Sometimes a fast food meal can provide comfort after many days of "exotic" flavours. I am not a much of a fast food eater at home, but I am familiar with the taste. For me, they sometimes represent a welcome pause in a long run of new flavours, spices and ingredients, which is what I am usually looking for (and chowing down) when far from home.

I've had terrible meals when actively trying to avoid fast food. Late night meals, public holidays, airports or train stations come to mind: I've had an overpriced dried panino (baguette, sandes, pierogi, hamburguesa, wurst, you name it) that's been sitting there for days. I learned my lesson; had I been more flexible, a fast food meal would have tasted better and costed less, but the quest for "local" or "authentic" can sometimes render a traveller blind.

I know it sounds ridiculous, but I also try to find "local" fast food joints. "The Good Burger" chain in Spain and Italy is pretty good. For an even more fast food style meal, I like Quick, in France.