UFO burgers land in Singapore

Restaurants, bakeries and cafes are serving UFO-shaped sandwiches and pastries

- Tan Hsueh Yun

They look like spaceships from a 1950s sci-fi movie and, as with many food fads that land in Singapore, come from South Korea.

The compact burgers are made in machines that seal the edges of the bread component, to make them less messy and easier to eat. Purveyors try to convince diners that sealing locks in flavour.

Here, the first sightings were in 2023, when pop-up stall Spaceship Burger flew into food fairs. Then in 2024 and 2025, disc-shaped UFO burgers started swooping in and stayed on.

Bakery chain 50 Years Taste Of Tradition offers Crispy Cheese UFO Burgers; Kowboy in Bali Lane stuffs its burgers with, among other things, wagyu burger patties; and restaurant chain Swensen's went big on them, with three variations served in all its restaurants here.

South Korean chain UFO Burger, which launched in 2019, appears to be the brand that sparked the craze. Similar burgers started appearing in Asia and Europe.

But the origins of these UFO-shaped burgers go back to the 1940s in the United States, when the Toas-Tite Sandwich Maker made its debut. It is a round, hand-held sandwich press with a long handle. Bread and fillings are clamped together and held over the stove or outdoor grill to make hot pocket sandwiches.

By 1953, it had fallen out of favour, but production in the US started again some years ago, according to its website (toastite.biz).