Old McDonald's

Well, I did it, after more than a year and seven months on this island, I finally visited a McDonalds!  In principal more than for any other reason, I've been avoiding the Golden Arches since we moved.  Granted, I'm not one to choose to go to McDonalds even when we're in the States, so it seemed like a waste of time, money and a meal to eat at one while in Japan.  But my middle child finally convinced me today that it was a Japanese McDonalds so maybe it was different than an American McDonalds.  And since he had early dismissal from school today, I broke and took the boys to McD's.

Do you think that says "Over 5 billion sold"?

I've had some limited experience with American fast food restaurants since living here since the Exchange has a food court hosting the old familiars like Burger King and Subway, and I have to say I've been very impressed with them.  There is no comparison when you have a friendly person behind the cash register who, despite the language barrier, always gets the order right.  And if you ask for something like an extra ketchup, they don't mosey over to get it but take off with a jaunty jog to get the requested item.  Try that in the States!

But that's on base and McDonalds doesn't have a contract to be on base so this was my first encounter with an off-base establishment, and I have to say that I wasn't disappointed!

First off, the menu is different from the American variety. 

Ever tried a teriyaki burger or shrimp burger at your local McD's?  We have them!  Of course the menu looked a little daunting at first since it was all in Japanese, but then I remembered a little trick, usually the flip side to the Japanese menu is English!  The boys each chose a Chicken Fillet-O (not sure what the "O" was for?).  Of course, my sweet Cannon asks me if he can get that without lettuce and mayo and with bacon to which I promptly replied - NO!  How was I supposed to communicate that?  I opted for the teriyaki burger, thought about that EBI Fillet-O, but opted to play it a little safe.

Yes, that would be a shrimp burger...

The food came out before I could finish ordering with courteous smiles, maybe a bow or two, and served by a worker dressed in a retro-1950's uniform (except I don't think they were going for the retro look...)

The overall experience was fun, and Japanese-y in its own way, but when I asked the boys what they thought - London said "It was great!" (no surprise, the boy eats anything) but Cannon said, "We should have gone to the noodle restaurant."

How can you tell if you were charged for the right things???