An apology to the Golden Arches

[nledec]

I ate at McDonald's as a kid, but before moving to Argentina I hadn't been through their doors in a good 25 years.
My kids had never been to McDonald's before coming here either, and I imagine I was a bit smug about that.
However, we now eat at the Golden Arches about once a week, and I'd be lying if I said we didn't really enjoy it.
It isn't a matter of nostalgia or homesickness that gets us through the door either.
No matter where you go in the city you get your meal quickly and the product is always consistent.
The food has flavor and in my experience has always seemed fresh and of a decent quality.
It is cheap. No, not cheap when compared to McDonald's in the States, but cheap for Buenos Aires considering you can get a drink, main, & side for around 40 pesos give or take depending on what you order plus dessert for 15 pesos more.
I'm a very good cook, extremely picky about my ingredients, and completely open-minded and adventurous about restaurants (if I do say so myself...). I've eaten all over BA from dives to the highest end of the spectrum. I've had meals that were fairly good, but I have yet to have a meal that truly impresses me.
No, I'm not saying that McD's is should be up for Michelins .
I'm just saying the food situation in BA (whether you are eating out or cooking at home) has been close to the biggest disappointment about life here for me (believe me, that is saying something!), and in that context I have been pleasantly surprised to find how much I could appreciate a Quarter Pounder with cheese.
I doubt the CEO of McDonald's has been loosing sleep over my opinion, but I anyway want to offer a long overdue apology for looking down my nose at the Golden Arches for so many years.

 

[sergio]

enjoy your grease. As far as i am concerned, there are a lot of good restaurants to choose from - admittedly not much selection when it comes to vegetables - but a lot better than MACDONALD

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

How's that new job as Head of Online PR for Macdonald's panning out for you?

 

[Iznogud]

One can't avoid wondering what is on your regular menu...

 

[BASailor]

A good bondiolita in Costanera is 100 times better to me, real meat and much cheaper. But it's a matter of choice.

 

[nledec]

Last night it was Boeuf Bourguignon, and it will probably be the same tonight as I made too much. I did my shop for the weekend today and we'll have a couple kinds of quiches with salads on Saturday for brunch and spaghetti a la carbonara for dinner. Sunday is tortilla española and then eating out for the evening. Shall I go on in order to establish my creds for you? I know how to cook, I know how to pick ingredients, and I know how to eat. Oh, and I don't work for McDonald's. I'm a simple housewife who has lived, cooked and eaten all over the world.
The point of my post was to share a musing I had this morning about expat life that really surprised me.
I foolishly posted it here forgetting about the general level of responses on this forum.

 

[ElQueso]

I eat at McDs once or twice a week, because it's convenient and fast. I have one a couple of blocks from the apartment.

My favorite is their Angus burgers, which are a bit expensive. Yesterday I paid 48 pesos for a combo. That's somewhere around $7.60 US (at the blue rate - or a whopping $10.53 US at the official rate!!) . I don't know what the prices are in the States at McDs these days, not having been back in almost 5 years.

A month or so ago, I went to buy my Angus burger (at the time around 40 pesos). I almost cried in frustration when I opened the box and the two patties they usually put in there were literally less than 1/8" thick and burned to a crisp. This was about the same time I was having problems getting beef from my butcher as well - I was wondering if the import policies had affected beef availability and prices and McDs was trying to cut corners.

Recently, they started putting the correct sized patties on their burgers again.

For me, the lettuce is horrible, the tomatoes often either not mature or so old they are practically water. The folks that assemble the burgers just throw them together, which I've never understood considering the amount of time it takes for them to put a burger together.

I just got back from a road trip to Paraguay. I spent a total of about 4 days in Asuncion and had McDs once there. While they don't have the Angus burgers there, they have something very similar. It's about the same size around, double patties, but the patties were something like 20% thicker than the best I'd gotten here. The buns were fresh. The lettuce was beautiful, the tomatoes perfect. The meat had a great flavor. Tons of cheese. Order for four people served up in about three minutes.

The combo was 21,000 guarani, or about $4.70 USD.

Other great restaurants I ate at there as well.

A Brasilian-style churrascaria for about 80,0000 guaranies a person (nicely-cooked meat, spicy [or mild] sausages ground more finely than here, with no hard cucks of bone or gristle, a great salad bar, sushi, pasta, etc, for about $18 USD per person - slightly expensive, but the place is very nicely decorated, a ton of space, and really good food).

Or Rodizio - Brasilian-style pay by the kilo. One plate of food about 30,000 guaranies, or $6.82 USD per plate. Good meat, good pasta, decent deserts, etc. There's a Rodizio in Puerto Madero, but I've never been, so don't know about a price comparison.

I find BA to be expensive even with the dollar blue rate being so high now, and the quality of the food overall quantum steps higher in Asuncion than here, especially at McDs.

 

[texxaslonghorn]

I agree with the OP. I eat everything that BA has to offer; the Sunday asado at a family member's house is my favorite.

But something about McDonald's in BA is yummy. I eat it in the States and BA, and something in BA is different, if not better.

 

[texxaslonghorn]

My favorite is their Angus burgers, which are a bit expensive. Yesterday I paid 48 pesos for a combo. That's somewhere around $7.60 US (at the blue rate - or a whopping $10.53 US at the official rate!!) . I don't know what the prices are in the States at McDs these days, not having been back in almost 5 years.

A large angus combo is about $8+/- in Austin right now

 

[ElQueso]

Yeah, I love the people that always have to show how great and healthy they are by snubbing their noses at McDonalds, any time the word is mentioned. Give it a rest - when will people realize that tastes differ and just because someone eats at McDs at times, it doesn't mean they weigh 400 pounds and are going to have a heart attack with their next bite, or they don't know what good food is.

Frankly, anyone who thinks there are a lot of great places to eat at a great price in Buenos Aires doesn't figure much in my estimation of those who know what good food is anyway. No offense intended, I'm just stating my opinion - as we are all different.

I make a fabulous hamburger, personally. Way better than McDonald's. But as mentioned by someone previously, there is something about biting into a burger from McDs every once in awhile that is still a nice thing to experience.

Particularly when you've had enough of a particular country's cuisine, be it good or bad - McDs is always there and usually fairly standard.