McDonald’s in the UK is a sacred place.
We’d bet it’s only here where fans cheer with joy when the order number ’69’ is read out, and where one burger can elicit memories of times gone by.
So it’s hard to believe, that in some places, the golden arches aren’t quite such a big deal. In fact, there are 123 countries that don’t have Maccies at all.
And in South Korea, while McDonald’s does exist, it’s not quite as popular as Lotteria, the biggest fast-food chain in the country.
Dubbed the McDonald’s of Korea, Lotteria first opened in Tokyo in September 1972, two years before McDonald’s hit the UK market – but its new restaurants are anything but dated.
TikToker Lauren Wolfe shared a peek inside the Asian fast-food chain in Seoul, claiming it’s ‘living in 2050’.
Inside Lotteria
The restaurant Lauren visited is known as Lotteria L7 – the first unmanned ‘smart-store’ in the restaurant chain, based in Hongdae, a suburb of Seoul, popular with a young, hipster crowd.
While not every Lotteria isn’t quite so high-tech, this particular branch is pretty impressive.
Slipping through the sleek automatic glass door and down a red corridor, Lauren heads to the self serve screens. The machine spits out a receipt with the order number on. So far, so familiar.
But this is where it gets interesting. When the screen tells her to pick up her order and a loud ‘ding-dong’ sounds, Lauren scans her receipt bar code, which sends her to a box in the wall.
She knocks on her numbered box and it opens, revealing all her food neatly prepared on a tray.
There’s also vending machines that will dispense a sauce of your choosing and a self-serve drinks station. And there’s a contactless machine which sterilises your hands after eating.
The whole process involves zero human interaction which the TikToker says she enjoys – and viewers were loving in the comments.
‘This is the spy kids microwave,’ wrote @Giselle, while @llexibb100 wrote: ‘Immediately thought of spy kids when the food came, anyone else?’
Others branded it an ‘introvert McDonald’s’, but many liked the modern tech in store.
‘This is honestly so cool and advanced. But also, it’s a robotic way of living… pros and cons to it. However still very cool and neat,’ wrote @itssjadee99.
Lotteria menu offerings
While Lotteria L7 might be more high-tech than it’s other branches, all Lotterias have a similar menu – andMcRib fans will want to take out. While McDonald’s recently made headlines with the return of the beloved burger, Lotteria has a similar offering with its Pork Rib Sandwich.
The similar creation contains a pork patty, lettuce, smoky and spicy BBQ sauce and honey mustard, all in soft french bread. This is all for the price of about £2.75, compared to McDonald’s £4.49 in the UK.
Other interesting items include its taco flavoured french fries, consommé flavoured fried chicken and its Shrimp Burger with a special tartar sauce.
There are even some pasta-inspired burgers. Lotteria has its Ultimate Spicy Chunky Bolognese Burger for about £2.90. This may remind you of McDonald’s lasagne burger from the summer of 2022.
Lotteria’s sweet treats also sound pretty tasty. There’s the limited edition Chestnut Cream Pie which has two layers of chestnut skin boiled with Hokkaido milk cream, wrapped in crispy pie dough.
This costs around £1.90, while McDonald’s staple Baked Apple Pie costs just £1.19.
The chain also sells churros, along with a selection of hot and cold flavoured drinks.
Is Lotteria coming to the UK?
While there’s no sign that the fast-food join while be arriving in the UK, back in 2022 there were rumblings that Lotteria was going to arrive in the USA.
The company was reportedly conducting some market research to see if there was an appetite for some Lotteria locations in America.
‘We figured the intersection between an endemic and the surging demand for Korean food is the right time to enter the US,’ an employee of the larger Lotte Group told The Korea Economic Daily. ‘We are doing research on which geographic area is the best.’
But, no stores have opened up in the US as of yet and there is no indication that the chain will open any branches in the UK at this time.
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