rcracer

I have eaten Mc'Ds and pizzahut abroad either due to being with an expat who missed American cusine, or simply because I wanted to save my lunch money for a more extravegant dinner.

The Mcd's in Spain amazed me, the burgers were the best I have ever tasted, semi-gourmet. I always wondered if it were from all the bull fightings

civicmon

The chain itself was founded in Florida... qualifies as American for me

jackal

A friend who just returned from Israel said that the food at McDonald's there was certified kosher...and, consequently, it tasted MUCH better. (He said it was expensive, though--a typical value meal worked out to US$10.)

yyzvoyageur

As far as I can remember, only McDonald's. Not proud of it, but I do have the occasional craving for an Egg McMuffin or a McDonald's cheeseburger.

Plus, in a lot of places, it's your best bet for a clean toilet.

willdietrying

Although I love asian food, I too was weak and had a big mac in Hong Kong and KFC in Bangkok (although I regretted that for obvious reasons)

No matter what 5 star places are around sometimes nothing is better than a McD burger and a coke. I thought I would have grown up by now but no one gives me enough incentive to do so.

yyzvoyageur

Anyone have Burger King in Chiang Mai?

Have you seen those Burger King "whopper virgin" commercials where they do a Whopper v. Big Mac taste test with a bunch of what they basically portray as bloody savages? They have one where they feed burgers to "Chiang Mai villagers" who have never seen a hamburger.

They need a new advertising agency.

alanw

We get take-out from KFC about once a month - The Adorable Francisco really loves it for some reason and who am I to deny him? Also about once a month we'll pick up fried apple pies from the McD's drive-thru.

Pizza Hut here is disgusting, but much better than the other local pizza chains (corn and tuna pizza). Plenty of real local pizzarias though.

McD's costs about double as in the US, and the drink will be a 20oz cup half-filled with flat coke and no ice. It's mostly a kid place here - and no breakfast. They open in the mornings, but it's just burgers and fries. There is one in the center of BCN that is test-marketing McMuffins, and though the picture looks the same it doesn't taste the same at all.

As the Spaniards are not adventurous eaters at all, there are no interesting options: the thing I crave most is Taco Bell. A taco truck would be welcome too, but the very few Mexican (or "tex mex") places serve reheated frozen crap that's not even recognizable as Mexican food and certainly not as American faux-Mexican food.

When I'm back in the US, I have to get McD's breakfast biscuits and Taco Bell.

I think I've thought about this far too much...

Mongah

Does eating at McDonalds in Mexico count? I actually liked the burgers better in Mexico, but I don't like McDonalds so that isn't saying much.

jackal

Actually, we did, come to think of it.

Kept seeing the signs all around the road that follows the old city walls and so finally broke down and had some (after a week of Thai food).

Can't say I saw the commercials, though--kept the TV in our room off for the most part (just laid down and enjoyed the air con...).

BamaVol

Welcome to FT, rcracer. Interesting possibility.


There's a kosher McDonalds in a BsAs mall. I got close enough to read the menu, but figured Mickey D's is Mickey D's.

zcat18

Sure have. McDonald's and Pizza Hut in China (I was stuck in an industrial town in the northeast for three months on a consulting contract, so I'd occasionally head to Mickey D's with some British coworkers who missed Western food), Pizza Hut in Bangkok, and Mickey D's in England (had to try something called a Lamb McSpicy, which wasn't available in the U.S.). Otherwise, I've managed to avoid American fast food while abroad.

ttjoseph

McDonalds in Seoul serves exactly the same fries as in the US. Thailand has the same McFlurries. And in Europe, the apple pies are still fried! Artery clogging delicious, unlike that baked crap in the states.

abraxis

Here's the way to get around the "shame" factor. Tell them that you needed to get online and to use the free wi-fi there, you needed to buy something!

That's the only reason why I wound up at McD's during my Switzerland travel. And since I was there, may as well spend 3X the price for a #1 EVM...

abraxis

Well, I'll have to come clean, I guess. I try to eat what the 20-30 somethings eat and it usually involves McDee's. Having said that, I'll usually eat from the "localized" menu.

McDee's...Sometimes you need a break from hawker food. So I duck into McDee's in Singapore or Malaysia and order a "McSpicy". It's a batter fried dark-meat chicken sandwich that's SPICY!! Would never fly here in the US (dark meat and too spicy), but over there it's great! Fries come out burn your tongue hot and fresh. I've had the rice burgers that they sold in SE Asia for a while (pass), the Ebi-burger that they sell in Japan (yum, great advertising too) and the spicy chicken wings in KL (yum yum).

Nothing for me is more brekkie than a Sausage McMuffin with egg when on the road. In Singapore and Malaysia, the meat patties have no pork (but it's halal) so that means the patty is light colored, almost like chicken. Doesn't taste right. Pass. Go to a local kopitiam or a Ya Kun or a Old Town Coffee for brekkie instead. If you're in transit at ORD you're NEVER far away from a McDee's and the SMcMwegg. In China, it's OK, kinda like here. Japan, it's made fresh AND delivered to your table. In Hong Kong, you can get the Sausage McMuffin with egg 24/7. Fresh made and greasy! Great for hangover food. And speaking of hangover food, there's a big McD's near Kabuki-Cho in Shinjuku. A few months ago, Javan69 and myself wound up there around 0530 after an all nighter of bars, booze and goth gals. The restaurant was two stories and PACKED full of nighthawks, either eating or dozing, waiting for JR and the Tokyo Metro to open at 0600. The rule was "buy something then you can crash". So there were a lot of people with half consumed coffee on the table that they were sprawled out on. But a lot of us were having brekkie as well. And yes, I had a Sausage McMuffin with egg value meal. That was possibly the best looking crowd I've EVER seen at a Mc Dee's... ^

Chicken...there's a Popeye's in both HKG and SIN that does the spicy fried chicken. I find it a pain, however that you can't substitute the red beans and rice for the fries they include in the combo meals. They are ADAMANT about that. Geesh. Surprisingly, I've not dabbled in KFC a whole lot. The one KFC I made it a point to visit was the one in Beijing that was on the edge of Tiananmen Square kitty corner from the MAOseleum.

Coffee...if there's not a kopitiam, a Ya Kun, Pacific Coffee, Spinelli, Excelsior, Doutor or a UCC around, I'll duck into a Starbucks. Of course, since it's actually comfortable there, I'll not duck out for a little while. And it's nice to have clean-ish bathrooms too.

So, yes, I do eat American fast food when I've overseas. Not as a default, but as a backup. Damn, I want a Sausage McMuffin with egg now!

TxH2O

Fundamentally, most of the American-style fast-food that I eat while I am in Asia I barely even consider American. Try the already-mentioned Ebiburger at McD's in Japan, a "surf and turf" at Pizza Hut in Taiwan, the Chicken sandwiches at KFC and the Taro pies at MCD's in mainland China and tell me that's real American food. I call it "Western food for the local genetics" (not exactly the best translation from Chinese ...) ... almost akin to the "Chinese" food that's served in the US at Chinese buffet restaurants. That is not Chinese food is it? To be honest I kind of miss "American-style" fast food from Asia ... since I'm back in the states ...