00:00:00 John Daub: Hello and welcome to Tokyo. That behind me is Mos Burger, and today I'm inviting you to join me for lunch as I'm going to try a really unique dish that's true to my heart as an American: macaroni and cheese, but this time they put it on a burger. Not just any burger, a Mos Burger, a Japanese burger. Here's the poster for it. What was interesting to me is that 88% of Japanese have never tried or even heard of macaroni and cheese. That's pretty crazy, right?

00:00:32 John Daub: I've actually already gotten the burger. It takes a little while to get it at Mos Burger, but I'm sitting outside, which is a little bit safer for all of us. Welcome to Mos Burger. Check this out. This is pretty crazy. I tried to pick it up and it got all smashed up in there, but this would be Japanese macaroni and cheese. I've never seen this in Japan ever. It's not in any of the stores. Macaroni and cheese is a completely unknown food.

00:01:16 John Daub: When I came to Japan 23 years ago in 1998, cheese in general was something you couldn't find. I was searching everywhere for cheese for pizza, and all you could get were these really little teeny bags of processed cheese, which people would use on gratin or to grill on toast. But nobody was making their own pizza, which made chains like Domino's Pizza and Pizza Hut really unique and really expensive because you just couldn't get a hold of cheese the same way you could in the United States or other countries.

00:01:46 John Daub: Over the last 23 years that I've lived in Japan, I've seen more and more cheese aisles appear in Japanese supermarkets, which is crazy. The cheese aisle 20 years ago was really small, just next to the dairy products. Now it's massive—bigger than it was because it went from zero. You have choices, which I never really had before. This is really unique. I never expected this from Mos Burger or any burger for that matter. So let's look inside and inspect this macaroni and cheese. Wow. It looks like the Velveeta orange cheese kind, which I'm excited about because who doesn't like cheese?

00:02:48 John Daub: I'm gonna give this a try. I bought some for Kanae Daub too, and I'm taking that back to her. So this isn't going to be a very long stream. It's going to be a happy stream because we have cheese, and cheese is good. If you have questions, save them until the end because I have some answers. Tasty Chronicles is here—how you doing, Sonny? If the mac and cheese burger doesn't work out, here's a different burger: the Toby kitty burger looks pretty good too. Actually, I got a mac and cheese burger and a normal spicy Mos Burger, so I have a backup.

00:03:21 John Daub: Just to explain what's on the other side: there's a croquette, a deep-fried patty. It's not meat—I'm not sure what it is. Croquette can be lots of different kinds of things: potato? Vegetables? They put some sort of salsa on there, which is really good. That's the mystery—that's the beauty of this. Croquette is a mystery, which could be troubling for some vegetarians. Just stop talking, John—let's get right into it. That's really good. I've always liked the bun from Mos Burger. It's better than the McDonald's bun—it's got some spring and volume to it. It's not just air-puffed.

00:04:55 John Daub: Nobody cares about the bun. The macaroni and cheese is that umami. There's something about the cheese and macaroni that's really good—melted saltiness inside it. The macaroni gives it almost a mochi-mochi taste, a springiness in the mouth like mochi that gives tension when you bite into it with the cheese. It's awesome. The croquette is crunchy—right out of the deep fryer. I should be showing you the burger as I talk. I think that's potato—no meatiness. You don't need meat with this; it would mess it up. I love how they put the lettuce underneath the croquette so it doesn't get the bun soggy. That's so good—really good.

00:06:10 John Daub: I'm just gonna try the mac and cheese like a Neanderthal. They've put some Mos Burger sauce on top—that salsa sauce has tomato, maybe minced meat, like a tomato sauce that gives a sweet tang, a little acidic tinge that's very pleasing. It all mixes in your mouth. The crunchiness of the croquette brings it together—it would be a soggy mess without it. That's awesome. The one thing with Mos Burger I love is you can dip the fries in the little sauce packet. Which do you like better from Mos Burger—this or the triple meat burger? I'm going to say this is better. The triple meat was unique, but there was too much meat for me. This is just really good—I'd order it again and again. It's almost addictive because of the crunch. That's a potato croquette.

00:08:01 John Daub: Sorry to show you the guts of my burger—it's so good. The deep-fried crunchiness is what makes it perfect—it's the croquette. Bun? Good. Macaroni and cheese? Good. Croquette? Good. Lettuce? Good. Sauce? Good. It's all good. I love the choice of the potato croquette. They could have put in a meat patty or different vegetables, but they kept it straight potato—like a mashed potato patty, breaded and deep-fried. Why this works: did you ever have French fries with cheese on top? It's so good. The French fries have already been mashed up, and the crunchiness of the breaded croquette is beyond normal fries—that brings this burger all together.

00:09:29 John Daub: If you like cheese and burgers but want something with less meat, this is perfect—though the tomato sauce has some meat in it, so it's not meatless. Look at how sloppy that is—I love that. The chomp writes in, "genius"—you better believe it. Look at the sloppiness of the Mos Burger without the catcher envelope—it's awesome. There's the whole macaroni shell. That bite was all sauce and macaroni—so good. Oh my gosh, that meat sauce with cheese. This might be the best burger of the year for me so far. I'm shocked—I didn't think it would be this good. The fact that it's a sloppy mess makes it perfect.

00:11:14 John Daub: That croquette is like a hash brown—a better cooked McDonald's hash brown. The potatoes are better; there's a creaminess to it different from a McDonald's hash brown, which is just chopped-up potatoes. This has been mashed potato-fied and deep-fried. I'm going to have to order another one—there's no way I can't. I'm not gonna eat Kanae's—she's going to enjoy this. Don't look at me—look at the sloppy mess in this envelope: macaroni and cheese and sauce on a potato. Oh my gosh.

00:12:39 John Daub: Hey, Christopher Miller—love your food vids. You love food as much as I do—you better believe it. The champagnissimo—I probably got that wrong. Off topic, but have you done a kabuki-themed episode? Not yet, but kabuki and the pandemic make it really hard. Just look at this before it falls: macaroni and cheese stuck to a French fry. This is a thing of beauty—this is what you click the like button for. Did you see that? The macaroni and cheese solidified onto that French fry, and when I bit into it, it melted. I'm literally so excited about this—as you can tell in my voice.

00:13:55 John Daub: This is oolong tea—I always get this instead of Coca-Cola at fast food places. If they have carbonated water, I'll get that with lemon. I don't like the sugars too much; it takes away from the burger. Oolong tea is really good and good for digestion—one of the things that keeps people thin. Mos Burger's claim to fame is their spicy Mos Burger—massive chunk of tomato, lots of vegetables. It used to be the premium burger chain, but there was a burger boom about 10 years ago. Luxury premium burgers came into Tokyo, costing like $20. Chains from New York like Bear Burger and from California like Umami Burger came here. The burger industry is growing, but burgers aren't that popular in Japan to be honest.

00:15:14 John Daub: McDonald's, which I'm going to try in the next couple days with Kanae, has a rice burger. The reason is a lot of Japanese don't want bread for dinner—they want rice. Kanae has said, "I just want some rice." There's an innate desire for rice with a lot of people in Japan. So McDonald's made the gohan burger—rice instead of bread. They're quite good, change up flavors, but only after 5 p.m.

00:16:17 John Daub: Kanae hates it when I do this, but you gotta do it once—even on camera. You stick your face in the envelope of sauce. Jason, Ronald, I know you guys do that. I have alcohol wipes, so don't worry—I sanitized. We're all friends here—just get it all over. Sometimes I'll lick it like a dog, and Kanae gets upset: "What are you doing? I can't take you anywhere." Holly writes, "go wild"—oh yeah, I do. John Kimura, nice to see you. Actually, John, I'm gonna say this stuff comes from you. Mmm, that was really good.

00:17:51 John Daub: I'm always looking for the burnt one. Admit it—when you were a kid with thin McDonald's fries, you'd put ketchup on a crispy one and go, "Look mom, it's a match." Who else did that? Nosh says no, but Cat Hilton—my best friend—there's always one. Folks, that was the best burger of the year for me—I could eat a dozen. No I can't—Jennifer says get dessert, but I can't do it here. Mos Burger on the other side is bustling.

00:19:21 John Daub: Stay here—I'm gonna take the tray back, don't go anywhere. That was so good. I am a happy man. Look at that kid—he really likes that chicken. This piqued my curiosity: could they do mac and cheese good? It says 88% of Japanese have never tried it. It's called mac and cheese in Japanese. Could Japanese mac and cheese be any good? You're dang right it is—really good. To sum it up: Mos Burger sauce underneath that cheesy Velveeta orange cheese with clam-shell macaroni, really good with the crispy potato croquette. Hey, they got an extra slice of lettuce—that's not fair. Tasty Chronicles, you can see the gohan burger with rice—some people just want rice. How many calories? A lot. I'm gonna walk to a vending machine for a drink, then call it.

00:22:13 John Daub: My bicycle's right there, but there's a vending machine here. Boy, this is good. Get tasty beverages. Craftsman coffees are good if you like volume, but I'm going with this café au lait. Nice and warm—it's premium, expires in September. I don't know what's premium about it—it tastes normal, slight bitterness like Max Coffee but with pleasing tinge. The creaminess is really good, tastes like fresh cream.

00:25:16 John Daub: What the heck—it's like a dental implant place. Wow, that dude lost all his teeth—pretty nasty right after eating. I promised to brush. That was very good, brought to you by Super Chats—thank you. Remember to brush your teeth. I'm staying outside to stay safe. I gotta get this to Kanae. I love how they have recycle bins right next to the machines.

00:26:09 John Daub: If you have a question, let me know in the comments. New episode coming really soon—finishing up the Kickstarter fireworks video, over 30 minutes long. Kickstarter backers, you're getting packages this week. They've arrived in Michigan, California, New York yesterday—hang on a little longer. If not, send a message in the update. I have jobs coming up in March, but not much in February because of the pandemic state of emergency. Unless necessary work travel, I'm staying in Tokyo. I have sukemen to make—like ramen but better. Thought I'd do something quicker today.

00:27:38 John Daub: The kid was looking at me—how you doing? Have a good day and night wherever you are. Gotta get these burgers to Kanae before they get mushy. See you in another livestream real soon. Nagoya John's in the house—much love. Oops, dropped coins—100-yen, 1-yen—it's raining money. Nagoya John buys something nice for Kanae—got her burgers.

00:28:41 John Daub: The bug's still there—I saw a Super Chat but can't see it. I'm upset at YouTube—too many bugs. What was before Nagoya John's? Can somebody tell me? Tortoro Porco—thank you, we love you. "Moss Burger wa America ya de"—I'm going to McD's and ask for a Quarter Pounder with hash brown substitute. You might DIY a Mos Burger mac and cheese. Thanks everybody—hit the like button. Air to the Ron, thank you. I appreciate the community teamwork to show appreciation. I love you all—have a good day. Craft macaroni cheese. Yo!