In Japan, President Donald Trump is the ultimate culinary trendsetter as natives residents flock to local restaurants to have what he had.Tr...
In Japan, President Donald Trump is the ultimate culinary trendsetter as natives residents flock to local restaurants to have what he had.Trump started his first official visit to Asia with a stop in Japan, during which time Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — apparently having done his homework — treated the president to standard American fan favorites including hamburgers and steak.Abe posted a tweet of himself and Trump at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama Prefecture on November 4, saying that the two heads of state were 'getting down to business right away over hamburgers.'The photo of the pair, sitting in front of picture perfect hamburgers, prompted a flurry of media reports revealing that Abe had asked popular Tokyo chain Munch's Burger Shack chef/owner Yutaka Yanagisawa to do the honors of preparing their meals while at the golf club.It turned out that Yanagisawa whipped up a $10 Colby Jack cheeseburger — well done, Trump's seeming preferred level of doneness, with lettuce and tomato — and fries for the president, which was accompanied by a tall glass of soda and bottles of Heinz ketchup and mustard. Trump deemed the cheeseburger to be 'very good,' Grubstreet reports.Faster than one could say 'pass the ketchup,' long lines appeared at Munch's Burger Shack in Tokyo, as people hurried to get their hands on one of the chain's burgers, prompting the company to post a Facebook message at 2.30pm the day after the Trump cheeseburger reports, alerting customers that 'congestion was expected' at the restaurant, according to local reports.Negative reaction to Trump eating such typical American food in Japan, instead of partaking of traditional Japanese cuisine, as President Barack Obama and previous presidents had done, was swift on social media.Tweeters quickly pointed out that Japan has a rich culinary tradition, decried a perceived lack of class and speculated on the political significance of a prime minister being reduced to providing burgers to a president during an official visit, among other things.During the president's visit, Abe also took him to Tokyo's Ginza Ukai Tei, which serves high-end, iron griddle-cooked teppanyaki — a style of cooking made famous around America thanks to Benihana.According to the Ukai Tei chain restaurant, the heads of state and their spouses ate a 'special menu,' which consisted of 'best quality' steak and grilled scallops. For desert, it was a chocolate sundae, despite Trump's known admiration for chocolate cake.The restaurant also reported a seven per cent rise in company share prices following Trump and Abe's visit to the Ginza location.Just days after Abe's tweet, Trump's personal burger preferences were apparently confirmed by those close to him.On Monday, it was revealed that Trump's former bodyguard, Keith Schiller, was known to quietly leave the White House to procure the president McDonald's Quarter Pounders with cheese — no pickles, extra ketchup — and fried apple pies when necessary, according to Politico.Trump has made his preferences for everyman food well-known on social media by sharing pictures of himself eating fare including Kentucky Fried Chicken, taco bowls and McDonald's hamburgers and fries.According to an excerpt from the biography 'Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J Trump,' Trump once declared that he would not eat 'f***ing raw fish' during a 1990 trip to Japan, opting for a McDonald's hamburger instead.. Less
