Butter Soy Sauce Shaka Shaka (シャカシャカポテト バターしょうゆ味) - Japan - June 2013

McDonald's Japan Butter Soy Sauce Shaka Shaka May 2013

Purchased in Hitachi, Japan on 24 May 2013

Consumed in Phuket, Thailand on 15 June 2013

Price - Free with fry purchase in Japan.

Calories - Unknown

Cautiously only used 1/3 of the fries.

My buddy Nick sent me another 2 Shaka Shaka packets from Japan back in early June.  This was the 2nd time he's take the time to send them down to Singapore for me to review, the first being the original "Norishio Shaka Shaka" flavour. I had been carrying these around in my backpack for a couple of weeks waiting for a good time to give them a try.  When I was in Phuket for our wedding a couple weeks ago, I found enough free time in the chaos one night to hunt down a McDonald's and review some of their promo items (luckily we had a rental car).

I was joined by 2 of my friends, Andrew and Jason (who brought me the 1955 Burger from Korea to review) who flew down from Seoul for the wedding.  Since this was the last time I was out with just "the guys" before the wedding, I guess you could say this was my "bachelors party", and yes, I know how pathetic that sounds. Since they both tried all the Thai items I ordered along with me, I thought it would be a perfect time to also try one of the Butter Soy Sauce Shaka Shakas as well. I also had a leftover Hot & Spicy, and a Thai Citrus McShakers which they also tried, but just by dipping fries into a pile of seasoning, not actually shaking them up. A product similar to McShakers/Shaka Shakas are sometimes available in Lotteria (a Korean McDonald's knockoff), but they have never actually been available in Korean McDonald's, and neither of them had them before.

You might have been able to judge from their faces in the above photos, but these were hands down...the WORST shakers I've ever had.  I'm not sure who, or why anyone would come up with a Butter & Soy Sauce flavour combination, but it was just as strange as it sounds.  I'm also not sure how they intended to get a butter flavour out of a dry seasoning packet, but whatever they did to try failed miserably. It was so gross, it's even difficult to describe the flavour to you.  It tasted, smelt and even looked terrible.  I've had some pretty bad food at McDonald's before, but I am usually still able to stomach whatever I'm eating to at least finish half of what I ordered, as I don't like to waste what I ordered, but with this, even though we only added 1/3 of the fries, we left most on the table as we left, not a single one of us could stomach more than 2 fries.

Now, I did mention that Nick sent me 2 packets.  My wife had though it sounded "yum" and I was saving the other packet for her to try.  When we made it to Malaysian McDonald's last weekend to try their new items, I didn't realise she dumped her entire fries into the back to mix with the shakers.  Andrew (who was still with me, even in Malaysia) and I knew she would regret it. The photos below should give you an indication on how that went...

After she smelt how terrible it was, she was hesitant to take a bite. 

She couldn't even swallow half a single fry.

She's quickly coming to the realisation that she just wasted half her fries... 

Rating - 0/5

Andrew and I discussed amongst ourselves after trying it for a second time, that products like this don't just get released easily.  This must have gone through various amounts of internal QA, testing and focus groups and somehow this awful seasoning still made it to market in Japan, we have no idea how...