The Unexpected Middle Eastern Dish Served At Japanese Costco Stores
Member-only warehouse store Costco is a popular option for shoppers that like to explore a large variety of products that are sold in bulk. Many people have Costco memberships just to enjoy the store's food court. Costco has about 120.9 million members as of November 20, 2022, and the company has 847 total stores as of December 7, 2022, per Costco. Out of all the Costco locations, 538 of them are in the United States and Puerto Rico, and the rest of them are located in Canada, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Australia, Mexico, Spain, Iceland, France, China, New Zealand, and Sweden. With all of the different Costco locations throughout the world, there are bound to be variations in the food court menu that are based on local cuisines and culture.
In France, the Costco food court has ham and cheese sandwiches made with croissants, and Canadian Costco serves poutine in its food court, according to Insider. Costco in Australia has meat pies, Taiwanese Costco has mango shaved ice and pizza with corn and seafood, and Mexico has piña colada smoothies and al pastor pizza that's topped with pork and pineapple. Most of those food court menu items make sense for the country they're in; however, Japanese Costco stores have some rather unexpected items served at its food courts.
You can enjoy a falafel salad at Costco's food court in Japan
According to a post in the r/costco Reddit thread, the Costco food court in Japan was serving clam chowder soup, a pulled pork burger, a cheeseburger, a garden burger, and an Aussie beef pie. While these menu items aren't necessarily Japanese cuisine, they aren't too unusual for a food court. However, another Costco food court in Japan is serving an unexpected Middle Eastern dish. In a different post on the r/costco Reddit thread, one user shared a photo of Japanese Costco's food court menu, and the unique item that stands out is the falafel salad.
The Costco food court menu shows that the falafel salad costs 680 yen, which is about $5.30 (via Money Exchange Rate), and it appears to come with a base of lettuce greens that's topped with red cabbage, tomatoes, shredded carrots, a boiled egg, and falafel, of course. The menu also notes that it includes an orange tahini dressing. Chicken nuggets and fries as well as a bulgogi bake can also be found at the Costco food court in Japan, according to the Reddit post. So, if you're tired of what your Costco has at its food court, your only solution is to travel to another country and head straight to their Costco food court.