Unusual food in the usual places

I am not a big fast food eater when at home, but when I travel I find it interesting to see what local foods/traditions make it into the quintessential American fast food places, such as McDonalds, KFC, etc. For example, in Thailand the Dunkin Donuts had ice cream with flavors like tamarind, toasted coconut, kaffir lime, etc; in Quebec McDonald's offers poutine, and in Taiwan the McDonald's had tofu items.

Anyone else have sightings of unusual foods in American fast food joints abroad?

On a side note, I never have McD's cravings here, but when I lived in Taiwan I treated myself to fries once a week. And it's not like I wasn't happily chowing down on local fare, I just really really needed those weekly fries...bizarre

Hmm...

• Beer in McD's in Frankfort, Germany is probably too mundane
• A burger with seaweed on it in McD's in Tokyo (didn't eat it -- too much other good food to spend my short time there in fast food. I was thoroughly ticked that the company brough lunch in from Subway for the three days of meetings I was there)
• Not an unusual food, but this gave me the giggles: In Toronto, Chicken McNuggets are Poulet McCrouquettes
• In Paris, that bastion of 60's Chinese-American is called ouef foo yong

In general I stay away from the fast food, but Tokyo is a wonder for cultural cognitive dissonance. Nothing like seeing the red & white awnings of a TGIFriday's on a 10-foot-wide storefront, or fine french pastries being sold in the subway station next to a katsu stand.

McDonald's is famous for adapting their menus to suit regional tastes. My most recent sighting was McD's serving poutine in Montreal.

Best,
Michael / EC

Menus:

McDonald's India Highlights: "McAloo Tikki", "Paneer Salsa Wrap", "Crispy Chinese", "Chicken Maharaja Mac" (big mac made with chicken patties and sm*ke mayo instead of special sauce).

McDonald's Finland Highlight: Bueno El Maco, which appears to be a quarter pounder with cheese and salsa. You can also get a curry dipping sauce for your mcnuggets.



It's a lot of fun to go to McDonalds.com and browse the websites for other countries. They've got some interesting selections, especially in southeast asia.

gleam wrote:Menus:



McDonald's Finland Highlight: Bueno El Maco, which appears to be a quarter pounder with cheese and salsa. You can also get a curry dipping sauce for your mcnuggets.

Proof positive just how far off-base French PM Chirac was for criticizing Finnish food.

The India McDonald's website is great! I love the intro, with the superlatives coming in and out over photos of the food: "Hygenic" on the frenchfries picture--hee! I suppose it's due to the kerfuffle over what kind of grease McD's used to cook the fries in from a few years back.

It's really fun to browse the McDonald's website and see what they do in other countries...makes me jealous, though. I console myself with the thought that the food is probably still pretty crummy. Just more exotically crummy.

eatchicago wrote:McDonald's is famous for adapting their menus to suit regional tastes. My most recent sighting was McD's serving poutine in Montreal.

Best,
Michael / EC

Very true, in Hawaii you can get Portuguese Sausage, Saimin and Taro pie at McDonalds.

(that's three different items, by the way, not one insane pie)

In Singapore, McD offers rendang burger, and curry fried chicken (wings and drumettes). I also remember a time when they ran a special where fries came with a seasoning packet, and you dumped it in the paper bag, and shook it up to coat. Sounds wierd, but there is something irrestible about seaweed coated french fries... =)

JoelF wrote:Hmm...

• Beer in McD's in Frankfort, Germany is probably too mundane
• A burger with seaweed on it in McD's in Tokyo (didn't eat it -- too much other good food to spend my short time there in fast food. I was thoroughly ticked that the company brough lunch in from Subway for the three days of meetings I was there)
• Not an unusual food, but this gave me the giggles: In Toronto, Chicken McNuggets are Poulet McCrouquettes
• In Paris, that bastion of 60's Chinese-American is called ouef foo yong

In general I stay away from the fast food, but Tokyo is a wonder for cultural cognitive dissonance. Nothing like seeing the red & white awnings of a TGIFriday's on a 10-foot-wide storefront, or fine french pastries being sold in the subway station next to a katsu stand.

Joel,

It's funny that you mentioned these. IIRC, the McDonald's located on the first floor of their corporate building in Oakbrook was/is known as the Golden Arch, and served beer and wine.

I also remember that the McLean burger patty contained seaweed or a derivitive of.

Flip

Flip wrote:...I also remember that the McLean burger patty contained seaweed or a derivitive of.

The poster in the window in the Tokyo McD's definitely had some sort of seaweed topping or condiment, kind of a kelpy relish.

Flip wrote: IIRC, the McDonald's located on the first floor of their corporate building in Oakbrook was/is known as the Golden Arch, and served beer and wine.

I also remember that the McLean burger patty contained seaweed or a derivitive of.

Flip

I worked on the McD ad account in the 80's, and can confirm that the Golden Arch in their corporate headquarters building at the time (the one just off I-88 ...) had plenty of beer and wine - which my McD corporate clents, ummm, appreciated tremendously.

And I believe the McLean was made with carageenan, although I can't find anything right now to positively confirm that.

In New Hampshire and Maine, McDonald's serves lobster rolls in the summer. Tried one once when I was held captive by a bunch of kids. It tasted about what you would expect a lobster roll from McD's to taste like, and wasn't cheaper than the excellent lobster rolls available in local diners (which usually came with fries included at about the same price).

KFC openened in the last few years in the town I grew up in, the first American food available (not even McD's!), and they reportedly offer spicy chicken, so spicy that my American friends can't even finish one piece!

papua2001mk wrote:KFC openened in the last few years in the town I grew up in, the first American food available (not even McD's!), and they reportedly offer spicy chicken, so spicy that my American friends can't even finish one piece!

Where would your hometown happen to be? If you don't want to disclose, then perhaps the region or country?

Thanks!

I grew up in Indonesia, all over the country really, but the city I am referring to is Jayapura, where I spent my last seven years in Indonesia. I am American, so don't consider me an expert in SE Asian food, but I am certainly influenced by my time there!

Another fun aspect of McDs overseas is how they adapt the buildings. I have photos of elegant an wrought iron network with small, actually gold arches in the center in the old part of town in Saltzburg, Austria, as well as a domed mud-brick McDonalds in Morocco.

Not sure how I missed this thread the first time around, but I'm also a little embarrassed to admit that I have a soft spot for a couple of international McDonald's variations. I don't let them replace opportunites for meals abroad, but I don't see Narita airport expanding my knowledge of good Japanese food... that's when I strike.


The first is the Teriyaki McBurger, which has expanded upon an immutable law of deliciousness discovered by the Japanese... teriyaki plus mayonnaise. Seriously.


The second is one I'd actually love to reverse-engineer... the Ebi Fillet. It's a panko fried shrimp patty (vaguely reminiscent of chao tom... vaguely) with some kind of a mayonnaise-y remoulade kind of sauce. Or at least an institutional version thereof. I've had an ebi burger at a couple of other places in Japan, but the McDonald's version was actually the best.


If you're in Hong Kong, however, steer clear of the Fan-Tastic. Awful, awful, awful. Ugh. Greasy, mushy rice in lieu of a patty and a revolting filling.

annieb wrote:In New Hampshire and Maine, McDonald's serves lobster rolls in the summer. Tried one once when I was held captive by a bunch of kids. It tasted about what you would expect a lobster roll from McD's to taste like, and wasn't cheaper than the excellent lobster rolls available in local diners (which usually came with fries included at about the same price).

I've seen signs for them at McDonald's between Boston and Cape Cod. Kept on driving, too.

I now almost wish I had tried the Maharaja Burger when I saw it advertised at McDo in France. They had a Bollywood-film-style advertisement for the thing, and that alone was intriguing. Apparently, this is actually a "Maharaja Mac" a sort of chicken sandwich, rather than the Indian McDonald's Maharaja Burger, which is made of lamb (or perhaps mutton, I'm not sure).

On the other hand, I shudder when I recall the era during which McDonald's in German advertised their "Mexican" specials, available only during "Los Wochos" (that's a Spangerman for "The Weeks"). They offered something they were calling a Mexican burger, but I never dared to inquire more closely.

And I believe the McLean was made with carageenan, although I can't find anything right now to positively confirm that.

Yes, as a binder I believe. Very common in industrial food of all sorts.