fast food

McDonald's McDelivery damn McInefficient and made me damn McTulan

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mcdelivery

McDonald’s McDelivery is using a centralized ordering system for all branches throughout Malaysia using its 1300-13-1300 number, which is based in Klang Valley. I had a McAttack last night (not a McHeartAttack, you only get those after the meal) and surfed to McDonald’s McDelivery website to get the number to call.

They insisted delivery services close after 10 pm. I asked them for the Kuching McDonald’s branch number and called that number.

Kuching told me that delivery services is open till 11 pm. Unfortunately, I cannot order through them as I had to go through the 1300 centralized system in Klang Valley.

I called the 1300 number and told them about Kuching’s later delivery services and they insisted that delivery services in Kuching closes at 10 pm. F@*(#*&@#!!!oneone how dare you tell me when Kuching delivery closes when you’re not in Kuching, idiot-on-a-phone!!!!!oneonefuckone!!!

I got super McPissedOff and (insert standard procedure to deal with uncooperative front line staff) and they finally relented and put my order though.

mcdelivery arrive

The McDonald’s McDelivery staff finally reached my place at about 11 pm. Damn McDonald’s…what if I was McStoned and McDrunk and McFuckedUp and drove to the outlet instead and McHit-and-Run innocent grandmothers rolling a trolley while McDrivingWhileIntoxicated?

mcdelivery chilli sauce

…at least they had they decency to give me plenty of chilli sauce. Literally.

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Burger King BK Lamb Promotion

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bk asian station klia

Burger King has two outlets at KLIA – there is a large one in the public accessible area and other one adjacent to Asian statioN inside the main concourse. The departure lounge BK shares the space with Asian statioN with a common seating area though I’m not sure if the two establishments are related.

bk lamb promotion

I saw a BK Lamb Promotion for RM 12.90 and decided to order the meal since Burger King doesn’t serve lamb / mutton so I thought it was pretty unusual for them to have a lamb meat based burger. I haven’t seen a BK which serves lamb, so I just had to check it out.

bk lamb meal

This is what the BK Lamb Promotion meal looks like – there’s the Burger King lamb burger (wrapped in a BK wrapper that’s labeled “Special”) with the standard medium fries and a medium coke. I’m not sure if the BK Lamb Promotion is just available in the KLIA Burger King or in other outlets as well.

bk lamb burger

Here’s a shot of the BK Lamb Burger – it’s a long (as opposed to round) burger and the bun looks like the ones they use on their sandwiches. It took longer than usual for the burger to come out (also ordered three other burgers to bring back to Kuching for friends since we don’t have BK over here) compared to the standard menu items.

bk lamb burger contents

The contents of the lamb burger doesn’t exactly look appetizing…there is a slab of lamb coated with thick black pepper sauce, tomato slices and chunky lettuce which keeps on dropping out of the burger.

bk lamb burger bite

It might not look like much, but the taste of the burger is excellent! This is what a proper Prosperity Burger [sixthseal.com] should taste like! I love the lamb meat – it’s a nice change from the usual suspects…the Chicken, Beef, Fish fast food holy trinity.

It’s a great burger, flame grilled BBQ style like most of Burger King’s offerings.

Mmm…lamb!

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Coffee Bean eXtreme CARAMBA Ice Blended

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coffee bean extreme caramba

Coffee Bean has a seasonal drinks promotion and the latest one is the eXtreme CARAMBA Ice Blended. It retails for RM 11 and it comes with the tagline “Get ready to Rhumba”.

extreme caramba

It’s a great drink…the predominant taste is chocolate and no, we do not have a Starbucks in Kuching yet. I’m down with the flu now so I’ll post again tomorrow and reply all the comments then. Cheers!

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Starbucks Chinese New Year promotional drink – Caramel Macchiato

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starbucks caramel macchiato promo

Starbucks is having another festive themed drink to commemorate the upcoming Lunar New Year with the Caramel Macchiato (RM 13.50). The promotional poster has Chinese letters on it and other festive decors like firecrackers and the tagline is an uninspiring “Celebrating with Coffee”.

starbucks caramel macchiato

I passed by the Starbucks at MidValley Megamall after work just now and decided to have a large Caramel Macchiato. It’s two shots of espresso into foamed milk and it’s decorated with the signature criss-cross caramel topping.

starbucks caramel macchiato froth

It tastes great but for the life of me, I cannot correlate the relationship between a Caramel Macchiato and the upcoming Lunar New Year.

It makes my brain hurt just thinking about it so I’m going out clubbing tonight since all the work is done. 😉

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McDonald’s Prosperity Burger Chicken and Prosperity Desserts

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prosperity burger chicken banner

McDonalds’s is having their inaugural promotional burger – the Prosperity Burger
to commemorate the Chinese New Year celebrations. The Prosperity Burger
is an elongated burger with a beef patty (chicken this year) saturated
with black pepper sauce and onions.

prosperity burger chicken stand

The Prosperity Burger 2006 now implements a chicken
patty instead of a beef patty, which makes sense from a marketing point
of view – a chicken burger would have a larger demographic compared to
a beef patty (missing out on the Hindu market).

prosperity burger chicken menu

Everyone eats chicken except vegetarians and vegans, but those
people shouldn’t be going to McDonald’s anyway. 😉 The recent years has
watched a shift in the Prosperity Burger set from just the burger
itself to the introduction of curly fries (first debut in ’94 as a side
order with the Sambal Burger, and yes I’m such a McDonald’s geek :p).

prosperity burger chicken 2006

The past two years has also witnessed the introduction of the
tagline “Enjoy the Many Tastes of Prosperity” with the whole range of
the Prosperity Burger set as well as “Prosperity Desserts”. The Orange
McFizz (Sprite with Minute Maid OJ) comes standard with the meal and
there are orange themed desserts – the Peach Orange sundae and the
Peach Orange McFlurry with come under the banner of Prosperity Desserts.

prosperity burger chicken twister fries

Twister Fries replaces the standard fries in this
Prosperity Burger meal. It’s a twisty version of fries that seems like
it has been dunked into the deep fryer more than once, giving it a
crispy outer layer. It’s great, especially when you bite straight
through the spiral, spawning multiple mini Twister Fries. 🙂

prosperity burger chicken orange mcfizz

This is the Orange McFizz – a relatively recent
introduction which sees the mixture of Minute Maid orange juice with
Sprite. It tastes surprisingly good (and it has Vitamin C) and it has
earned its place in McDonald’s permamenu. It’s now paired with the
Prosperity Burger meal to complete the orange themed spirit (Mandarin
oranges and orange = gold = wealth).

prosperity burger orange sundae

This is the Peach Orange sundae (RM 2.80) which
comes in an orange swirl of colors, with the abstract orange syrup
adorning the entire circumference of the sundae cup and with the
presentation topped off with Mandarin orange pieces and peach chunks.

prosperity burger orange mcflurry

The Peach Orange McFlurry (RM 4.50) is the McFlurry
version of the Peach Orange sundae. It tastes the same and also has the
orange and peach pieces blended into the concoction, giving it the
distinctive orange hue.

prosperity burger chicken

This is the main feature of the meal – the Prosperity Burger
(RM 9.88). It didn’t come in the Prosperity Burger wrapper coz it’s
probably too early on and I berated them for not having it yesterday
even though they were advertising it (partly due to the fact that I had
to search for a parking space and thus, I took it out on them ;)). The
burger didn’t look too good, and there must have been a mess up
somewhere coz I KNOW for a fact that Prosperity Burger has always had
onions – raw onions at that, that’s why I love them.

prosperity burger chicken onions

The Prosperity Burger didn’t have the thick slathering of black
pepper sauce that was in all the previous iterations of the Prosperity
Burger and the square cut chicken patty looks so familiar it evoked a
strong feeling of déjà vu…and then it clicked! It’s the EXACT same
patty used in the McDonald’s Grilled Chicken Foldover [sixthseal.com] that tanked! They’re reusing the exact same patty for the Prosperity Burger!

prosperity burger chicken bite

Dammit McDonald’s, you McSwindled me… :p

Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino Light Blended Coffee Christmas Special

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starbucks christmas drinks

Starbucks has this sign proclaiming that The Christmas Drinks Are Here
in a nicely decorated chalkboard design full of holiday cheer (Joy to
All) at their Midvalley Megamall franchise just now, and we went in to
sample this year’s seasonal lineup while waiting out the heavy rain
earlier this evening.

starbucks christmas drinks 2005

There are two new offerings for the Christmas season in the
traditional two drink format (one hot drink and one cold one, usually a
frap). There is Crème Brulee Latte for the ones who
prefer hot coffee in sizes of Tall, Grande and Venti for RM 11, RM
12.50 and RM 13.50 respectively. The ice blended offering for this
Christmas is the Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino Light Blended Coffee that also comes in sizes of Tall, Grande and Venti for RM 12, RM 13 and RM 14.

starbucks christmas cheer

The Christmas decorations seems to have been put up too, despite
being still a good month (and then some) away from Christmas day, but
that’s pretty standard since consumerism reigns king for the most
profitable holiday season for most retailers. The airwaves were also
filled with Christmas carols, inspiring a yearning for material
oriented spending in this glorious holiday, which has pretty much lost
its significance a long time ago. 😉

starbucks peppermint frappe venti

Anyway, being one to contribute positively to the country’s economy
(er…patronizing Starbucks franchises in Malaysia counts as domestic
spending, right?) I ordered a large (Venti) Peppermint Mocha
Frappuccino Light Blended Coffee. It comes with whipped cream and red
sprinkles on top to add more color to the festive cheer.

starbucks peppermint frappe sprinkles

The Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino Light Blended Coffee
tastes surprisingly good, despite my initial impression that Starbucks
didn’t seem to be very innovative with this year’s Christmas lineup.
The mocha based Frappuccino retains a strong chocolate taste, and the
strong peppermint sneaks up on you with a strong minty aftertaste with
each drink.

I don’t know what peppermint has to do with Christmas though, but hey, it only happens once a year… 😉

Pizza Hut Mystical Moroccan Pizza

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mystical moroccan pizza door

Pizza Hut came out with another new pizza in commemoration of the Muslim celebration with the Mystical Moroccan Pizza. The Mystical Moroccan Pizza is a unique square pizza (instead of the usual round ones) that comes with the tagline – Discover the Exotic Flavors of Morocco.

The Mystical Moroccan Pizza comes with a similarly themed Pizza Hut
“spinner” game which is now standard with all new promotional pizzas.
The spinner games give the patrons who order the promotional pizza
incentives in the form of free food and drink, depending on the luck of
the spin.

mystical spin

This one is called The Mystical Spin and plays on the
square shape of the pizza. The two spinners are called the “Destination
Spinner” and “Number Spinner” and the first one directs the player into
one of the four quadrants which depicts holy sites in the Islam faith.
The prime prize is always another promotional pizza. I got the
Breadstix and asked to change that to a Pepsi instead (coz I was
thirsty).

puff pastry soup

There is also an option to upgrade the Soup of the Day to Puff Pastry Soup
for RM 1 which I highly recommend. The Puff Pastry Soup is actually
baked in the kitchen and not from the (admittedly) slightly disgusting
container where the communal Soup of the Day is located. It comes with
a pastry top and the entire soup container is piping hot!

puff pastry soup tomato

The Puff Pastry Soup comes with an option of tomato soup or mushroom
soup and it’s made to order, with the pastry baked WITH the soup and
that makes all the difference. The soup comes out scalding hot and the
puff pastry on top works very well when dunked into the soup and let to
soak for a bit. Tabasco sauce goes very well with the soup that Pizza
Hut serves (Campbell).

mystical moroccan pizza square

This is the Mystical Moroccan Pizza – it’s a square (!) pizza that
comes with the pitch “The new Mystical Moroccan Pizza is a culinary
adventure! Enjoy golden slices of dried apricots, roasted onions,
olives, and chicken or beef marinated with exotic herbs. All topped on
a spread of savory and sweet Moroccan sauce. Get a taste of Morocco
with every bite!”

mystical moroccan pizza closer

The advertising hyperbole aside, the Mystical Moroccan Pizza really
does taste good. The Pizza Hut attendant came over and asked us to do a
customer survey for the Puff Pastry Soup and the Mystical Moroccan
Pizza and I told her that they’re both good, and that all we needed was
a shisha for an authentic experience. 😉

mystical moroccan pizza slice

Here’s a closer look at the Mystical Moroccan Pizza – it has beef
pieces and olives as well as dried apricots and I like the square shape
of the pizza, which allows for even slices of pizza that’s easy to
hold. It’s a great pizza, much better than the usual promotional Pizza
Hut fare. I told Ericka that all I needed was some hashish and I’ll
think I’m in Morocco, that’s how good the pizza is…

KFC Bandito Pockett Pineapple Salsa Sauce

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kfc bandito pockett

KFC just came out with a new Mexican themed wrap called the Bandito Pockett with Pineapple Salsa Sauce.
It features a lot of cultural themed advertisements that Hispanics
would probably find offensive due to the heavily stereotyped
distillation of their culture. It’s a good thing we don’t have a large
Hispanic population over here. 😉

bandito flex

The KFC Bandito Pockett Pineapple Salsa Sauce is unusual in the
promotional arena due to the emphasis on action oriented lifestyle
concepts that is so predominant in this ad campaign. There is a
distinctively “macho” feel to the promotional material which comes with
taglines like “Flex your muscles to the people inside”.

bandito jump

The taglines range from vaguely interesting and chuckle inducing to
the overboard trying-too-hard-to-be-funny promotional cardboard place
cards. There are Bandito Pockett promotional banners lining the top of
the KFC franchise with the phrase “Jump and touch this”,
which toes the line between cheesy humor and plain unfunny but the one
that takes the cake is the promo liner holding the ketchup – it goes “Start an arm wrestling match with the person sitting opposite you”.

It’s truly cringe inducing…

bandito front

Anyway, back to the food, here’s a look at the KFC Bandito Pockett
Pineapple Salsa Sauce packaging – it has a cardboard wrap that requires
opening, a design surprisingly similar to the McDonald’s Grilled Chicken Foldover [sixthseal.com].

bandito back

The back of the cardboard wrap has details with illustrations on “How to enjoy your Bandito Pockett”
and it evokes a feeling of deja vu due to the remarkable resemblance to
the illustrations of the cardboard wrap on the McDonald’s Chicken
Foldover (comes with the shit eating grin as well). It was probably
subbed to the same manufacturer.

bandito pockett

This is what the KFC Bandito Pockett Pineapple Salsa wrap looks like
– there’s a piece of Hot and Spicy chicken in there, mayo, lettuce and
salsa. The tray liner describes the ingredients more eloquently than I
am capable of:

How the Mexicans Eat Right & Stay Fit with the KFC Bandito Pockett

Lettuce
Rich in Vitamin A
Improves eyesight so we avoid running into cactuses (shouldn’t it be cacti?)

Mayonnaise
Rich in Vitamin E
Good for the heart, especially when you’re playing ‘avoid-the-rattlesnakes’ in the desert.

Cardboard wrapper
Made of high quality paper
High in Fiber.
(Warning: Not for eating)

Hot & Spicy 100% real chicken fillet
Rich in protein and bird flu carrier
Builds muscles for climbing over tall fences (and takes it all away again when avian flu sets in).

Pineapple salsa sauce with real pineapples
Lots of Vitamin C
Prevents colds in case some donkey sneezes on us.

Tortilla flatbread
Low in fat
So we can jump on our horses without breaking their backs.

I made up that bird flu bit btw; no one in their right mind would want to highlight that in KFC. 😉

bandito bite

The KFC Bandito Pockett Pineapple Salsa Sauce is actually pretty
good – it’s lighter than the McDonald’s Chicken Foldover and the choice
of using a Hot & Spicy chicken fillet makes it taste really good.

bandito pockett wrap

Hmm…I’m seriously thinking about having another one despite the fact that I just ate there this afternoon.

Now, that’s fast food for ya…

Shokudo – Little Treasures of Fusion

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shokudo

Shokudo is the Japanese-Thai Fusion eating
establishment located at Mid Valley Megamall. It is a franchise
operation – the other sister outlet is located at Suria KLCC and it’s
called Shoku-Thai (or something to that effect). Shokudo is essentially
a quick service eatery featuring Japanese style presentation and
Japanese-Thai Fusion food.

There is a large banner menu mounted on the wall of Shokudo and it
was interesting enough to attract my attention. There are various
photos and descriptions of Shokudo’s portfolio, with the flagship item
featured prominently in the middle – the Shokudo Fusion Bento.

shokudo fusion bento

The Shokudo Fusion Bento retails for RM 18.90 and
there are options to add on items, which reminded me of a fast food
establishment (which is what Shokudo essentially is). I went for Add On
A, which comes with miso soup, free flow drinks and dessert.

shokudo free refill

The other interesting parallel with fast food outlets is the Free
Refill feature that’s becoming more common in fast service franchises.
True to the roots of it’s Japanese fusion cuisine, there is green tea
(iced and hot) in addition to the various sodas available from the
dispenser and a self-service ice machine.

shokudo interior

This is what the seating arrangements at Shokudo looks like – there
are various configurations of different seating designs. There is also
a notice to warn patrons about the elevated floor, which I did not
digest until I nearly tripped on the outcrop. I nearly lost my balance,
but luckily I managed to realign the center of gravity and mustered
what little dignity I had left to nonchalantly take a seat. 😉

shokudo bento

This is the Shokudo Fusion Bento, the flagship of Shokudo.

shokudo bento box

Here’s a closer look at the Shokudo Fusion Bento Box – I’ll go through a run down of the items in the bento box.

shokudo bento rice

The main item of the Shokudo Fusion Bento is the fragrant rice sprinkled with black sesame seeds (?) for flavoring.

shokudo bento curry

There is a spicy Thai curry chicken dish beside the rice. Shokudo
serves Japanese-Thai Fusion food and true to the claim, the Thai curry
was very spicy. It’s good.

shokudo bento salad

The top left container of the Shokudo Fusion Bento contains
“Japanese salad mix” and it comes with a small container of Thousand
Island dressing (on the side, obviously).

shokudo bento main

The top right corner of the Shokudo Fusion Bento Box is filled with
the mains. It’s chock full of all sorts of goodies. There’s pandan
chicken (the ones wrapped in leaves), gyoza (deep fried dumplings) and
a whole fish head.

Shokodo seems like a promising fast service Japanese fusion
franchise. There are a lot of menu items that looks interesting but I
just managed to sample the flagship tonight. I’ll be heading back again
to try out the other dishes.

Pizza Hut Pesto Meatballs Pizza

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pesto pizza hut

The new Pizza Hut Pesto Meatballs Pizza comes with
the tagline “A True Italian Feast Awaits You” and it’s described as “a
freshly baked pan pizza coated in savory tomato pesto sauce made of
basil leaves and garlic, then topped with juicy, premium Italian
meatballs”.

The advertisement for the Pesto Meatballs Pizza even features the
word “Eccellente!”. Excellent, I thought. 😉 We went to Pizza Hut to
check out the new Pesto Meatballs Pizza – this was in Sibu, I forgot to
write about it until now.

pesto meatballs pizza double spinner

The tradition of having a spinner game is still retained with this
new Pizza Hut promotion. The Pesto Meatballs Pizza comes with a Double
Spinner game to allow the patron to choose (kinda, it depends on Lady
Luck) from a wide range of Pizza Hut menu items from drinks to pizzas.

pesto tortilla pasta salad

We ordered the Pesto Set 2 since there’s a party of four, and that
comes with a large Pesto Meatballs Pan Pizza, a tortilla pasta salad
(choice of Cool Lime Veggie or Thousand Island Tuna – we went for the
former), 4 pieces of Breadstix (choice of Parmesan or Hazelnut Cinnamon
– we opted for the latter), 4 soup of the day and a pitcher of Pepsi.
The Cool Lime Veggie tortilla pasta salad was good – I love meals where
the serving receptacle can be consumed. 😉

pesto icy golden delights

Pizza Hut also has a new dessert promotion – The Golden Icy
Delights, which is “an exciting combination for the adventurous”. It’s
rich golden potato balls served with vanilla ice cream and topped with
yummy drizzles of chocolate. It’s really good! The hot potato balls
(doesn’t sound quite right, but it tastes right :p) with ice cream
provides a contrast and texture that’s very interesting and tasty.

pesto meatballs pizza chicken

Here’s the Pizza Hut Pesto Meatballs Pan Pizza – there is an option
for chicken or beef meatballs and we choose the latter for maximum
compatibility (everyone eats chicken). The new Pesto Meatballs Pizza is
delicious, although the initial sight was a little disappointing due to
the discrepancies between the marketing literature, which shows
absolutely huge meatballs and the much smaller meatballs in the real thing.

pesto meatballs pizza wing

I suggest that Pizza Hut can pick up our new variant of the Pesto Meatballs Pan Pizza – I present to you, the Pizza Hut Pesto Chicken Wings Pizza! 😉

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