Pommes frites servis avec un coulis de tomate
My anarchist mates, my foodie friends, would be horrified if they knew my secret vice: every so often I go to McDonalds.
Decor: hard, shiny, not allowed to sit down.
Service: Young, generally foreign. I asked if they could wipe down the counters which had blobs of other people’s food on them. They didn’t understand the word ‘counters’.
I once went to a McDonalds with my mother. She sat down and asked
“when is the waitress coming?”
For mains I chose the filet o’ fish meal. I didn’t have it ‘supersized’.
The fishburger is one of my favourites. I always know if I’m pregnant because I start craving this. I totally love the gherkin sauce. This fish however was a little over-fried.
The trick with McDonalds fries is to eat them very quickly. If you take more than a minute, they harden into cardboard. They are accompanied by, on request, Heinz ketchup. Which is good cos, barring having it home-made, Heinz is the best.
Drink was a recent vintage of Coke (which I prefer to Pepsi). Did you know that in France, Coke is given as a medecine for a bad tummy? In Mexico Coke is made with natural sugar cane. In countries where they prefer Pepsi, Coke is made to taste more like Pepsi.
View: Kings Cross….a weathered man (although quite sexy under the hair and tache) handing out cheap phone cards, businessmen drinking Cadbury’s milkshakes (how can we take them seriously?), herds of people with wheely suitcases…traffic, grime, police, sirens, the usual downtown utopia stuff of dreams…
Price: £3.99p
Kings Cross
Corner of Caledonian rd and Pentonville rd.
N.1.
No booking required.
MissWhiplash
July 16, 2009 at 2:55 pmI remember once going to McDonalds with my granny when I was quite young.
She couldn't eat any of her food because there was no cutlery…
Lizzie
July 16, 2009 at 2:56 pmWhat?! I bloody love Maccy D's.
When I was a wee nipper I used to go for a cheeseburger and some chicken nuggets on the side (with sweet n' sour sauce, natch) as an after school snack.
Nowadays, sometimes I cave in to a sausage and egg mcmuffin with a hash brown on the side, but I also love the 79p cheeseburgers. Mmm – those gherkins!
My reputation is ruined.
Helen
July 16, 2009 at 3:01 pmI admit it – I eat McDonald's about once every two months – depending on alcohol consumption. The cheeseburgers are great – I love the buns. I love the pickles.
Dan
July 16, 2009 at 3:38 pmWhilst on one of those steaming drunk, staggering walks to the station for the train home, nothing quite beats a couple of McDonalds Double Cheeseburgers.
I remember once coming out of a Gallery Preview one evening in Hoxton and dragging myself to McDonalds….then munching happily on my Double Cheeseburgers as I ploughed slowly through the City and home.
I approached the darkened Bank of England where a mob of equally drunken city workers were heading the other way. As I ambled past, they noticed my cheeseburgers and with shouts of "give us a bite" drunkenly lurched inwards – a maelstrom of gnashing teeth, I ducked and weaved emerging the other side triumphant and giggling.
No one got a bite.
It was that kind of good natured fun with passing strangers you only get when your all utterly bladdered.
I also remember just arriving in Prague one winter and feeling a bit out of my depth and also starving hungry decided that the easiest and safest bet before immersing myself in the language and culture would be get something from the Maccy D's across the Road…..30 minutes later, after being involved in a group discussion involving 5 McDonalds staff members, a Manager and numerous observations from other Czech bystanders I emerged clutching my Meal, humbled and scared of ordering food anywhere else in Prague. (I had no problems anywhere else!)
So – I love a McDonalds, not only does it provide cheap on the run (or on the p*ss) food. It provides me with anecdotes.
theundergroundrestaurant
July 16, 2009 at 3:47 pmhehe Dan. So curry is not the only meal of choice once you have drunk too much in Blighty? McDonalds sweet buns do a good soaking up job too…
Mark Ngui
July 16, 2009 at 4:49 pmI left this comment on twitter:
"There's nothing wrong with McDonalds! Even Pierre Hermé has said he eats there, albeit not very often at all."
Actually I think I think it was in the context of his awareness of popular flavours.
I am all about the Le Big Mac with fries and an orange juice. And in the morning, I agree with Lizzie, it's all about the Sausage and Egg McMuffin with a Hash Brown.
greendrawers
July 16, 2009 at 5:12 pmthank you. we are relieved of our communal food burden. personally, BK fries are better, but are harder to find in rural england. such is life.
green drawers x
TheFastestIndian
July 17, 2009 at 9:25 amI think I was in that very same McDonalds a couple of weeks ago as required food before getting a late train home from King's Cross. I too had the fish but removed the gherkin.
Was all very acceptable at about 11:30pm but not somewhere I usually go more than once evey couple of years.
Think I see it more as emergency food when I'm out and about somewhere, whereas if I was home post-night out I'd be tucking into a big bowl of Burt's crips.
The Shed
July 17, 2009 at 2:44 pmI can't say I'm a huge fan, though I've made it my mission to eat a McLobster burger in Canada one day…..
neil
July 19, 2009 at 11:05 amFillet o fish is the best and so unpopular they always make it fresh*
I can't stomach their breakfasts though, they always sound much better than they taste.
*loose terminology
theundergroundrestaurant
July 19, 2009 at 7:31 pmThe fastest Indian: I realise I am somewhat treading on your fast food toes with this here little review.
Hey, wouldn't it be a really nerdy cool blog if someone reviewed every franchise of Macdo, studying the little differences?
Canal Explorer
July 19, 2009 at 9:25 pmHahaha, my local! I've never eaten from here though I may have used the loo. I don't even do that anymore though, since I got scared Damon Albarn might see me walking out of a branch. Starbucks is now my loo stop, as they're equally ubiquitous.
I did go through a phase, at about 12-13 years of age, of going into the Middleton MacDonalds, going along with the group, especially after swimming (though chips with curry sauce and gravy from the 'chippy' took over in later years).
I only really ever got a milkshake – the chocolate one was my favourite. I did try those horrible little ice creams too. I shudder now to think how unhealthy they are. Thank goodness it was only a brief teenage thing.
At age 17 I was once persuaded by a (much older) boyfriend to have a Burger King 'beanburger' at Paddington Station, only to be told by my college friend back in Oldham, who worked for them, that it wasn't actually vegetarian. YUK.
theundergroundrestaurant
July 19, 2009 at 9:26 pmReally? I used to like those beanburgers…how wasn't it veggie?
Canal Explorer
July 19, 2009 at 9:53 pmNo idea, sorry. I think maybe they were cooked in lard or something. This was in about 1999. I think they're veggie now, but feel so betrayed wouldn't go back. Same with nestle milk chocolate (used animal rennet in production of their whey powder)