I took a trip out to Itaewon to find the antique district I heard about and passed by McDonald’s, whose advertisement of new sandwiches drew me in. The highlighted Golden Egg Cheeseburger reminded me of European hamburgers I have had in my travels. The first time I had a hamburger with an egg on it, I was in Basrah, Iraq which at the time, the post was run by the British so one of the restaurants on post was European. At the time, I thought it was really odd-putting an egg on a hamburger, but now I find it to be delicious.

Now, onto my McDonald’s experience (which, it seems, is always different). Ordering at this McDonald’s is never a problem. Partly because of the younger people they employ, who learn English in school, and partly because they have picture menus I can just point to! I pointed to the sandwich that enticed me in and was given a pager to put on my table, though the cashier told me my meal would be brought out to me when it was finished.

It wasn’t too busy when I was there so I was able to get one of the comfy seats, which I think are there as part of the McCafe appeal. The wait was a bit longer than other sandwiches would have been, but since I ordered a specialty burger it’s to be expected…and guarantees a fresh, hot sandwich.

I was surprised at the meal presentation. It looked like they went all out to magnify the special-ness of the burger. The meal came on a cutting board with the sandwich partially wrapped with the “get busy” side facing me. The french fries were served in a miniature deep-fryer basket. A fork was provided, wrapped in a napkin, which is always a pleasant surprise when eating at a Korean restaurant. Also on the cutting board were pickles and onions on the side along with 1 ketchup packet.

Unlike most wrapped fast-food sandwiches, this one came out looking as good as (or better than) the advertisements. The little toothpick flag holding the sandwich together boasted the fact that the burger was made from Australian Angus Beef, which proved to be very tasty.

All of the ingredients, the lettuce, bacon, hamburger, cheese, egg, ketchup and mustard combined to make a delicious-tasting sandwich. Each ingredient stood out as distinctly good tasting. I’m not sure if it was the egg, or the combination of other ingredients, but it had a distinctive taste from the other McDonald’s burgers and, influenced both by flavor and quality, was much better than any of them.

As always, the french fries were customary McDonald’s French Fries, which in my opinion are very good. Also, McDonald’s has an advantage over Lotteria in that they serve Coke products.

While the advertising brought me in, the taste and quality of the Golden Egg Cheeseburger will bring me back. It makes me hope the McDonald’s in the U.S. will have them when I get back!

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