T.O.bites | Toronto Food & Restaurant Blog

McDonald's in China

I recently came back from a nearly month long trip to China, or rather the People’s Republic of China.  It also included a trip to Hong Kong, known globally for some of the best eating in the world.  Surprisringly, the number one question I get asked by friends isn’t “How was the Great Wall?” nor “How bad was the pollution in Beijing?”.  It’s actually “Did you have any McDonald’s while you were there?  How different is it from the McDonald’s here?”

Ah, McDonald’s.  The golden arches  are the most popular and internationally recognized logo, as far as fast food is concerned. Now mind you, China (Hong Kong especially) has some of the finest cuisine you can consume.  Even after eating some of the worlds best Dim Sum and Peking Duck for weeks on end, it’s comforting to know that you can always find a McDonald’s around the corner when you’re seeking a bit of a reminder of home.  Before going to China, I started hearing stories of McDonald’s only having Crab Burgers, or Shrimp fries.  This may sound quite delicious to most people, but having a shell fish allergy, it was bad news to me.  Thankfully for me, that was not the case, at least not in China.

McWings and Mango Soda

The fries were exactly the same, and all of the combos came with them.  The standard fare of drinks were present (Coke, Sprite, Diet Coke) but they did have a few more options, mainly being fruit sodas.  These concoctions were soda water mixed with a bit of fruit flavoring (mainly Mango, being the most popular fruit in Asia), but they also contained chunks of said fruit in the bottom of the cup.  They were delicious and fruity yet not too sweet like Coke and Sprite.  I only wish we had these types of fruit soda drinks on our own side of the world.

McDonald’s has the same favorites we know and love here:  The Big Mac, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, McNuggets, Fish Filet, McChicken Sandwich…  But what we don’t have is the extra chicken options they have.   You can get a grilled chicken sandwich which is marinated in teriyaki-like sauce,  and you can also get chicken wings.  Yes, chicken wings!  Not the best chicken wings I’ve had but a nice alternative to the usual boot-shaped Chicken McNuggets.  Going back to the grilled chicken sandwich, it was recommended to me by the cashier, as she said it was one of China’s most popular sandwiches from McDonald’s, and she wasn’t kidding.  Nearly every table had the sandwich on it, clearly distinct with it’s light blue wrapping, not unlike the Filet o’ Fish wrappings here.  She said the beef sandwiches aren’t as popular and mostly foreigners buy them.  I can’t say I was too thrilled with the grilled chicken sandwich though.  It was incredibly slimy and greasy, not to say that the beef burgers aren’t, but I just felt for a grilled chicken, it just seemed too greasy and less grilled.

The slimy grilled chicken sandwich

Now for dessert, there’s the usual sundaes like we have, and then there’s the pies.  In Canada we’ve got Apple and Strawberry, although the 2nd flavour usually changes from time to time.  I’ve never been to a McDonald’s which doesn’t serve apple pie though.  In China, they’ve got Egg Pie, Mango Pie, and Appl– wait, no Apple Pie?!  That’s right!  They’ve just got Egg Pie and Mango Pie.  Chinese people love their eggs as much as they love their mangos!

Mango Pie!

I only had a chance to try the mango pie while I was there, but I’m slightly indifferent to the experience of eating one.  Unlike our apple pies, which contain chunks of apples within them (whether the apples are real or not is up for debate, right alongside the french fries aren’t made from potatoes debate), the mango pies contain a pure mayonnaise consistency filling in them.  It sort of tastes like candy mangoes, incredibly sweet but not too tangy.  What it did actually remind me of was the taste of the liquid banana penicillin I was given as a child.

As for the prices, they were a bit cheaper then here but only by a few dollars.  $32HKD/$30RMB nets you a full combo (which is roughly $4.50 Canadian).  Also they don’t pay taxes on food in China so the price you see is the price you pay.  You may also notice the fries and drink sizes in the photo.  There are no supersize sizes in China, their large is about the size of our medium, and that’s about as big as the fries get.  For the drinks, you get a medium (as seen above) which is the size of small in Canada.  Their large size drinks only get as big as our mediums.  One thing about China is they love their tea and non-sweetened drinks way more than westerners do.  So their sweeter soft drinks tend to come in smaller sizes and cost a bit more than usual.

So how different is the McDonald’s in China?  Actually, not that different at all.  It’s got all the usual tasty yet so unhealthy goodness that we’ve come to expect, but with a nice cultural flare of magoes and slimy chicken.