McD's isn't all burgers and grease (McDonald's)

Member Name: Vialdana

Product:	McDonald's
Date:	02/07/09 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Offers Vegetarian and Healthy Eating Options which most fast food places don't.

Disadvantages: Not everything is healthy, & the decor leaves something to be desired as at times does the service.

McDonalds generally somewhere most people think of in the same vein as Burger King and KFC. Actually though, McD's has had a bit of a face lift over the last few years, and although in terms of it's looks it's very much in the same vein, when you look a bit more closely the food is just a little bit different.

18mths ago I had my gall bladder removed - why is this relevant? Well because in the two years running up to this event, I tried to control the gallstones I had by sticking to a very strict virtually fat free diet, and generally this sort of diet isn't the sort that one imagines going hand in hand with a fast food restaurant.

The one place, out of the many different fast food places we looked at, that I could actually eat a reasonable meal and not end up doubled up in agony because of a stone, was McD's. Not only do they do a range of low fat options, but they actually publish the details of their products - the full ingredients and the nutritional value of every item on their website. If you have to stick to a very controlled diet or need to avoid certain ingredients due to intolerances etc. believe me this is an incredibly useful thing indeed.

The food they do isn't all healthy, they do burgers in buns of various sizes & types, they do chicken in buns, salads, doughnuts, muffins, fizzy drinks, milkshakes, tea and coffee as well as a range of breakfast items which are separate as they only sell those at breakfast time (which I believe they say ends at 10:30am). Since having my gall bladder removed I've been able to go back to a normal diet, and this has (on occasion) included the odd cheeseburger amongst other things.

The décor is pretty cheap looking in most McD's stores - plastic seating, melamine tables, and that fast food look that these places all seem to have. The staff are variable. Some seem to be like regular people, others well lets just say I wouldn't trust a few of their staff to do more than sell me a burger! Oh, and the music they seem to play in these places makes me want to not be there long so we do tend to opt for take away not eat in. If you do eat in however, most McD's stores now have Broadband available free to customers so you can surf while you eat if you so desire.

I like McD's for it's range - I can choose healthy or vegetarian if I want to. I like it for it's price as well - compared to it's arch rival Burger King, the prices are certainly a lot lower. I have to say if I'm totally honest I do prefer the flavour of the BK burgers, but I'm afraid the cost of them being so much higher does tend to point us to McD's instead if we fancy something of this sort. It's not that McD's Burgers are bad - believe me they're very edible, and even quite tasty, it's just that the BK ones are a little more so I think because of the flame grilled thing perhaps.

My favourite product that they do - the Blueberry Muffin. It's yummy - much nicer than most other blueberry muffins I've bought, and to top it all off, it's only 2 grams of fat which makes me think I'm treating myself without going overboard when I have one of these.

Summary: A fast food option that actually gives you choice and at a reasonable price.