Battle of the Japanese Black Burgers: Burger King’s Kuro Diamond

after finally making it to a McDonald’s to try their Halloween-themed black burger, i knew i had to find a Burger King to try the one that started it all (at least this year): the Kuro (“black”) burger. the hard part is that while it seems like there’s a McD’s on every corner, BKs are much harder to find.

eventually, after much wandering, i found one right by my hotel and train station — good thing, too, as it was just an hour before my train to the airport.

how did it stack up to the competition? for one thing, you’ll see the burger was on sale. ¥690 gets you a Kuro Diamond (=the fancy version) burger and a large soda — McDonald’s had their burger for ¥670 with fries and a regular drink.

it went downhill from there.

what?!?! no special packaging?!

it pretty much was just a regular burger with a black bun (presumably squid inked) and black cheese (again, presumably squid inked).

oh, it looks so sad :(. taste-wise, it was just like a regular whopper junior, maybe, except with maybe a hint of the savoriness of squid ink. nothing special. it said there’s a kuro patty, and there were indeed black bits in the meat, but i couldn’t tell you what they are. the sign also indicated there’s Chaliapin Sauce, which research shows is a garlic-onion soy sauce, but there either wasn’t enough of it or the taste was just too weak. if they doubled the amount, i think they’d have a much better product on hand — something a bit more compelling taste-wise to complement the hardcore look of the burger itself.

while Burger King does get points for having a blacker bun, the Kuro burger just can’t stand up to the McDonald’s Ikasumi burger. the latter has a much better flavor, with the fried onions and dark sauce and goopy cheese. definitely the winner here. so yes, while with the BK one you get the novelty of black cheese, if you only have limited time and are keen on trying a Japanese black burger, i suggest making your way to the nearest McDonald’s for theirs. a much more satisfying experience!