HU SHENG/EPA/CORBISIt’d be nice to think you’d never settle for fast food when traveling abroad, but anyone who has logged significant mileage outside the U.S. knows that flight delays, language barriers, a sudden lack of funds, and other hiccups have a way of sabotaging even the greatest dietary intentions.
In other words: Sometimes you gotta eat McDonald’s.
One way to allay the guilt is by ordering an item specific to the country you’re visiting, rather than one of the many homogenized foods you can buy back home. It’s still fast food, of course, but at least it’s culturally relevant fast food.
To whet your appetite, here’s a sampling of five U.S. chains’ most unique overseas offerings.
Foie Gras Rossini Burger: Wendy’s in Japan
This wallet-shocking $16 sandwich is the highlight of the recently unveiled premium menu at Wendy’s restaurants in Japan. It’s pretty much what it sounds like: a square hunk of beef piled high with all the usual fixings (lettuce, tomato, red onion), plus a slab of buttery-rich foie gras. Anti-foie crusaders can try the Truffle and Porcini Grilled Chicken Sandwich instead—priced to move at just $12.50 a pop.
Patbingsoo: Burger King in South Korea
The chain’s spin on this popular shaved-ice dessert comprises sweet azuki beans, heavy cream, soft-serve ice cream, fruit cocktail, sliced strawberries, and sugary condensed milk. It’s the perfect chaser for BK’s Bulgogi Burger, a flame-broiled beef patty smothered in garlicky Korean barbecue sauce, padded with raw onions, and served on a sesame seed bun.
Der Nürnburger: McDonald’s in Germany
Three fat bratwursts snuggled up with bacon underneath a blanket of gooey orange cheese. Mmmm… mmmm… heart attack?
Golden Fortune: Pizza Hut in Malaysia
Commercials for this loaded Malay pie show it uniting estranged family members and giving lonely widows a reason to live. And why not? It’s piled fist-thick with crispy tempura king prawns, slivers of crab meat, some kind of unidentified “fish,” juicy pineapple chunks, and lime wedges. But it’s the pizza’s calorific cheese-stuffed dough ring—a.k.a. “crowns of cheesy liquid gold”—that really steals the spotlight. All of which makes Pizza Hut’s old Russian heavyweight, the Moskva (pizza heaped with sardines, tuna, mackerel, salmon, and onions), look positively wussy by comparison.
Egg Tarts: KFC in China
Gifting your loved one a box of these two-bite custard-y pastries on Valentine’s Day has become all the rage in China, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries, thanks mostly to a major push by Western marketers last year. Bloggers consistently rave that these flaky desserts are “to die for.” Split some with your significant other on a romantic date, along with a duo of shrimp burgers, side order of bacon mushroom chicken rice, and steaming bowl of congee with pickles.
