's name am I?".

We walked into a very small branch and began to peruse the menu. Not
being able to read anything meant we ordered the burger that most
closely represented the Zinger Tower. First impression: small. Smaller
than a regular meal in the UK that's for sure. For only 500¥ (£3.40
ish) though we weren't about to complain.

As you may be able to tell from the above photo, the fries here are
very chunky. This is especially interesting given the rent decision in
the UK to thin out the fries to make them more McDonalds like. We're
glad to report however that they were hot, crunchy and delicious.

And so the main event: the mystery burger. Again smaller than a
typical UK Fillet Burger (a Japanese version of which did seem to be
on the menu), we were slightly alarmed at the orange glow of the
coating which didn't seem to be original recipe.

Here's what we think was inside: normal KFC cheese, mustard/wasabi
mayo, spicy salsa and raw onion slices. The latter in fact turned out
to be a real highlight, complimenting the moist chicken very well and
adding a new depth of flavour to the burger. Another new element was
the bun which looked and tasted like the 50/50 style white/wholemeal
bread you can buy back home. An excellent decision from the Colonel
here as full on wholemeal would undoubtedly have overpowered the
carefully balanced other flavours.

Overall we very much enjoyed our meal but would make one suggestion:
add a hash brown - always a winner.

Taste: 6.5
Value: 7
Overall: 7.5

Oh and one more thing: on the way out we noticed these bizarre
leaflets. If anyone can translate do let us know. We assume it's
perhaps a recipe you can make using the chicken from KFC - we
certainly didn't see anything like this on the menu.