Does anyone really like to eat a McDonalds hamburger?

I love them. I'm such uncultured swine.

Burger king and thick shake.

jimbream wrote:

Burger king and thick shake.

I have not had the McDonalds here yet but I love me some spicy chicken sandwich from BK because they use dark meat. Nothing can beat 3,000 VND icecream cones!

Choclate covered soft ice cream at KFC!

I think Asians go to McD because its a class thing to them, not because its good food.

I don't see how it's a class thing considering McDs are pretty much everywhere.

Well....i ask the same question, why do people want to eat really bad food and pay a lot too? In Malaysia i asked and they said its a class thing, like a special place to take a date.

Yeah a special place to date, if you're 8 yrs old maybe lol.

McDonalds is not my kind of place.... when in the states, I never go there. About once a month I do hit BK. I prefer to eat on the street. In Quang Ngai City I know a place with bbq rat that is awesome!

Well, Malaysians, anyway, feel the same about KFC, Pizza Hut, BK, Dominos, etc, a class thing. Myself I too prefer street food which they consider a downgrade. I do understand them, at McD you sit in a aircon place, clean, fresh, modern and yes its an upgrade to sitting on the road eating some unknown thing off a stick. Besides, McD and all the others are heavy advertisers which means to them that the places are famous and therefore worthy. I wish they would grow up.

Well now you see why so many Malays are overweight?  

A meal at McD's is only around $3.  Cheap, delicious, fattening.

mikeymyke wrote:

I don't see how it's a class thing considering McDs are pretty much everywhere.

The "class" situation in Vietnam is pretty subtle in many ways; the brand of TV you own can be a class thing and a thousand other things the average American would not think of. Some people put on airs and postures to show everyone else their social or financial superiority. Just look at the faces of the Vietnamese who drive a car or SH and you get an idea. They have a hand movement like brushing up on the side of one's face to indicate snobbery.

I do believe wrote:

mikeymyke wrote:

I don't see how it's a class thing considering McDs are pretty much everywhere.

The "class" situation in Vietnam is pretty subtle in many ways; the brand of TV you own can be a class thing and a thousand other things the average American would not think of. Some people put on airs and postures to show everyone else their social or financial superiority. Just look at the faces of the Vietnamese who drive a car or SH and you get an idea. They have a hand movement like brushing up on the side of one's face to indicate snobbery.

Sorry what's an SH?

I think one example of what you mean is, they treat Iphones here like a luxury item, and rightfully so because it would take an average person in VN about 2-3 months salary to be able to afford one, but here, we don't treat them as luxury items, because they're so readily available and relatively affordable, basically 1 out of every 2 people who has a smartphone that I see in Canada, has an Iphone, so its not really a luxury item because almost everyone has one.

Thanks, ( i do believe), exactly my point. And i think your point is universally shared among asians too. Thais, Chinese, Viet, Singaporeans all the same. What they value for status makes no sense to westerners who take all of it for granted.

See...the same case can be made for iphone or Rolex watches.....as a westerner i couldnt care less. I wear a Timex that cost me $10 and what people think about that doesnt interest me. I dont have an iphone either. One phone is 12 years old and my other phone is 8 years old. Who cares? They still work fine! But asians dont go for what works fine, its has to the be latest and hopefully, most expensive too.

Hello all,

What about creating a new thread ?I sense this one is getting 

How is the Mc donalds in Saigon? Same as everywhere in the world?

Regards

Kenjee

I don't think it's necessary to create one more thread about the same topic. 
Members can discuss that in this same thread. If members go off topic just instruct them. Or even you can delete off topic posts.    Just my 5000 VND suggestion!

kenjee wrote:

Hello all,
What about creating a new thread ?I sense this one is getting 
How is the Mc donalds in Saigon? Same as everywhere in the world?
Regards
Kenjee

You must remember Kenjee what the purpose of the site is; i.e. a forum for expats to chat. If we stray a bit and are having a bit of a laugh, sounds ok to me but perhaps I am mistaken about the forum purpose....

Hello All,

I guess you are right..my bad   

However since some of the off topic conversation are interesting informations, creating a new thread for best sharing of the infos seemed a good idea.

but hey... like you said..the purpose is to have fun 

Cheers

Kenjee

I might seem to be veering off topic but if you really look at the thread title it appears to be about McD but what I got from it is that its about "perception" which is why i posted about McD being a class thing. How can you can ask about whether a person really likes the taste of McD without it conjuring up why some people went there in the first place?

Im trying to understand Viet people better. In Malaysia everything runs on perception. If you drive a Mercedes, carry the right designer bag, the right phone and yes eat at McD you are seen to have wealth and therefore youre a better and more worthy human being compared to a rough looking farmer who eats on the street. People think they are getting an "up" on someone else when they say they've been to McD. Nobody mentions the taste. Outside of Asia would more likely eat at McD to save some cash and not because they love the food.

How do viet people fare in this? Are they the same as Malaysians who believe a persons value comes from the external trappings one piles on? In this sense the topic doesnt need another thread, the title says it all.

McDonalds has just come to Viet Nam, so I think Vietnamese just want to taste it. In my opinion, it's not delicious

McD opened their first place near to our house and we all went there because the concept of fast-food was new. A hamburger was 15 cents and even if it didnt taste so great it was fast, cheap and real food. TIme went on the quality got worse as the prices rose. Today, its hardly food at all, McD calls it "manufactured food" because it comes from a laboratory. I think that started around 1980 or whenever McNuggets started. In US, McD is constantly attacked over nutrition and providing few clues as to whats really in there. These days i wont eat it unless there is no other option and im rolling on the ground, writhing in pain from hopeless starvation.

Mc donal just opened in vietnam. That why many people care about it. But finally its just fast food and not really expensive. I dont know why many vietnan people curious and think its luxury food. While with same price when we go restaurant, just one food(maybe not enough money for one food) and we cant be full, but its stĩll more expensive than mc donal. I tried it at some countries but honest is i dont like fastfood

Ruby, and to be honest with you i prefer food i bought fresh and cooked with my own hands.

Why McDonalds is SUPER popular in Vietnam ?

Because the starbucks is also super popular here

Yes same me. Im rather to cook by my hands

thats 4 hands cooking....could make a lot of nice dishes

Saw an article with a conversation of the owner of VN McDonalds. Must be quite popular they did $22,000 the first 22 hours open. The PM's family wi be uber rich in no time!

mcdonalds now in vn....it must have just opened...I left in December and there was burger king(new) in Saigon and around but not mcdonalds...

vin4564 wrote:

mcdonalds now in vn....it must have just opened...I left in December and there was burger king(new) in Saigon and around but not mcdonalds...

Saigon is polluted with fast food places now; a social tragedy. They have cut down 50 hundred year old trees near the opera house and fifty more to go. The leaders of HCMC are totally devoid of empathy. Unfrickenbelievable.

I bet a lot of the 'fragrant grease' changed hands in order to facilitate these fast food outlets to open.

stumpy wrote:

I bet a lot of the 'fragrant grease' changed hands in order to facilitate these fast food outlets to open.

At the highest levels.

I do believe wrote:

vin4564 wrote:

mcdonalds now in vn....it must have just opened...I left in December and there was burger king(new) in Saigon and around but not mcdonalds...

Saigon is polluted with fast food places now; a social tragedy. They have cut down 50 hundred year old trees near the opera house and fifty more to go. The leaders of HCMC are totally devoid of empathy. Unfrickenbelievable.

Its the same in Malaysia. On the books there are harsh laws against cutting down old trees for development but the reality is that the builders operate on the age-old principle that its easier to get forgiveness than ask permission. Cross-blaming can hold up issuance of fines, fines can be whittled down, etc. But in the end they still did the damage and the trees, for the sake of a McD of all things, arent coming back. So its not only city leaders lacking empathy, its everyone, any and all, for a damn BUCK.

Absolutely disgusting food.
It's a shame the majority of people will eat this stuff without having a clue what they are actually consuming...

McD is not something luxurious but exotic to Vietnamese people. That's the reason. I believe most of us are attracted by new things, aren't we?

In answer to the original question, a resounding NO!
I understand that McDonalds is a kind of novelty for many Vietnamese in Saigon, but IMO other than the fries, the food tastes awful and all of it, unlike Vietnamese food, is unhealthy. The chain is hyper-popular here in the USA, but most of that is due to the fact that it is fast and cheap. In Vietnam, it's not even that cheap. My advice: stay away from that place.

mikeymyke wrote:

Sorry what's an SH?
.

It's exactly what the locals say, es hac (SH). It's short for Honda SH. 70 mil or so bike give or take depending if it is Thailand or Vietnam version.

I agreed that fast food is unhealthy in case of regularly consumption as containing high volume of Cholesterol, saturated fat, salt and so on.
But TBH, some of McDonald's hamburgers are very tasty. I'd worked for a McDonald restaurant for 2 years when I were a student and from my experience, comparing to Vietnamese dishes, eating McDonald's stuffs is safer than many Vietnamese foods you have. Cooking process, origin and quality of ingredients and hygiene of Vietnamese food, especially the use of MSG popularly made me feel sick. If owners of food stalls/ restaurants in Vietnam can improve that source of things. I'll def vote for them.

Well said, Tony!