Seemingly every other country in the world gets to have weird, experimental fast food concoctions, yet here in the United States we’re often stuck with decidedly uninspired ones. Usually this makes us feel envious of international markets—but the new limited-time-only menu item at Burger King Thailand reads more like an April Fools’ Day release rather than anything worth feeling jealous about. It’s quite the head-scratcher—potentially one of the most ridiculous fast food items we’ve seen in a while. Say hello to the Real Cheese Burger.
What is Burger King Thailand’s new sandwich?
BK’s new sandwich is simply 20 slices of American cheese on a bun. That’s it. No beef, no veggies, no condiments, nothing. CNN reports that the “burger” is being sold for 109 Thai baht, or approximately $3.10, and you’re going to have to see photos of this thing to believe it.
“A trend in #Thailand is to put cheese on literally everything,” travel writer Richard Barrow posted on Twitter this week, along with photos of the Burger King monstrosity in all its glory. “Now Burger King has joined in with the Real Cheese Burger. Though I think they forgot the meat.”
“I love cheese but I struggled eating even half of this ‘burger,’” Barrow continued. “Maybe I should grill the other half? What do you think?”
While Barrow seemed more or less agnostic on the burger, others who sampled it weren’t impressed. “Literally a block of not cheese,” wrote user @KruDavidNan1 alongside a photo of his half-eaten Real Cheese Burger whose cheese slices had apparently compressed into a single mass in the middle of the sandwich where the bites were taken. “Avoid at all costs.”
What’s remarkable about this sandwich—aside from the fact that it is, again, just cheese—is that the cheese doesn’t seem to be melted at all. Imagine taking an entire package of cold Kraft singles and eating it between two pieces of bread. Not a lot of flavor there. If I had to guess, this might stop up one’s digestive system, too (hopefully not permanently).
Burger King Thailand’s official Facebook page confirms that the sandwich is not a hoax. On the Facebook post announcing the rollout, you’ll see a lot of photo responses showing customers’ purchases, and I’m kind of shocked by how many people have actually committed to ordering this thing. Apparently customers in Thailand are equally dumbfounded and delighted by its wackiness, which is perhaps what BK intended all along.
How about you? If you had the chance to taste a Burger King sandwich with nothing but 20 slices of processed cheese on it, would you buy it? I’m not convinced it’s any good, yet I nevertheless appreciate when fast food chains mess around with the menu—so I bet you can guess where I land on this. (Yes. My answer is yes.)