Mcdonalds around the world
 

Burger King lovers SWITCH OFF NOW!

One of my favorite things I like doing when overseas is to visit the local Mcdonalds and see what is one the menu. (I might add that McDonalds is generally the most reliable source of western style toilets in any country you may visit)

By and large the meals are exactly the same as in Australia but there are variations to take into account local tastes. I'd be interested to hear what people have found around the world.

Australia and New Zealand I found to be pretty much the same except that New Zealand has a Kiwi burger. Bali/Indonesia was slightly different in that you could get a serving of rice (yes just plain rice) in a foam container. Hong Kong had much the same menu although I found that their Sausage McMuffins had a peculiar taste to them and they had simpler names (eg Hamburger) for their products.

What weird and wonderful variations have people encountered at McDonalds around the world? I understand that at least one country as a Salmon Sandwich (McLaif?)

Here's an interesting article I found
http://www.cateringnet.co.uk/monthly...ws17079802.htm

cheers Peter

While I abhor McDonalds and always wonder why Americans travel overseas to eat the same junk they get in the states, I do have to visit there when traveling with my wife. http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

In Italy, McDonalds has Pasta bars.

In France, McDonalds in the countries most popular restaurant chain. Go figure.

Most every McDonalds in Europe serves beer and wine.

I don't recall seeing a single McDonalds in the Middle East, with the exception of Dubai and Abu Dhabi whose McDonalds are the same as in the U.S.

I've seen McDonalds in plenty of other countries, but happily moved past them to a nice local restaurant.

Pasta Bar?

What is a pasta bar?

cheers Peter

What about Highgate Village in London. The only place in the world (I think) where the Golden Arch was refused on planning grounds. The big M had to put up with something much more discreet.

In London they have veggie burgers. Forget what they call them. I didn't care for it much. Not nearly as good as a Gardenburger.

In Norway they have McItaly. Not sure what's on it - just saw the ads. I believe they offered pasta there too.

In Turkey, especially in Istanbul, McDonalds are around the corner. Last month, I saw a new one with a big banner: "We are the 41st in Istanbul!" http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Here we have "McExtra" which they called Turkish Hamburger with meat with spices like Turkish Kofte (meatball) Taste. I cannot say that I like it but I saw that may people are prefering it to Big Mac. http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

And I know that in many European cities have different burgers. On my last trip to Brussels, I saw that Three different salads are on the menu of McDonalds.

[This message has been edited by aysegul (edited 10-23-1999).]

I know the subject is McD's around the world, but some of the McDonalds in the US serve an additional regional specialized food fare. For instance the Boston area McDonalds serve Lobster Rolls. The Chicago-Madison area McDonalds serve Bratwurst. The Hawaii McDonalds serve Saimin (Saimin is a Japanese noodle and broth similar to packaged Ramen noodles) Also Certain regional areas of the US and Canada McDonalds also still serve McPizza.

Now if the Baltimore area McDonalds will only serve a Maryland Crab Cake sandwich.

ontherun



[This message has been edited by ontherun (edited 10-23-1999).]

I see an opportunity here

What Mcdonalds needs to do is open a McEverything store in each city ie a specialised Mcdonalds that features ALL the MCfood from around the world.

I reckon it would be popular


cheers peter

Dubai and Abu Dhabi- no bacon / sausage

India - no beef (lamb burgers and chicken instead) also much more veggie items

Netherlands, Belgium, UK - veggie burgers

Also,in Europe (as mentioned already)you can usually get a beer and/or wine.

And, you will find Pepsi in a lot of the places instead of Coke.

Fially, you have to pay for ketchup in a lot of places.

There is also no bacon in Turkey in McDonalds. Like all Muslim countries, I believe.

And I forgot to write about "Ayran" in McDonals in previous post because I think I am so accustomed to it that I never think that it is special for Turkey.

"Ayran" is a kind of our national drink. It is made from salty yogurt only and many people prefer it for themselves and especially for their children instead of Coke/Sprite/Fanta.

And yes, it was very interesting to pay for ketchup and mayonnaise in Germany and Luxembourg.

[This message has been edited by aysegul (edited 10-24-1999).]

In Downey California, is the oldest operating McD in the world. Disputes arise as to is being the first, second or thrid built, but those other two have all been torn down.

No indoor seating. No drive through. Recently added bathrooms for customers. A couple of glass windown serve as a museum and a little area is used to sell to the tourists.

It has the old sign with "speedee" running and the xxxx hamberger sold.

The unit is located at the SW cornor of Lakewood Blvd and Florence. About 15 miles from DT Los Angeles, Take the Santa Ana Fwy (5) South to Lakewood off ramp. Turn right, or South to Florence. You will pass another newer MrD at Galliton. It is about 1 mile off the fwy.

Well worth the visit if only for the bragging rights

I went to France for four days and ate at McDonalds five times (my wife is not very adventuresome with food). The thing I remember most is that they serve 'fry sauce' which is really tartar sauce. Those guys put tartar sauce on everything. You have to ask for ketchup if you want that.

And yep, you can get wine and beer as others have said. And at the ones I went to I could pay by credit card.

the job that got me started with frequent flying was as a quality control rep with Kentucky Fried Chicken. The cross pollination of concepts from country to country is amazing.

jl

things I noticed....

No Egg McMuffin in Kuala Lumpur http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif...

In Amsterdam they have Fry sauce for your fries

Hong Kong the person cleaning the tables would, when cleaning, take the newspapers and give them to the Newspaper seller outside to resell!!

Here is some interesting McDonalds information on the net:

1) McDonald's Surf the World, where you can get a taste of McDonald's from countries all around the globe. (including info. on how McDonalds conforms to cultural differences through changes to menu items)
http://www.mcdonalds.com/surftheworld/index.html

2) McDonalds Trip Locator. Just type in the City, State, and/or Zip. If you want detailed driving directions from your location type in your address.
http://www.vicinity.com/mcdonalds/

3) UseNet Discussion Groups:
alt.mcdonalds
alt.food.mcdonalds

4) McDonalds International Pin Club:
http://www.mipc.com/

5) I Hate McDonalds Web Page:
http://members.aol.com/AnneDroidz/mcdsux.html

6) GoldenMac - Financing for building McDonalds'
http://www.goldenmac.com/

7) McDonalds' Happy Meal Toy Collectors Site (Includes International Links)
http://www.happytoy.com/

McD's also had trouble with the planning commission in Helen, Georgia (which enforces an Alpine-village theme). They wouldn't budge on the fluorescent beams under the roof overhang, so they were told not to build! (There is a Wendy's, built in theme, there.)

On my reecent family trip to California, I visited "The Train McDonalds" right across the street from Knotts Berry Farms.

A regular indoor McDonalds with thousands of feet of "G" scale track and electric trains traveling around the store.

My children (who already think McDonalds is nirvana) were besides themselves with glee. French fries AND trains! Wow!

They've had no less than 4 fits since returning, demanding we go back, not understanding that there's only the one in California.

The McD's in Branson, MO has a waterpark in front. The bumperboats were running full tilt while the traffic on "the strip" (US 76) crawled by.

Thank God my kids weren't with me - we'd still be there.

------------------
"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."

This whole thread has given me indigestion!
But CMDR Catcop says it kind of works because there are travel references in here.

With apologies to all the Flyertalkers with kids and who are kids at heart... the only thing I do like about McDonald's is the French fries.

I do like the McDonald's with the trains... becuase I LOVE TRAINS!!! Had a Lionel train set but my dear aunt gave it away becuase she felt at 15 I was too old for "toys."

ON retrospect, McDonald's is a step above perhaps the WORST Fast food out there: White CASTLES!!! BLEH! If I go, I order fish with a big bottle of Mallox.

McDonalds French fries http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif
White Castle Hamburgers http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
Nathan's hot dogs and French fries http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
Burger King Whopper, fish sandwich and onion rings http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
Rolaids http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by RichG (edited 10-26-1999).]

mcdonalds yummy http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
but makes fat
ho-hum tummy http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

The only McDonald's I have visited outside the US was in the Bahamas where they served Goombay Punch as a beverage. Tasted like fruit punch to me...

------------------
Addicted to airline miles? Check out: The Airline Mileage Workshop

Guess in which city you can buy the cheapest McDonalds in the world and which also has the biggest $ turnover of any McDonalds' outlet.

The McDonalds in Salzburg lacks the golden arches as well, but (like most shops there) they have a wonderful wrought iron hanging sign (well, OK, the sign doessport a small image of the arches).

The closest I've come to actually eating in a foreign McD's was in Hong Kong last winter. I needed to eat soon in order to take some pills with food...but once inside I just couldn't do it and went instead to the noodle place across the street.

Stimpy, I think there are McDonalds in Israel (although I may be remembering a Burger King instead). Whichever, it's kosher: no cheeseburgers!

There's plenty of non-kosher food on the west bank. http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

But I didn't see any McDonald's there either. Not that I would have gone as Palestinian food is excellent. Especially the dessert's.

Here's the scenerio: you pay several thousand dollars for air tickets, hotel reservations, etc, travel thousands of miles and what's the first thing you want to do???

GO TO MCDONALDS!!!!

I almost caused an international incident on a tour bus a few years ago in Vienna when the bus stopped at a light and this silly woman (who was the one who said loudly at the start of the tour in Budapest to her idiot husband "Isn't that so weird honey? that Man traveling alone? It's not normal.") Well Sister SIlly says "OH LET'S go to Mcdonald's!"

Remembering her insult from Budapest I said loud enough "If every restaurant and pastery place in Vienna burned to the ground and all that was left was McDonald's.. I would cross the border to Germany.""

Her husband called me Un American. I told the bus I am not American but International (someone who goes to different places and is determined to try the local cuisine and do the local scene.) Rudi is International. I think most of us are.

Silly Sister's Hubby (with a fine gutt from years of Big Mac) said nobody likes a smart (word for backside) and before it went further I just put on my shades and looked out the window.

They ended up stopping at McDonald's on the way back. I went across the street and find this little Vienne place and had interesting chicken in sauce (I ordered something that tasted like poultry in horrid German.)

But on the other side of the French Fry: Rick and I hit Hong Kong starving and Rick is very very finicky. he has a sensitve stomach and does not like strange cuisine. He wanted to go to Mcdonald's and me being the easy going friend went there. We had fish, and I liked the pineapple sundae.

But like WHEN I GO to Israel, I would want all the local cuisines (and ask stimpy where to go.)


[This message has been edited by Catman (edited 10-28-1999).]

Catman,
Sometimes seeing those golden arches (on foreign soil) brings back some happy memories. I Remember back when I was 14 and attended the 1971 Boy Scout World Jamboree in Japan. We had traveled from Tokyo to Kyoto to Osaka to Hiroshima, we camped out at the base of Mt Fuji for a week during which we were evacuated and survived Typhoon Olive. We were all from Hawaii so the native Japanese food was close to what we were used to in Hawaii (though the plastic plates of food took some getting used to) But when we spotted that Mickey D's in Tokyo, you should have heard the cheer go up from a group of famished scouts.

ontherun in Austin,MN (SPAMtown)

Don't knock the golden arches.

Whether you liek the food or not it is the most reliable source of western style toilets in any country you may be visiting. I mean - have you ever seen a Mcdonalds with squat toilets?

cheers Peter

... and some people travel for the sights, not the food. I have a very weak stomach (I take Prilosec daily) so I don't like variety. When my wife and I went to Paris we dined out twice for local Parisian fare. We didn't like it that much, so we went to the local McDonalds from then on about 70% of the time.

There was a guy from Motorola in the USA stranded in Paris waiting for a visa to his final destination in Africa. He told me he went to McDonalds for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days in a row.

It's also a society thing. Most places outside the USA eating it a slow, long procedure to be savored and enjoyed. If you are on a short trip, you want to eat fast and keep sightseeing. My $.02

combine the two things: sighseeing and the eating experience

examples:
Zurich: Restaurant Kronenhalle (art collection)
Paris: Jules Verne, half up the Eiffel tour
or le train bleu
etc. etc.

plus: choose your companions wisely, being worth a sight-seeing-look themselves http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited 10-29-1999).]

McDonalds in Taiwan sells fried checken a la Kentucky Fried Chicken. I am not if Kentucky Fried Chicken in Taiwan sells hamburgers.

McDonald's in Amman, Jordan - very welcome western toilets!

Hawaii - Portuguese sausage, egg and rice breakfast, just like the hotels only MUCH cheaper

Vienna - McBeer

Manila - local rice breakfast but locals did not eat it! Just us.

Auckland, NZ - huge dinner crowd, in theater district. No breakfast served in 1984, had just gotten McD and the locals were ecstatic!

Spain - gazpacho

Brazil - a different burger every day of the week named after a country: for example: Sunday - McMorocco (kibi burger)

Norway - Africa burger in pita bread

Beijing - Chinese chicken sandwich

Generally, we only eat local food but - oh those McD bathrooms! We also like to check out the differences. Wish some of the goodies were available here. I think Paris was the most expensive we have seen.

[This message has been edited by Karen2 (edited 06-27-2003).]

Yes, clean western restrooms are welcome, I will give McDonald's (and most of the Western fast food chains) credit for that.

But other then the fries... I think I'll stick to local cuisine.

As a good friend corrected me though, I do LOVE CHICK FIL A. It's Fast food, but healthy fast food (and great Lemon Merange pie!)

I seem to recall a McDonald's in Kowloon/Hong Kong had this great pork sandwich. It was the best McThing I've ever had anywhere.

You'd never see a McEverywhere restaurant with all these interesting things available in one place because they couldn't handle the variety. Most McDonalds have a hard time kicking out the short menu they do offer, especially the new ones that embrace the cook-to-order system. What a mess that is at rush hour.

The McDonald's in Freeport, Maine, home of L.L. Bean, was also refused town permission to put up the golden arches. So the place looks like an Olde New England clapboard bed-and-breakfast, with only one small, tasteful gold-leaf "M" sign for identification.

McNostalgia continued...the memorable ones anyway

London - early 90's the fated McPizza
Delhi - the revolting Mutton Maharaja Mac
Beijing - squat toilet on Tinnanmen Sq McD
Sydney - dissapointed that the Aussie Burger didn't in fact contain Aussies
(likewise the NZ Kiwi Burger)
Tokyo - McTeriyaki mmm
USA - Arch Deluxe (what was that mess ?)
Bolivia - the Avocado Mac (squashy)
Germany - Bier
Moscow - the busiest in the world (then)
Hong Kong - anyone for a pristine Snoopy set?
Singapore - probably the cleanest toilets
Anywhere - avoid the McRib !

Cheapest ? must be either Thailand, Indonesia or Philippines.

The rest of them .. much of a muchness, normally hungover when I;m in there anyway.

The Economist publishes a 'Big Mac' index every year, benchmarking the price of said burger in local and US$ terms, to indicate which currencies are over/under valued. IF I remember rightly... Japan is the most expensive.

Hey I eat out 365 days a year, so allow me some time to slum it !

GK:

1. The Arch Deluxe was basically a cheeseburger with lettuce & tomato, served without melting the cheese! In fact, the cold items (lettuce, tomato, cheese) were served in one side of a compartmentalized styrofoam container to keep them separate from the hot items (bun & burger). IMHO, it was simply awful.

2. OTOH, I kinda' like the McRib (when desperate enough to go to McD at all).

Marco Polo:

The answer is... Moscow!

[This message has been edited by RichG (edited 11-04-1999).]

Touble in paradise? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

See:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum...ML/001806.html

A few of my McDonalds memories:

In Chicago they have Rock-n-Roll McDonalds. This is a fifties theme restaurant. It was pretty cool.

I'm still kicking myself for not stopping at a McDonalds in '94. On Adak Island they had the McDonalds that was the farthest from any other in the world. Adak is about two-thirds of the way out in the Aleutian Island chain.

The last one to relate is Ljubljana, Slovenia. I went to a McDonalds so I could get a pop. For lunch I skipped the McDonalds and went to MarkRonalds. I liked the similarity of name and food.

The World's first two McDonalds hotels, called "Golden Arch Hotel", are to be opened soon in Switzerland. - http://www.goldenarch.ch - Also, there's McDonalds coaches here and there used to be a "McPlane", a Crossair MD-83 painted all-red that would serve McD food on charter flights to the Mediterranean.

Now that this thread is alive again, my biased vote goes to the Samurai Pork Burger in Thai McD's. Anyone concur?

I had a Kiwiburger down in Christchuch last December. I tried unsuccessfully to flush it from memory... it was a standard burger with egg and something that looked like a slice of beet! However, the most attractive local Christchurch fast food joint was a BK that all decked out in U.S. retro (1920's - '60s); classy job.