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I am definitely guilty of this.
Definitely in China and Japan, when famished, and everything else seemed too *weird*. I believe I've had McD's in England as well, but that was more curiosity: there's a veg burger available in the UK that isn't in the US. Yeah, that's my excuse.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PDX Duck
The coffee at McDonalds in Nice stands out as the best cup of coffee I have ever had at a McDonalds. In comparison to the cafes in Nice, it was mediocre, but in the US it would be considered a good cup of coffee.
The one my sister & I went to in Nice had a nice ocean view. We went there in Oct 2001 & had a nice salad. The rest of the trip, we either cooked in the kitchette or slurged on a couple nice meals out.
The European McD's have better (relative to the USA ones) food & offer other things that our McD's don't offer. (beer in Germany, pastries in Europe, etc).
I did go to a KFC in Bangkok for my first meal. Relatively cheap (approx $1-2) and yummy. I had a couple meals with FTers there a few years ago. I then graduated to eating at the inexpensive local restaurants in Chaing Mai. I went to the ones that were crowded. Yummy food!
The European McD's have better (relative to the USA ones) food & offer other things that our McD's don't offer. (beer in Germany, pastries in Europe, etc).
But they almost invariably charge for ketchup and sauce - at least for additional packets.
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I'll have to come back to this thread and finish reading all of the pages later, but I wanted to chime in: in my high school years, when I traveled with my grandfather on his dime throughout Europe, his unsophisticated palate and thrifty personality led us to many a McDonald's. When I'm traveling on my terms, I have a rule that I, so far, have not (willingly) broken: when away from home, I forbid myself to eat at any restaurant that also exists at my home. When traveling around Franchised America®, this leads me often to (usually upscale) chains that don't exist at home--P.F. Chang's, Baja Fresh, etc.--but, especially in cities renowned for a certain kind of food or a plethora of amazing restaurants, usually results in an attempt to sample the very best of whatever the local specialty is (dry-rub barbecue in KC, pulled pork in Memphis, New Mexican cuisine with red and green sauces in Santa Fe, etc.). I'm a little more timid in foreign-speaking overseas places, but I still opt for a delicious bowl of chicken curry over rice from a street vendor in Thailand for half a buck or the delicious veal and shrimp balsamic vinaigrette salad and perfectly-seasoned peppercorn sauce filet I had in Dijon last week...
One thing, though: I will attest that the McDonald's down a street to the right of the Spanish Steps in Rome is positively the most beautiful McDonald's in the world. It's worth visiting, even if all you leave with is a scoop of gelato from the gelateria at the downstairs entrance...
One thing, though: I will attest that the McDonald's down a street to the right of the Spanish Steps in Rome is positively the most beautiful McDonald's in the world. It's worth visiting, even if all you leave with is a scoop of gelato from the gelateria at the downstairs entrance...
Good Lord - any McDonalds with a gelateria is good enough for me!
I used to get $45 per diem for all meals, so I tried to stretch it to leave cash left to cover bar-hopping and whatnot.
So a couple notables - in Athens, the McD served a Greek Mac, which had an interesting flavor. I liked it, and I could fill up for 4 euros.
I really don't like Indian food, so in Mumbai, after a few days of of the hotel buffet, I found a Mcd's nearby. They served only 2 sandwiches - a single chicken patty sandwich and a chicken mac. The first was ok, so the next night I ordered the second. It was pretty bad. Curry spices in a big mac aren't something I want at all.
And to boot, I spent the next 4 days in the bathroom as a result of it.
I really don't like Indian food, so in Mumbai, after a few days of of the hotel buffet, I found a Mcd's nearby. They served only 2 sandwiches
...
And to boot, I spent the next 4 days in the bathroom as a result of it.
Are you sure it wasn't because of Diet Coke with ice?
You never know...
Rather, I find that the fare of American fast food restaurants outside of the United States are consistently of substantially superior quality than of those within the United States.
I can only speak from my experience living in Chile, but I would say the opposite.
McDonald's, worse. Burger King, worse. Domino's pizza, worse. Kentucky Fried Chicken, close to the same.
We went there in Oct 2001 & had a nice salad. The rest of the trip, we either cooked in the kitchette or slurged on a couple nice meals out. 
