What I Order - Part 2

Whenever I go to fast food restaurants I’m often presented a difficult choice. Do I order the new or special food items that’s available or do I go with the food item I know and love.  I got to thinking about this, and it made me wonder what is my go to order at most fast food restaurants. Obviously I have different choices depending on the restaurant, but I think each and every restaurant has a go to item for me. I’m not saying it’s the best item or the most popular. I’m just saying that this is the flavour I associate with this restaurant, and maybe you might have something else.

So here’s part two of my choices. Keep in mind that I haven’t included a few fairly popular restaurants, and that’s mostly because I’ve either never eaten there, or at the very least haven’t eaten there in the last 3 years. There also might be a few restaurants that you don’t know about, it could be because I’ve been living in Asia for the last few years so there are a few that are only common in this part of the world. I’ve only done fast food restaurants, which I describe as places were you either commonly get takeout (pizza mostly) or places that require a tray.

Lotteria

Lotteria is a brand that I first tried in Japan, so I assume it’s Japanese, but I could be wrong. I’ve had really mixed results when it comes to Lotteria, particularly since recently I’ve only ordered it in places (outside of Japan) that have regular beef shortages. The biggest problem I’ve found as of late is a lack of availability of many products, most notably anything with beef. So my go to at Lotteria is often their chicken sandwich, but only because it’s often the only thing available.

McDonald’s

This is a tough one since I’ve been eating at McDonald’s my entire life. When I was a kid the cheeseburger was my go to, but as soon as I was able I transferred to the Big Mac. I would say that the Big Mac remains my go to, however I occasionally will get into the Filet-O-Fish for a while. I know that it’s one of the least popular sandwich at McDonald’s, but I just love it. I also can’t eat anything at McDonald’s without getting their french fries.

MOS Burger

MOS Burger is another Japanese (I assume) chain that seems to be spreading into other parts of the world. This is also one of the most unique items on this list as I don’t really go for their regular burgers very often. My one go to item is the yakiniku rice burger. The highlight of this burger is the fact that the bun is actually made up of compressed sticky rice (and not bread). The beef filling works really well with the rice as well, it’s like eating a nice teriyaki meal in one sandwich. The one fault of this burger is that it almost always comes insanely hot (temperature wise) and so I have to wait a few minutes before taking my first bite.

Pizza Company

If you ever want to read an interesting story about the founding of a company, check out Pizza Company. When I’m in (or living in) South East Asia, it’s my pizza of choice. My go to pizza here is also unique as I’ll almost always go for whatever gimmick pizza they’re offering, and they offer some amazing choices. Some of note are the cheese volcano pizza (with a mini cheese volcano on each slice) and the cheeseburger pizza (with mini cheeseburgers baked into the crust). The gimmicks don’t always work, but they’re always fun to try.

Pizza Hut

Since this list is specific about what I love about this chain for take-away, and not eating in restaurant, I have to say that their deluxe (pepperoni, green pepper and mushrooms) is my go to pizza. I will often also include extra cheese as well. I also almost always go with the deep dish pizza as they seem to do it best when it comes to chain restaurants.

McDonald’s Options Gone Wrong

 

As technology moves forward, the fast food experience is evolving. In the future I'm pretty sure we'll have restaurants operating with no human intervention, and using fancy algorithms they'll be able to predict what you're going to order. For now we still have people working the front counters and behind in the kitchens (I'm thankful for that), but we are starting to see some interesting automation. McDonalds is probably one of the places leading the way right now with their automatic order stations. While other fast food places do offer these order stations, I find that many McDonalds locations are starting to make it hard to order any other way. 

The thing that makes these kiosks interesting to me is the ability to custom order your meal, without having to face the disappointed gaze of a human being. The kiosks will not judge me if I order so many extra pickles that it seems like an unhealthy addiction. The thing I'm finding about these modifications available at the McDonald's kiosks is they seem to differ from country to country, and sometimes even restaurant to restaurant. Because of this, and because of my unhealthy addition to pickles, I always check what my options are every time I place my order. As it turns out, in Qatar at least, they have some really strange options to choose from.

On this particular day, Allison and I ordered our regular choices. I got a Big Mac.

Allison got the Quarter Pounder with Cheese. While there were a few options that seemed pretty standard, we also noticed a few that seemed a little bit odd, or at the very least new to us. I was super happy that extra pickles was an option.

We'll start with Allison's Quarter Pounder. While there are a few regular items she added on, like the extra pickles (although extra pickles are not available everywhere). Two of the addons were pretty interesting. In particular the mayonnaise and shredded lettuce. In fact both of these options were available for every burger (as you'll see later). The really fascinating thing here was the fact that Allison could not only add lettuce to her Quarter Pounder, but she could add a double serving of lettuce.

I'm not sure if this photo does it justice, but Allison actually got a small salad wedged into her Quarter Pounder. They did not skimp on the lettuce at all. It's a strange addition available, and one that they really delivered on, but I don't think it's the strangest.

I too went for the extra lettuce and extra pickles (I'm only human after all). I was not offered the choice of adding two extra helpings of lettuce, I assume that's because the Big Mac already comes with lettuce and two extra servings would just be silly. The very peculiar option is the one word found under the shredded lettuce on my order, "cut". When I ordered my burger, under the options it only said "cut", with no explanation at all. I simply couldn't pass up this opportunity so...

I too received a ridiculously large amount of lettuce. My container was pretty much filled to the top and overflowing. But as you can see, my burger was in fact cut in half, right down the middle. It's not that I find cutting your burger in half to be problematic. Maybe you have kids that are going to share one burger, or maybe (as is the case) you find it less messy to eat one half of a burger at a time (particularly if you have a ridiculous amount of lettuce and pickles). The part I found odd is that there was no explanation as to what "cut" meant on the options, and they never asked how I wanted it cut. While I didn't mind it being simply cut in half, I would have preferred a pizza style of cutting into four or maybe even six wedges.

When I picked up my order, I did hear some conversation (in a foreign language) and some giggles. I'm not certain that this order is very common, or if they knew we were being a little silly, so they added a ridiculous amount of lettuce. Lucky for them ridiculous is one of our favourite ways to have our burgers.

CC

Rocky Mountain Chocolate at Square One Shopping Center – A Canadian Institution is Here for You

We have yet another great sweet store to check out. For the next little while, we’re going to look at sweet places that can still bring a smile to your face. Today we’re looking at a branch from one of the great sweet treat chains in Canada.

I will say that no trip back home for me is complete, without a stop at a Rocky Mountain Chocolate shop.

There are a few locations of this great chain all over Canada, but today we’re going to look at the fine folks running the location at the Square One Shopping Center in Mississauga, Ontario. This particular location is run by Bonnie and Roman a husband and wife team making some classic Canadian treats.

Unfortunately, the mall itself is closed due to health concerns, however Bonnie and Roman don’t want you to miss out on a great Easter this year. They’re still offering some of the Easter treats available from Rocky Mountain Chocolate and deliver it right too you. Just send them an email (squareone@rockychoc.com), and let them know that you want your Easter fix. They’ll deliver your treats to anywhere in or around Mississauga, and you’ll be able to munch on some seriously fun sweets this Easter.

 (ED – This is not a paid advertisement, we here at Candy Critic want to help the local candy shops in this very difficult time. If you’re feeling down, and you need a little sweet treat, make sure to visit the website of your local candy shop, and consider placing an order, many are still open for curbside pick up or delivery. If you run a small sweet, snack or dessert shop, let us know, we’ll be happy to feature you on this blog and on our social media to let people know you’re still open for business.)

A Button Pushing Candy Thing Part 2 - Doritos Fix

If you regularly need Doritos, then you should pick yourself up a Doritos Dash Button from Amazon.

Every Wednesday this month we're featuring a snack themed Dash Button from Amazon. Dash Buttons allow you to order your snack fix with the push of a button.

CC

A Button Pushing Candy Thing Part 1 - Bite Into A Slim Jim

Are you familiar with Dash Buttons? At first I thought they were some kind of prank put on by Amazon, but now I've learned that they're a real thing.  A Dash Button is a small button that when pushed will automatically order a particular product from Amazon and send it to you within a couple of days.  I'm not sure how I feel about them yet, but I have to admit, I am curious.

Today's example of a Dash Button is the perfect choice for anybody who needs regular Slim Jim fixes.

CC