Adventures in gluten-free burgers.
A few days ago we reported on the opening of Don’t Worry Egg’Wich, touted as the world’s first egg’wich specialty restaurant. These alt-burgers use two pucks of egg rather than buns made of bread for a low-carb and high-protein take on classic fast-food fare.
As luck would have it, we were able to attend a sneak preview of the first Don’t Worry Egg’Wich branch in Osaka, and are pleased to bring you the low-down on how it holds up, literally.
On unique feature of this restaurant is that it is completely cashless, keeping staff and customers hands just that much cleaner and also reducing the chance of armed robberies…not that there was much as risk of that anyway, but eh, why not cover all your bases.
As a result, the registers were replaced by compact tablets that saved a lot of space.
The menu too was incredibly simple with only three choices: the Egg’Wich for 390 yen (US$3.75), Cheese Egg’Wich at 490 yen ($4.70), and Double-Double, which has two beef patties and two slices of cheese all for 690 yen ($6.60). While it cuts down on time eaten up by indecisive customers, the menu also proudly boasts its relative sugar, protein, fat, and calorie counts compared to regular burgers.
▼ The four boxes show sugar (top left), protein (top right), fat (bottom left), and calories (bottom right)
All egg’wiches can be bought alone or in a combo for an added 370 yen ($3.50). When speaking to the media, even the founder of Don’t Worry Egg’Wich humbly admitted that serving fries on the side kind of goes against the low-carb concept of the egg’wich, but it’s probably wise not to stray too far from convention, for now at least.
I have to admit that up until now I expected some sort of cheat, like a really eggy bun that was still held together by gluten. However, to my surprise it was just straight up egg that appeared to have been steamed rather than fried as it was more wet to the touch than greasy.
As you might expect, the fluffy eggs aren’t the strongest of materials and it’s highly advised to keep everything safely contained in the wrapper. I only took mine out for the sake of taking pictures, but could easily feel the instability.
▼ The sesame seeds are a nice touch
The eggs also had a very subtle taste compared to the sweetness of bread. This was good because it really brought out the taste of the meat and toppings. The 100-percent beef patty especially was very fresh tasting, more so than other fast-food restaurants I felt.
Texture-wise as well, the egg complimented the toppings, possibly even better than with bread buns. I used to dislike pickles on my burgers mainly because of their incongruent texture, but in these egg’wiches they felt much more at home.
That being said, these moist toppings on moist buns made for some challenging eating. In the end I was even left with a partial disc of egg that had broken off.
However, I’ve been here before. It certainly wasn’t uncommon for the bread of regular burgers’ buns to degrade and dislocate under the effects of particularly juicy tomatoes, so I can’t be too hard on egg’wiches for this.
Actually, the real breakout star of Don’t Worry Egg’Wich is its fries. They use hand-cut fries that are a true rarity in Japan and extremely delicious. They took me back to when I was a kid and visiting diners run by my relatives in the countryside, which is not a memory often evoked by fast food.
Frankly, I’d recommend visiting Don’t Worry Egg’Wich when it opens on 24 November for the fries alone, but the sandwiches are an interesting treat with some relative health benefits to boot. My only suggestion would be to make a type with dryer toppings that might hold together better – avocado springs to mind.
Until then, expect a somewhat sloppy fun time with these egg’wiches, but maybe consider another venue for job interviews or meetings with the emperor. Barring those situations, feel free to throw caution to the wind while in Osaka and Don’t Worry Egg’Wich.
Restaurant information
Don’t Worry Egg’Wich / ドン・ウォーリー・エッグウィッチ
Address: Osaka-fu, Osaka-shi, Nishi-ku, Awaza 1-13-15
大阪府大阪市西区阿波座1-13-15
Grand Opening: 24 November
Open 7 a.m.-8 p.m.
Photos ©SoraNews24
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