Chinese influences at McDonalds Hong Kong

One of the fun things that I like to do when I am traveling abroad, is to see what kinds of items the local McDonalds has on the menu that I do not have back home. It is quite funny to see what kind of dishes people can come up with in a fast food setting. You also learn a bit about the local culture.

Chinese Lunar new year McDonalds specials


For Chinese Lunar new year, McDonalds Hong Kong has introduced two Prosperity burgers (one with a chicken meat patty and another with a beef patty) and special edition side dishes: twister fries, crayfish soup and a red bean pie instead of the normal apple pie. Red beans is a very popular filling for Asian desserts. I am really curious how it will taste with the crusty pie crust. :)    


Warm breakfasts at McDonalds Hong Kong


Hong Kong people like to eat a warm, hearty breakfast such as rice porridge, fried dough sticks, and fried noodles at the small diners on the street. These cha chaan teng have a variety of breakfast dishes and menu's. To accommodate to that, McDonalds has two types of Twisty pasta dishes on the breakfast menu: Sausage n' Egg and Grilled Chicken. As broth, you can choose the original chicken broth or the recently added Tonkatsu (pork) flavored broth. It also has a handful of vegetables, so it can be considered as a healthy breakfast. By ordering the extra value breakfast set, you will get a hash brown and a cup of coffee together with the bowl of pasta. You can also swap the cup of coffee for a cup of hot soy milk. I totally love soy milk for breakfast. ^_^

Update: they added a new soup flavor, cheesy pasta, and the topping, Ham N' Egg.


Midnight snacks at McDonalds Hong Kong


There is also a habit in Hong Kong of eating mid-night snacks (in Chinese: Siu Yeh). McDonalds also has an answer for that, the Doubles. They have officially named the time period between 18:00 PM to 04:00 AM as "It's Mac Time". During this time (some McDonalds restaurants in Hong Kong are open 24/7 ^_^), you can order the special Double items: 3 kinds of Double Sharing Platters (set A: 2 McDrums + 4 McWings, set B: McDrums + 6 Chicken McNuggets, and set C: 6 Chicken McNuggets + 4 McWings), Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Double Filet-O-Fish and the Double Sundae. I really like the slogan: "Never too late to share". It really fits well with the culture of sharing food. Sometimes, you still feel a bit hungry after having your dinner. Then, you would crave for a small snack. You can now go out and order a Double Sharing Platter and share the snacks with your friends or family members. It also works well as an after party snack. All that alcohol is bad for your stomach, so eating something fat and savory should help you get rid of any hangover symptoms. :)

For the people working a night shift, the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese and the Double Filet-O-Fish should fill up their stomach nicely. I am actually quite curious about the Double Sundae. I am a real ice cream fan, so even if I eat a lot for dinner, there is always place for ice cream. ^_^ You can choose the sauce that you want on the layers of ice cream. So double strawberry or chocolate, or a mix of one layer of chocolate and one layer of strawberry. I wonder, if it would really taste different than normal Sundae's.