Lotteria is South Korea’s local homegrown hamburger fast food restaurant. Over the years they have changed a lot, from offering rice burgers and lemon pies to now offering classic cheeseburgers and taco-shaped folder burgers.
While I don’t eat there very much these days, it was easily the franchise with the most stores in Ulsan when I was much younger and so there is a bit of nostalgia for me when it comes to eating there.
Since I love cheese so much, I knew that I had to head to my local Lotteria as soon as I heard that they were selling a five-cheese hamburger.
The burger, called Cheese No. 5, looks amazing from the picture.
After ordering, I saw the promotion that they had on the video screen which listed the different types of cheese which are: Cheddar cheese, Gouda cheese, Mozzarella cheese, Emmental cheese and Cream Cheese. Also, the clip was showing the celebrity spokesperson attached to the burger, and it was Kim Min-kyung from Tasty Guys (which you can now watch on Netflix!) which is a famous food tasting show here in South Korea.
I also ordered a Chicken Burger meal, to go with my Cheese No. 5 meal, which also came with…Cheese Sticks! Talk about a cheese overload!
After waiting a LONG time for the food to be prepared (Lotteria is very bad in the speed department!) I took my dinner and walked to a nearby park to enjoy eating on beautiful spring evening.
I unwrapped all the packages, enjoyed looking at the food, and then proceeded to tuck in. The first thing I had was the Cheese Sticks, because I find that they are most delicious when they are hot and the cheese really stretches.
This evening I was lucky, because they were hot and fresh and I got an amazing cheese stretch.
Next I tried some French Fries. I will go on record now as saying that Lotteria has probably the worst fast food French Fries in South Korea. They are usually overcooked, with little salt or flavoring. Today was no different, so I quickly moved on to the burgers.
The Cheese No. 5 really didn’t look very special after I took it out of the wrapper. The burger seemed quite small, although there was some cheese dripping off one side.
The first bite though was a cheese explosion. The burger truly does have a lot of cheese and they all have a little bit of differences I think.
A lot of the cheese is in liquid form, so it’s quite gooey. There was also a nice smoky flavor which I assume came from the Gouda cheese.
The burger was also balanced by some lettuce and pickles to help counter all the salty cheese that was on the Cheese No. 5 burger.
I finished up the cheese monstrosity and then proceeded to move on to the Chicken Burger. Amazingly, from the outside, the Chicken Burger actually looked a little better than the Cheese No. 5 burger.
Inside the taste is not quite as delicious. The chicken patty is quite thin, and does not have a lot of seasoning. One thing I do like about the Lotteria Chicken Burger is that it has a unique mixture of sauces. They use mayonnaise, teriyaki sauce, and mustard on the chicken burger which makes for a special blend that I have never had on any other chicken burgers.
The meal was, on the whole, very delicious. Everything with cheese was wonderful, the Chicken Burger was fine, and well, the French Fries were…the view was also excellent as I could enjoy a picnic dinner and look at the ocean.
Lotteria’s Cheese No. 5 hamburger is an absolute winner, even if it is a bit small physically, it is a giant in the taste department.
