Sometimes, when travelling in budget, you’ll probably have a moment when you miss the time of having a proper meal. Moreover, some restaurants have a break time, not receiving any orders. Then what would you do? I’d say “Fast food.” Even though fast food is infamous for being unhealthy, many fast food restaurants are alluring you with delicious and simple menus.

Do you know that there are some fast food menus suited for the taste of Koreans and sometimes only available in Korea as well? There are some localized or so-called “Koreanized” Fast Food menus in Korea that are rare in other countries. We will introduce the menus of 4 major burger fast food restaurants – McDonald’s, Lotteria, Burger King, KFC.

McDonald’s

McDonald’s brought the era of the fast food in Korea. At first, they usually sold original American style menus, but as McDonald’s got popular among young people in Korea, they started serving localized menus that suit Korean people’s taste.

 

Bulgogi Burger

Bulgogi Burger is a steady-seller menu, eventually becoming one of the Happy Price All Day menus. It means that you can get Bulgogi burger just at 2,000 won at any time. Bulgogi burger’s patty is marinated in a sweet soy sauce which is usually used in a Korean traditional dish of stir-fried pork – Bulgogi.

1955 Burger

Celebrating its 25 years of running business in Korea, McDonald’s in Korea released 1955 burger. The burger was originally introduced in the European market and became a huge hit. The number 1955 is the year that McDonald’s was founded.

Lotteria

Lotteria is a Korean brand fast food restaurant. Lotteria is known in Korea for launching very distinctive (?) menu that tend to cater to Korean people’s taste. With McDonald’s, Lotteria is the most familiar fast food brand remembered by Koreans.

Vegetable Rice Bulgogi Burger

You will be shocked when you see Vegetable rice bulgogi burger from Lotteria. Instead of bread buns at the top and the bottom, there are sticky and chewy rice buns. Some people said that Vegetable rice bulgogi burger could be somewhat a good meal that could make you feel full.

Gangjeong Burger

Gangjeong burger has a fried chicken patty with Korean sweet spicy red pepper sauce. Other fast food restaurants already have burgers with chicken patties, but Lotteria was the first to use chicken gangjeong sauce in a burger. Gangjeong is chopped and fried chicken that is stirred with soy and red pepper sauce.

Shake French Fries

Both McDonald’s and Lotteria sell french fried potatoes with extra seasoning. When you order these french fries, you will get a seasoning powder with french fries contained in a paper box. You have to put the powder in the paper box and grab the top of the box to avoid spilling any powder outside the box. Then shake it hard so that the powder mixes with the french fries. There are various tastes of the seasoning powder and you can change normal french fries into the shake fries with a bit of extra charge.

Burger King

Due to its name ‘Burger King,’ Burger King has been recognized as a fast food restaurant where burgers are exceptionally tasteful.

Quattro Cheese Whopper

Quattro cheese whopper is one of the most beloved menus in Burger King around the world. Unlike our thoughts that all the menus from Burger King were originated from the United States where they started the burger business, Quattro cheese whopper was born in Korea to suit Korean people’s taste. Analyzing that Koreans like the rich flavor of cheese, Burger King developed the menu Quattro cheese whopper using 4 different types of Cheeses. The result was successful and Quattro cheese whopper was imported to many countries.

Jalapenos Whopper

With the spicy flavor of jalapenos, Mexican chilies that have a strong spicy flavor gradually coming up in the mouth, Burger King Korea developed Jalapenos Whopper to attract Korean’s taste. The subtle spiciness of jalapenos makes the burger more delicious by catching the greasiness of the fried meat patty and the cheese slice.

We have introduced McDonald’s, Lotteria, and Burger King so far. Popeyes has been decreasing its number of stores in Korea and KFC has no specific burger localized to Korean taste. However, KFC in Korea has unique dessert menus that are hard to find outside Korea.

KFC

Mozza Ball

Mozza ball is a fried bread ball with mozzarella cheese inside. There are two types of Mozza ball: plain and squid ink one. As you can guess, squid ink one is black but it tastes the same with the plain one.

Fried ice cream

Fried ice cream is another rare menu that can be found almost exclusively in Korea. When you bite the Fried ice cream, the outer part is hot and crispy and the inner ice cream part is cold and soft. However, since it is fried in oil, some people say that it is too greasy for them.

Adding to the menus introduced above, many seasonal menus have been released as test experiments. Keep an eye on those menus and try them. You may find those menu nowhere in the world but only in Korea! :)