A McDonald’s Foodie Dishes on Chain’s Foreign Fare

James McGowan blogs about regional menu items; Singapore truffle fries are a hit, but Kuala Lumpur lychee pie is crummy

SINGAPORE—When James McGowan walked into a McDonald’s Corp. restaurant indowntown Singapore one recent evening, he wasn’t interested in a Big Mac. Instead, he placed an order for a limited-edition hamburger with caramelized onions and cheddar cheese, truffle-flavored french fries and a special red velvet McFlurry frozen drink.

On a scale of one to five, “I’ll probably give a 3 for the burger,” said Mr. McGowan, noting that it lacked sufficient onions. “The fries are better than I expected. They might be a 3.5 or 4.”

Mr. McGowan may well be the chain’s toughest customer. For the past four years, the 28-year-old has crisscrossed the globe to indulge his passion: Sampling and blogging about the various national iterations of McDonald’s dishes. Thus far, he says he has visited about 53 countries, penning 340 detailed reviews.

Along the way, a band of enthusiastic burger fans, mainly from the U.S., has been gobbling up Mr. McGowan’s dispatches.

“I don’t drink. I don’t smoke,” says the lanky, curly haired Mr. McGowan, who lives in Bangkok where he works for a software startup. “This is my vice.”

Mr. McGowan’s detailed blog posts include photos, receipts, and even calorie counts. He makes a small amount of money from display ads—less than the cost of one meal a month, he says—and pays out of pocket for

his travel, making the most of frequent flier miles.

He occasionally schedules long layovers in order to exit the airport, eat at the nearest McDonald’s, and return, as he did in China and South Korea. “People expect to see a photo of a temple when you go to Thailand,” he says. “They’re not expecting the salmon rice at McDonald’s.”

The Canada-born Mr. McGowan has been able to sample a red bean pie in Hong Kong (“not as gross as it sounds”), a lychee pie in Kuala Lumpur (“sickeningly sweet…one complete failure of a pie”) and a curry crab stick concoction in Thailand that was shockingly short on crab (“pathetic…some of the worst McDonald’s quality control I’ve ever seen”).

This chicken porridge breakfast Mr. McGowan consumed at a McDonald’s in Bangkok in 2012 tasted ‘fresher and lighter’ than a similar dish he had eaten in Indonesia. PHOTO: JAMES MCGOWAN

A cheese panini in Tahiti received a 5-star rating because it came on a “nice French roll” with emmental cheese that was “deli sliced, rather than processed,” wrote Mr. McGowan.

An otherwise tasty “Texan burger” in Johannesburg that included mayonnaise and barbecue sauce warranted a 4 because hash browns inserted under the patty seemed to have been “included as an afterthought.”

A McDonald’s spokeswoman declined to comment on Mr. McGowan’s critiques, but said, “We love that we have fans of McDonald’s who enjoy our food while traveling the world.”

While many U.S. fast-food franchises thrive on consistency, offering the same dishes throughout the country, companies often experiment abroad to cater to local tastes. McDonald’s works with its global culinary teams to develop country-specific dishes to appeal to local tastes, the U.S.-based spokeswoman said. The company now has restaurants in 120 countries.

Mr. McGowan says some two million people have visited his blog, called McDonald’s Around the World. Some of them even get in on the action: Half a dozen strangers have brought him McDonald’s dishes from foreign countries to help with his quest. Four people have sent him meals through the mail.

A McDonald’s franchisee in India went so far as to mail Mr. McGowan some special french-fry seasoning to try. “The inclusion of tamarind,” Mr. McGowan wrote in his review, “added a needed sour flavour.”

His mother once bought a pie in Canada and kept it in her freezer for six months, after which he reheated and consumed it. Others have smuggled frozen burgers to him from abroad, which he has similarly warmed up and eaten.“I know I put my health at risk sometimes,” Mr. McGowan says, though he noted that he had yet to fall ill after eating such meals.Honolulu-based Marvin Nitta, author of a popular fast-food blog called The Impulsive Buy, said reading Mr. McGowan’s posts makes him “extremely jealous.” McDonald’s restaurants outside the U.S. seem “more creative than their American counterparts and have more limited-time offerings,” he says.

The project began when Mr. McGowan began traveling internationally several years ago and realized that his posts on Facebook about fast food were especially popular among friends.

His quest hasn’t been without its challenges. He visited Brunei, only to discover that McDonald’s restaurants there serve the standard menu from nearby Malaysia, which he had already sampled. Locations in Iceland closed in 2009, before he could visit them. He once battled dengue fever in Thailand to get out of bed to consume a promotional Super Spicy Red Hot Chicken and rice meal. On other occasions, stores have run out of special items the day before he arrived. Mr. McGowan says he hasn’t been contacted by corporate staff at McDonald’s in the U.S. Asked what advice he would give the company, Mr. McGowan says it should do more stateside to embrace innovation from abroad.

Despite the fattening sauces and fried foods, Mr. McGowan says he isn’t particularly concerned about his caloric intake. When he isn’t gobbling down McDonald’s fare, he cooks simple meals at home using fresh ingredients. He also takes walks, often eschewing public transportation and taxis in favor of long strolls.Among the destinations Mr. McGowan is planning to visit in the coming months are Oman, Mongolia, Qatar and Vietnam. He estimates his culinary journey will last another decade.“Strangers say, if you’re fortunate enough to go to all these countries, why do you waste it on McDonald’s?” he says. “I like sharing online. People seem to enjoy it. And I don’t gain weight.”

Source:WSJ