The lazy egg has entered the building…lazily. Sanrio‘s world’s laziest egg character, Gudetama, has taken up residence in Los Angeles’ Plan Check restaurant. Executive Chef Ernesto Uchimura has created a special Gudetama-inspired menu featuring a variety of egg dishes to be served at Plan Check’s three locations. And so we ate it—in the name of journalism!
I went to Plan Check to try the menu and was excited at the prospect of being able to eat a themed Sanrio meal for dinner. Sanrio always does a great job at combining food and fun into delicious kawaii fare. At the restaurant, images of Gudetama were on exterior of the building while plush Gudetamas taunted us from inside. The three-course meal included a drink and a commemorative t-shirt so I’d always remember the laziest eating experience, ever.
The drink was served first: an orange-ginger egg cream soda arrived at the table in a tall 16-ounce glass. A beautiful bright orange, the flavor of the ginger was a bit sharp but would prove to be a helpful palate cleanser later in the meal.
Next came the starter which was a considerably sized version of a scotch-egg, which the menu described as a “crispy blanket egg.” In this case the egg was a traditional Japanese Shoyu Tamago, soft boiled and encased in a delectably spicy pork belly sausage. The monsterous egg was set on a plate of miso aioli that provided just the right balance for the fried appetizer.
Just as I had cut into the scotch egg, the sliders arrived. Finally! Gudetama’s sad little face showed up. The two sliders were basically smaller versions of Plan Check’s Chef’s Favorite Burger which consists of beef patties, cheese two ways, bacon two ways, ketchup leather, and hot sauce—all topped with sunny fried quail eggs. Except (eggcept?) these two eggs were imprinted with Gudetama’s face staring back at you, lamenting on life’s woes. The Parmesan frico were the star of the dish and along with savory ketchup and runny eggs made these tiny sliders taste deliciously rich and tangy.
Here’s where the orange-ginger drink came in handy. Although the portions seemed small, when it was time for dessert my dinner companions and I were already hurting. Turns out three courses of just eggs and meat can really weigh you down. Who knew? (Editor’s Note: maybe Ron Swanson?) Thankfully, a few sips of orange-ginger egg cream and the seltzer/ginger combination seemed to work magic on settling our stomachs to make room for more. On to dessert!
Finally dessert was served and it was an extremely large chocolate custard pudding with a sugared apricot thumbprint cookie on the side. The mere size of it was daunting, but one bite and any thought of fullness disappeared. The creamy, two layer parfait had a rich chocolate pudding base topped with a light chocolate mousse, and dusted with a cocoa powder image of Gudetama in his “Ugh. Nevermind.” pose.
The cookie seemed unnecessary when paired with such a large volume of pudding, but it was so light and fluffy that it turned out to be the perfect complement and a satisfying way to end the meal.
After dessert, the waiter brought the check and we received our unisex-sized shirts, signifying the end of our lazy egg dinner. All-in-all, the meal and the souvenir t-shirt were well worth the price. The food was creative and flavorful and most important, I left wanting to take a nap—as if Gudetama was guiding me in spirit.
The Gudetama X Plan Check collaboration runs at all three Los Angeles locations from now until November 29. Due to popular demand—and to offer the full Gudetama menu experience—each Plan Check location will serve a limited number of Gudetama x Plan Check meal sets per day on a first come, first served basis.
Will you be eating like the lazy egg? Check out the gallery and let me know in the comments, and if you do eat this special meal, tag @nerdist and @justjennrecipes on instagram along with the official hashtag #GudetamaXPlanCheck so that we can see your culinary journey with the lazy egg.
Images: Jenn Fujikawa
