Their consistency is sadly what made me buy McD at every country I was in Europe last year. At some point I got tired of.the food I could find there, and just gave up and bought a Big Mac meal at least once per country.
I was backpacking, so my budget was right. McD was a way to treat myself without regretting spending too much money on something disappointing, and I did find disappointing food in Europe. Mainly in Germany, and the UK.
Convenience store food was great in Switzerland, though.
McDonald’s is not consistent though. A hamburger can often be flimsy thin. I don’t get why you’d go there. There are enough fast food options with lower prices. McDonald’s is often really terrible.
Maybe I should congratulate you on being there long enough for that to happen.
A few years back I had a work trip to Singapore. It was a great experience and memorable in many ways. However the worst part is the client decided to “treat” me to familiar food and bought Pizza Hut. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I didn’t go halfway around the world to visit a different culture to experience my own country’s fast food
I’m from Mexico. The difference with the US is that in Mexico we actually season our food ( :P ).
But yes, I believe the difference was that I was actually expecting something more than just “edible” in Europe. I bought a beelinese in fucking Berlin, for God sake, and it was the most boring piece of bread I’ve tasted, and I got it in Berlin! Where the bread is from! And it taste like cardboard. I found a nice beelinese in Switzerland, though, and the best part is that I bought it at a convenience store lol.
I tried Currywurst as well, and it was just a sausage with ketchup and curry powder?!? WTF it reminded me to the cheap food I had to eat while being a broke college student. How in the hell is Currywurst something people want to eat?!? There was a queue and the place was a well-known venue… For a freaking sausage with ketchup!
I also had the worst pasta I’ve ever had in Europe. I can’t believe that being so close to Italy their pasta is so bland. I tried a local Italian “restaurant” to treat my and my SO, and lol the food was bad. It was ok for us, though. It was a hot meal for once, and the portions were great, but by no means I could call it “Italian food”.
At some point we got tired of wasting our money on “eating local” and opted for what we knew for a fast meal…
It’s fucking ridiculous that you’re downvoted for this. Consistency is why so many of these businesses succeed!
You can go to McDonald’s practically anywhere in the world and not be surprised by what you get. That’s a really fucking hard problem to solve, especially when suppliers aren’t obviously the same worldwide.
It’s why people go to Starbucks. You can go anywhere and get a coffee that isn’t the best, but is consistent and somewhat enjoyable, over trying the local barista that might use some fancy coffee you might not like, or charge a ton for a thimble of coffee that barely wakes you up/is like liquid crack.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting something that is familiar.
I can understand if other people had different experiences with McD: in the same trip I tried to buy KFC: in London to be precise, and it was the worst experience ever. The food was salty, and the place was so freaking dirty, loud and unpleasant. Still I find McD the most consistent fast food choice. That, and maybe Burger King.
I’ll be visiting Japan next year. My opinion may change after that.
