Comically Huge Mega Potato is a Gift from the (Obese) Starch Gods

McDonald’s Japan’s returning limited-edition Mega Potato side is so frighteningly large it ought to come with graphic warning photos of what happens to people who make a habit of eating it, like cigarette packs in the West.

The reintroduced Mega Potato is equivalent to two orders of large fries and comes in a container so comically huge you could just stick your face directly into it like a pig at a trough, if that’s your thing. Or you could share it with “friends” or something, like anyone actually has that in mind when ordering one of these.

▼ The Mega Potato, compared to the standard size selections.

We got the jump on the official May 24 nationwide release by finding one of the limited locations that began selling the new menu item May 17. After approaching the counter and chickening out several times, we eventually built up the courage to ask for the embarrassingly large Mega size, which, after a longer than average wait, the clerk hefted onto our suddenly tiny-looking tray.

The Mega Potato, at approximately 350g, dwarfs just about everything else on the menu and is apparently the most calorific item McDonald’s has ever served. After years of covering Japanese fast food fads, we’ve developed our own hamburger-based metric for measuring things, so for comparison, we eyeballed the size difference between it and a standard burger and concluded it’s about three times the size.

The Mega Potato will set you back 490 yen (US$4.82) and also cost you a large chunk of your dignity and possibly a few years of your life.

The Mega Potato is sure to usher in a resurgence of the “Potato Party,” a meme that made the Internet rounds a few months ago (or approximately “100 Internet Years”).

▼ A South Korean Potato Party