We all know this. The Golden Arches, the Big M. Yes, the burger juggernaut that is McDonalds! Bringing burgers and fries to a corner near you! Its a symbol of all-American burgery goodness.
A standardised system of a fryer cooking the burgers, matching them to another poor schmuck who is stacking buns with wet lettuce, soggy pickles, and a standard blob of condiment.
The burger is then slid down a chute to wait for a willing recipient to enjoy. Along with a bunch of flash-frozen, re-fried skinny fries loaded with salt.
With a regular flow of customers, McDonalds formula keeps the burgers ticking over, filling customer orders, nothing waiting too long. The issue comes, however, when the flow of customers does not match the speed with which McDonalds can turn out a burger. Leaving some waiting. Its supposed to be a maximum of 10 minutes before they junk them. However, sometimes, with the condition of the lettuce, and the lukewarm nature of the meat, you have to wonder...
However, its not all bad. Here in Japan, given the desire for freshness, they do not leave food waiting in the chutes, they cook more to order. It is slower than McDonalds in the rest of the world, but you are only waiting for a few minutes, and the burgers taste a little better. Lettuce is fresher, the burgers are warm, they taste a little better. However, they are still McDonalds burgers.
Here in Japan, there is a viable alternative.
Mos Burger (Japanese fine burger and coffee) is what McDonalds should be. Mos is set up to cook to order, and cook quickly. The burgers are cooked fresh, as are the fries, and Mos also has onion rings! You do wait a little longer for your food, but trust me, its worth it!
This is one of the chicken burgers, with fresh crispy lettuce, and a REAL glass that holds yer drink!
When busy, it does slow down, but I have never had more than a 15 minute wait for a meal. Best of all, if they cannot cook it whilst you wait at the counter (meaning, NOW), then they will give you a little flag, and bring it to you! Which is nice of them.
This does not mean its all fantastic. What they do, they do well. The burgers are good quality, allways fresh, the fries are a nice size, desserts are excellent. However, on occasion, you are left wondering...
Yes. A teriyaki burger, with the buns made out of rice. Of course, with Japanese rice, it is sticky, so rice balls do stick, and dont disintigrate within seconds. The rice burger is, to us westerners, odd, but it is nice. However, eating the thing is an art on its own. It is sticky rice. Not bread. It will fall apart on you if you are not careful!
Best of all, the staff seem genuinely happy to see you when you walk in, and really want to be amazingly helpful when you order food, and (slightly disturbingly) extatic when you return the tray once you finish!
So, to all the burger bars in the world, you can do far worse than modelling your operations on Mos! And I will enjoy my time there.
It really is a fine Japanese burger!
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