McDonalds is probably one of my favorite restaurants. I didn’t like it that much as a kid, due to a fear of clowns, Ronald McDonald, and his brightly colored alien friends. But as I grew older, I learned to overcome my fear and no longer dreaded the monthly birthday parties at the world’s favorite fast food restaurant.
While McDonalds has its staple menu of Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, Chicken Nuggets, and French Fries, it often tries to diversify its menu in interesting ways. For example, they introduced Big Tasty a few years ago, which in my opinion was their version of Burger King’s Whopper burger. Personally, I wasn’t a fan, although our Swedish developer used to eat them religiously after a few beers.
There are also regionally developed menu items, such as the McLobster in eastern Canada and New England, the McCurry Pan in India, and the Shogun Burger in Hong Kong. These items are due to locally available products as well as cultural sensitivities.
For example, lobster is cheap and readily available in eastern Canada, but much more expensive in London. Being a Lobster’s fan, I’ve always wanted to make a McLobster pilgrimage to Canada, but haven’t. In India, 80.5% of the population are Hindus and therefore cannot eat meat. 13.4% of the population is Muslim and cannot eat pork. Therefore, McDonalds does not sell pork or beef products in India. (Statistics from the 2001 Indian Census).
Considering all these facts, my experience with McDonalds meals is probably quite limited. I have yet to try any of their healthy salads or deli. But I have tried their new M Burger, most of their Chicken and Steak-O-Fish variety.
After browsing through a small portion of McDonald’s menu items, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that my favorite menu items are definitely their Big Mac, a quarter pound with cheese, chicken nuggets, and French fries.
While I love chicken nuggets dipped in BBQ sauce, I often find that the various chicken burgers are poorly done and the bread is often a bit dry. The quality of Big Macs and Quarter pounders appears to be much higher and more consistent. This could be because chefs in the kitchen have more experience making their most popular products. And since the turnover is higher in these areas, the ingredients are probably fresher.
Read the McDonalds Menu Pricing Secrets article on Cheapskatemate.com for more fascinating information about McDonalds.
