Yes, what you’re looking at above is a burger topped with white rice. It’s probably the first time you’ve seen one. It’s definitely the first time I’ve seen one. It’s not a joke. It’s not some TikTok menu hack. It’s actually supposed to be there as part of the Hawaii-exclusive Jack in the Box Loco Moco Smashed Jack.
The burger honors the loco moco, a popular dish here on this rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It’s a layer of white rice, topped with a beef patty and a fried egg, and everything is covered with gravy. While I’ve had a loco moco from convenience stores and fancy restaurants that have cloth napkins, I’ve never had it from a fast food chain. Jack’s burger version of the dish features a 1/4 pound smashed patty made with 100% seasoned beef, a freshly cracked egg, an onion ring, white rice, and loco moco-style gravy on a brioche bun.
So, about the onion ring…while I’ve had a few loco mocos with sautéed onions, adding them is a slight deviation from the standard recipe you’d get from most places. However, the onion ring here seems necessary because its flavor enhances the gravy, giving it a stronger punch. There’s a decent amount of brown sauce, but sadly, it’s not oozing out from the burger, and if not for the onion, it would have too mild of a taste.
Another characteristic of a loco moco not seen in this Jack in the Box offering is a runny yolk. Yes, consuming undercooked eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illnesses, but the fried egg’s runny yolk in an actual loco moco adds a rich eggy flavor to the dish. In this burger, the fried egg with its fully cooked yolk adds more of a squishy sound than an egg flavor.
As for the white rice, I wish I could say that it’s exquisite pearl white medium grain rice imported from the mountains of Hokkaido, Japan, that’s been washed with lava rock filtered spring water and prepared in a rice cooker that uses an algorithm to maintain the perfect level of heat and moisture to maintain freshness. But there’s not much to say about it. However, because it’s sticky rice, it doesn’t fall out while eating the burger. Yes, eating rice in a burger is odd, but it’s necessary to get across that this is a loco moco burger. However, having two different starches muzzle the gravy and beef flavors, and it might be why I don’t really taste the egg.
Overall, while Jack in the Box’s Loco Moco Smashed Jack is a unique item and quite filling thanks to having two starches and two proteins, I don’t think it’s flavorful enough to convince me to eat it as regularly as an actual loco moco.
Purchased Price: $9.99
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 770 calories. No other nutritional numbers are available on the Jack in the Box website or app.