I know, who the hell eats at McDonald’s when they’re on vacation right? Well, I’ve made it my personal jihad to check out McDonald’s in the different countries I visit for their localized menu items.
It’s like stamp collecting – how do you explain it? I can’t, an inexplicable urge came over me and I told the tuk tuk driver: “Bring me to your leader!”
I meant bring me to the nearest McDonald’s.
The first regional difference is their sauce – instead of chilli sauce, their chilli sauce is infused with garlic. Nice! There is no regular chilli sauce here.
McDonald’s is renowned for their signature Big Macs. The Big Macs in Sri Lanka comes in two variants – beef and chicken (due to the religious constitution – Hindus don’t eat beef).
The staff is very friendly and accommodating – but perhaps only to foreigners, since I noticed they were decidedly cold towards a local who was short LKR 50. I paid for her; it’s only RM 2, not a big deal to us, my good dead for the day. ;) I also got a free Coke from this scratch and win contest they’re having. It was either a drink, a t-shirt or a trip to South Africa to watch…you guessed it, cricket!
I ordered a McRice with Chicken (LKR 220 or USD 2.20). It also comes with the option of fish (since Sri Lanka is an island in the middle of the ocean) or vegetables (a sizable community here is vegetarian).
The chicken is nothing to write home about – it’s just a piece of fried chicken breast.
However, they do have a rather tasty sauce of onions with gravy that adds that extra dimension of taste to the chicken. The rice on the other hand, is really something I would take the time to draft a long correspondence back for!
The interesting thing about their rice is that it’s heavily flavored by various spices and comes with a side serving of shallots. I notice that Sri Lankans loves their red onions. It’s served at almost every meal!
I also got a Vegetarian Burger with Cheese (LKR 360 or USD 3.60). It’s obviously not for vegans due to the cheese but it tastes good – like the Vege Burger I had in Melbourne.
I was stuffed at that point but I insist on trying all their different menu items so I had a Chicken Big Mac (LKR 410 or USD 4.10) to go. It’s unusual, tastes like a McChicken instead of a Big Mac, but with two all-beef chicken patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.
The other thing I noticed about McDonald’s in Sri Lanka is that they don’t have proper sealed sauces for take away.
They use a flat round container instead. This is how it looks like beside a LKR 5 coin. I’m not sure if this is a recipe for botulism but since it’s Maccas I guess they should have reasonable standards, even in Sri Lanka. ;)
McDonald’s in Sri Lanka is quite expensive when you consider the currency exchange. I paid the equivalent of RM 12 for a Chicken Big Mac. I don’t know how it rates on the Big Mac Index by The Economist magazine, but it’s certainly not cheap.
Posted: 10:04 PM Sri Lanka time.
Woh…chicken big mac…first time hearing it…didn’t even know there was such a thing that exist until now…
how did u even manage to stuff all the food down ur belly??? i thought the portion look quite large…
I’m not a fan of fast food.
But during my conference trip in Bali, the same dishes and rice was served tds*-ly!!
(tds* in Latin= THREE TIME DAILY! )
I burst into tears half way thru’ the congress! I ordered delivery for KFC and McD!
actually, it’s kinda funny when I think back. lol
i’m first here i guess?
bro the fried rice/spice rice there looks really good. 1-10 how’d u think it fare?
The rice didn’t look too appealing to me. Hahaha but vegetarian burger looks good! Hahaha they should have it in Msia! And, eh you traveling alone ?
HB, your meal seem not bad for when I was in Beijing the city of many people, getting a table was not easy. The moment sat down other customers would eye you in Will You Eat Fast So We could Use Your Table that kind of looks.
I like trying many places with Mcdonalds for all have special food of that country.
HB, your meal seem not bad for when I was in Beijing the city of many people, getting a table was not easy. The moment sat down other customers would eye you in Will You Eat Fast So We could Use Your Table that kind of looks.
I like trying many places with Mcdonalds for all have special food of that country.
HB, awesome Garden Big Mac. I do like Garden Burger at time to stay healthy and your photo of it made head out to get some to make at home.
hb, u went there for business trip?
Me too me too!
Alws go to McDs in every ctry i went!
DA BAO FOR ME..!!! =X
HOW COME MALAYSIA’S NO HAVE SUCH YUMMO BRUGERS ONE???
T__________T
Big Mac Index (from wikipedia)
Five most expensive (as of 4 February 2009)
Norway – USD 5.79
Switzerland – USD 5.60
Denmark – USD 5.07
Sweden – USD 4.58
Eurozone – USD 4.38
Five most affordable
Malaysia – USD 1.70
Hong Kong – USD 1.71
China, People’s Republic of – USD 1.83
Thailand – USD 1.86
Sri Lanka – USD 1.95
:)
the chicken breasts look horrible lor but i may love the rice and red onions :D gee Sri Lanka.
Cheong Hao: It is very large…I think I puked it up last night. I’m about to puke now too, ate too much today in my determination to try all the Sri Lankan dishes. :S
cynthia: Haha! Yeah, you told me. I like to check out the McD’s in different countries – this one has a lot of similar menu items, except for the three I ate. :)
shutterbug86: I’ll rate it an 8. I love the spiced rice with red onions on top. It’s delicious! :)
chefmel: It tastes great though. :)
Yup, travelling alone, backpacking (not really la since I’m staying at Holiday Inn) though Colombo and the outskirts – have been to all the districts here and some outlying places. :)
Vickie: Haha! That happens in all highly populated cities, I reckon. :)
Michael (Mike): Garden Big Mac? I haven’t had that before. :)
xSean: Nope, it’s my vacation! :)
thenomadGourmand: Comrade! It’s nice eh? To see what each country has on it’s localized menu. :)
Jan: Hmm…I doubt it’ll be good when it arrives though. :)
annant: I don’t know, the rice is cheap but burgers are damn expensive over here. I can’t figure out why. Hmm…
paul: Eh, that’s not right. The Big Mac over here (burger only, a la carte) is LKR 410 which works out to USD 4.10. It should be in the top 5 most expensive instead of the least expensive. The Economist better come and do a survey again. Heh! :)
jg: Sri Lanka is awesome! It’s a very nice place, chilling by the beach, with barbed wire and the navy with assault rifles just a meter away, and HUGE waves. ;)
1st time i’m seeing rice in macd. they look quite alright. sorry to hear that you’d lost rm1100, that’s really a huge sum of money. just be extra careful next time ya..
Based on economist, the cost of Big Mac is only LKR 210 as compare with LKR 410 u paid. Either Economist is wrong or u kena cheat :)
(http://www.oanda.com/products/bigmac/bigmac.shtml)
cindy khor: Yup, the rice here is not regular rice either. It’s spiced rice with lots of red onions. Very nice!
Yeah, oh well, I won’t let that ruin my vacation. I’ll just make do with what I have! :)
paul: Eh, The Economist is wrong. ;)
Haha! Seriously, I took a photo for proof. Here it is uploaded to Twitpic:
http://twitpic.com/fub03
LKR 410 or USD 4.10. I shall email The Economist about their error! :)
Veggie burger looks good. So does the rice. Wish we had those at the McDonalds here I might actually go there then because I really like veggie burgers, and don’t eat red meat. However the chicken looks kind of gross. Anyways enjoy Sri Lanka.
bigwillie: Yeah, it’s pretty good stuff. I like McDonald’s in the states though, you guys have a lot of stuff we don’t. Cheers! I’m enjoying my vacation! :)
Wow. The rice sure seems like an exciting thing to try. I have to say our localised version of McD sucks. They could’ve been more creative by infusing even more local delicacies into their(Malaysia) menu. After all we’re a multi-racial country with an abundance of ‘interesting’ foods. ;) The possibilities are endless!
Haha…. I always love MCD no matter where is it xD
I think Malaysia is still the cheapest on the Big Mac Index.
nice post. the rice is special ya =]
;) :) :)
Looks yummy
But the price surely quite expensive
Right now in Melbourne (not so sure about the rest of Australia)they’re having these very luxurious beef burgers- Mighty Angus and Grand Angus. The beef patties of both burgers are made from 100% Angus beef. The difference between the two is their toppings. Mighty Angus- Relish; Grand Angus- Gourmet Salad. Personally I prefer Mighty as I’m a relish lover. So gonna tapau these back to Malaysia, man. :D
Cheers: Indeed! We should have a more localized menu. Bubur Ayam McD doesn’t cut it. :)
Tony Wan: Heh! I’m a big fan too so I go to McD in every country I visit. :)
Simon Seow: Yeah, it actually is! :)
Jacqueline Ang: Yup, it’s the Sri Lanka localized menu – very nice, with the authentic red onions (they really love the stuff over here). :)
mknace: Yeah, it’s more expensive than Malaysia but still worth a try. :)
SW: OMG!!!!!!!!!!! That sounds awesome! Can. You. Tapau. For. Me. Please. ??? :)
If logistics allow, I will tapau some and save one each for you. ;)
SW: Thanks! I would love to sample those two. :)
i love it, HB. I am an omnivore. like a bear. have eaten excelent vegan meals from friends I’ll eat any thing.But morre carvivore,
dont give me a BLT with out the B I love grilled mushrooms. But dont slap one into a hb bun and tell me it is a whopper. hope all is well. I enjoy your site, HB. Thhanks
thanks hb, for educating me via your site about living KL and ML . Not being a smart ass, at all.. Thanks. It is easier to be friends the more we know each other. D’accord? tom.
tom r: I love bacon too! Heh! Best thing since sliced bread (perhaps even better). This is McDonald’s in Sri Lanka btw, which is pretty far from Malaysia (3.5 hour flight) and it’s closer to India and Pakistan.
Yup, I totally agree, my friend. :)
i purchased 4 big mac meals from your sri lankan outlet in welisara on 27/04/2010,and found out iso lettuce that they are using chinese cabbage! My kids were quite sick after the meal and when i asked the manager he said ‘theres a shortage of lettuce in sri lanka’ ! mind you KFC, located a few miles away had lettce!thay should be ashamed of them self.i intend to bring this to the notice of the local newspapapers.i would like a reply asap as i would like to know if you are aware of this rather sad situation
russell diaz: Hello there! I’m just writing about it, I don’t own McD in Sri Lanka. Try contacting them via their official site? :)
Hay get your facts right dude! :) Sri Lanka is not a Hindu country like India. It’s mainly a Buddhist country (75%). And the reason they have veggies in rice isn’t because most of ppl are vegetarian. In fact most of people eat meat. But because Sri Lankan version of ‘fried rice’ have veggies. And also Sri Lankans eat vegetable curries & meat as ‘THE’ combination with rice. Next time you should ASK someone about the facts that you imagine about a country or culture before you assume things based on your limited knowledge.
And as for the 50 Rupees, Wouldn’t some one react the same for RM50 or $50? I’m not saying the crew was right but 50 bucks is a big amount in SL. The fact that you use it as some thing that would not happen in your country makes me laugh.
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