Wendy's Foie Gras Hamburger: Fast Food Chain Opens In Japan With High- And Low-End Fare

Wendy's is re-launching in Tokyo, Japan today, and it looks like the chain might be going after a slightly richer clientele. One of the new menu items include a $16 foie gras hamburger, as well as a truffle and porcini grilled chicken sandwich for $12.

Originally, it looked like Wendy's was taking a page from the Daniel Boulud playbook. If his upscale restaurant, DB Bistro Moderne can put foie gras (and truffles, and short ribs) on a burger and charge $32 for it, why can't a fast food giant do the same thing, cheaper? But perhaps Wendy's is just trying to keep up with the competition. Denny's Japan menu may look entirely unfamiliar to Americans used to high-calorie cheese-filled signature Denny's meals. In Japan, the chain has offered a $15 beef topped with foie gras and sliced truffles, served with a red wine demi-glace reduction. French fast food chain Quick debuted a foie gras burger last year as well, priced at about $8.

Wendy's Japan hopes to open about 100 restaurants in the next five years. The chain shut down its Japanese restaurants two years ago due to falling profits, but now hopes that its reinvigorated exotic menu will be the key to success. It originally struggled to compete with bigger rivals such as Burger King and McDonald's, but with the recent news that Wendy's has overtaken Burger King in the States, we can't help but wonder if the process will be mirrored abroad.

[Via Eater]

Comments

[BUFORD 1]

03:02 PM on 12/29/2011

Please, somebody, explain what LOL stands for.

[Peter Mrozik]

04:19 PM on 12/29/2011

Laughing Out Loud

[BUFORD 1]

06:03 PM on 12/29/2011

Okay, now I know. Thank you much.

[offcenterlevi]

12:38 PM on 12/29/2011

What a ridiculous article. She way overcooked her burger. Cooking burgers is not rocket science, and you really don't need to obsess with probes and high tech gizmos. We've been doing this sort of thing for as long as we've been human. Given a little common sense, the risk is minimal. I hope this woman gets the help she needs.

[360Dunk]

11:56 AM on 12/29/2011

I like the idea of force-feeding geese and ducks so their livers can be fattened. We should apply this concept to all prisoners on hunger strikes as well.

Can Round Table be next to step up and offer a goose liver/head cheese/scrapple/haggis combination pizza?

[rkeeeballs]

11:46 AM on 12/29/2011

...Foie gras...won't eat it !...Cruelty to animals is how you make it ! ..look it up........!

[dvand22]

11:34 AM on 12/29/2011

special orders don't upset us.

[BIGMACBOY]

11:19 AM on 12/29/2011

WHAT IS FOIE GRAS Y'ALL ? THIS IS FUNNY

[rkeeeballs]

11:44 AM on 12/29/2011

You might NOT want to know !...liverwurst extreme !

[Wake Up Call]

11:50 AM on 12/29/2011

Duck or goose liver of a bird that has been force fed grain, which causes the liver to become swollen and fatty. Universally considered by gourmets to be one of the greatest tastes ever discovered. Universally hated by animal activists, who protest the treatment of the birds. In reality though, the birds are just fine. PETA is crazy.

[busterggi]

10:35 AM on 12/29/2011

Foie gras, truffles, porcini - BAH!

Once you've got bacon anything else is unnecessary.

[Wake Up Call]

11:50 AM on 12/29/2011

Have you HAD truffles or foie? If so and you make this statement, then you have no taste.

[sasweeney1]

10:32 AM on 12/29/2011

Well, I had to google foie gras so I guess this burger would be too classy for me.

[brokenleoheart]

10:23 AM on 12/29/2011

sounds yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[paddles0626]

10:01 AM on 12/29/2011

Best "weird" burger I've ever eaten- the AJ Bomber's Barrie Burger. It starts with an all-beef patty, charbroiled to perfection, plus American cheese, two strips of crispy bacon and a dollop of crunchy peanut butter to top it off! It sounds gross but it is phenomenal!

[sasweeney1]

10:26 AM on 12/29/2011

You should write menu descriptions. That sounded delicious!

[paddles0626]

02:37 PM on 12/30/2011

Well thank you! But really, the burger's taste almost writes itself. If you're ever in Milwaukee, check it out!

[R4Facts]

09:57 AM on 12/29/2011

Fast food chains treat Americans like garbage disposals because most of them will eat anything! Just don't eat that crap!

[pfordeb]

09:46 AM on 12/29/2011

Where's the beef?

[theodoricofyorke]

09:43 AM on 12/29/2011

The thought of ANYTHING Foie Gras is absolutely revolting and disgusting to me, even gold plated Foie Gras.That stuff is strictly for the food snobs.

[Klem -]

10:27 AM on 12/29/2011

Yeah, the way american "treat" and "farm" animals is indeed better......

[theodoricofyorke]

11:21 AM on 12/29/2011

Spoken like a true, dyed in the wool Meathead!

[Wake Up Call]

11:52 AM on 12/29/2011

Glad you feel that way. It means lower prices for those of us who appreciate the finer things. Please boycott it all you want. LOL

[theodoricofyorke]

12:19 PM on 12/29/2011

Finer things? Taste is a very subjective thing. As such, yours is subject to scrutiny in much the same way that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But please feel free to stuff your pie hole with all of the Foie Gras, Caviar and Chicken Beak McNuggets that you care to. There are just some abominations that I simply will not allow to cross the lips of my culinary threshold. If you happen to hear a duck quacking in the middle of the night, perhaps your love of these 'finer things' will provide you with some clarity of vision as to the reason why. Sigh....And a good day to you.

[Brenda Orr]

08:54 AM on 12/29/2011

If you are going to eat fast food; I believe that Wendy's is the best fast food establishment. I continue to wonder why they don't offer a Whole Grain Bun or bread for their creations.. If they are going to continue to upgrade, Where is the WHOLE GRAIN?

[petpetdonna]

11:54 AM on 12/29/2011

You haven't been to Culvers.

[dickn2000b]

01:03 PM on 12/29/2011

You haven't been to In 'n' Out!

[mikejarosz]

07:52 AM on 12/29/2011

A fast food takeoff on the French classic Tournedos Rossini.