I went looking for good places to eat around Disneyland, and there really wasn’t much. Still, having come all the way to Disney, I felt like eating something a little special, so I headed to Kua ‘Aina, a Hawaiian-style burger chain.
The sign
It’s inside Ikspiari. It’s tucked away deep inside, but it isn’t hard to find. Ikspiari is a sort of shopping-and-dining theme park just outside Disneyland. There are shops like Godiva and Salon de Thé Angelina too.
The entrance
There are branches all over the city besides this one, but I’m not much of a burger person, so this was my first visit.
Drinks
In Japan there are no free refills like in Korea, so even if it costs extra, being able to get a huge cola is something cola fans will welcome. A large 600ml cola and a guava juice.
The table
Big bottles of ketchup and mustard you can help yourself to. At a regular Japanese burger place they won’t give you ketchup unless you ask for it. Most Japanese people eat their fries without ketchup. Maybe because it’s a Hawaiian burger joint, this place is definitely American style. I like it a lot. ^_^
Pineapple burger set, 1,300 yen
Since it’s Hawaiian style, I ordered the burger with pineapple on top. The burger is American-sized too. The patty seemed to have been grilled a while ago, but it was still very juicy. It felt like I was eating a proper burger for the first time in ages. The fries and onion rings were just ordinary, though.
All put together
Surprisingly, the pineapple goes really well with the burger. Hawaiian-style burgers are tasty too. Compared with half-baked Japanese burgers like MOS Burger, which sells itself on being healthy (when in fact it has nothing to do with health), these tough American burgers have more calories but taste far better. Next time I’ll have to order the avocado burger, the house signature and the king of calories.