Hot on the heels of the headline-making Kuro Burger, with its jet-black buns, Burger King Japan is back once more with another fast food oddity: the Pumpkin Burger. Don’t worry burger fans, there’s still a patty of beef in there, but along with the lettuce, bacon, creamy nut sauce, and pumpkin-shaped buns are two fancy slices of kabocha (Japanese for “pumpkin,” but a bit like squash in the West). The seasonal treat goes on sale starting October 26th, and it’s times like this when I curse that we don’t have a Burger King here in Nagoya.
The price isn’t all that bad for such new, creative food time, with Burger King pricing the Pumpkin Burger at 310 yen (approx. $3.90). For those who really love pumpkin and want to go all-out, the fast food chain is offering the “pumpkin bomb” option, where they will stuff your burger with a total of 10 slices of the iconic Halloween vegetable for only an extra 100 yen ($1.26)! While the campaign for the special burger is running, you can also order two slices of pumpkin to be added to any burger of your choice for 60 yen ($.76). And just like all of Japan’s peculiar, sometimes weird, flavor creations, the Burger King Pumpkin Burger will only be offered for a limited time (experience tells me it could even be just a couple of weeks).
While I was never much of a squash eater back in the U.S., since coming to Japan there are quite a few kabocha dishes that I’ve found very tasty. The pairing of two slices with a patty of beef and some lettuce sounds pretty good, and I’d love to give it a try (I’m not so sure about that “pumpkin bomb” option though). At least it’s a better fast food choice than Lotteria’s five-patty anniversary burger, a towering monstrosity of beef and cheese.
[via Brand Eating]