Admittedly, I’ve experienced a ‘Sasebo Burger’ before, you know, from those trucks that buzz around the Fukuoka food markets. But I was about as impressed by those as a cat at a dog show. They were only slightly better than a Karatsu Burger, which is like saying a cold shower is better than no shower – distinctly average.

But with some hesistation countered with a lot of "well I came all the way here, might as well"-ness I thought I'd give the real deal a shot in Sasebo.' And boy, – someone needs to go Twisted Metal and rocket nuke those fraudulent trucks pretending to be authentic ‘Sasebo Burgers’ because this was a trillion times tastier! What I expected was to be the typical Japanese mayo sandwich they actually call a burger. But this? No, this WAS a burger.

I went for the Mexican Burger, and it was a solid 8.5/10 – fecking delish! The bun was like a McDonald’s bun but crispier around the edges and tastier. It’s like the gods finally heard my prayers – lovely USA mustard instead of the usual bucket of mayo they slather on! Juicy, authentic. Decent size to it as well. And the bacon? Usually, I think bacon on a burger is like socks with sandals – confusing. But this time? It worked!

Had a Lemon Squash to round it off, and that was good too. I bet those Navy boys love grabbing one of these after they've been drowning in the Budweiser all night- I know I would! I was still a bit hungry after, but polished off my appetite with a Creamia.

Honestly, this might be one of the best legit Japanese burgers I’ve had in the country, and I’ve been here 20 years. Is it Burger King? No, but it’s good. This is a burger, not an identity crisis on a bun.