 |
| No, no chicken... I ordered the McPalak Paneer! |
(Afterthought: Of the sandwiches shown on the left, the McAlooTikki™ is vegetarian.)
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
I'd Like The Super Spicy McPaneer Burger With Fries
Extra coriander chutney, please!
I suppose it was inevitable. In an outstanding example of giving the customer what s/he wants, McDonald's is opening its first two vegetarian restaurants next year, in India, of course.
(Afterthought: Of the sandwiches shown on the left, the McAlooTikki™ is vegetarian.)
(Afterthought: Of the sandwiches shown on the left, the McAlooTikki™ is vegetarian.)
6 comments:
USING THIS PAGE TO LEAVE A COMMENT
• Click here to view existing comments.
• Or enter your new rhyme or reason
in the new comment box here.
• Or click the first Reply link below an existing
comment or reply and type in the
new reply box provided.
• Scrolling manually up and down the page
is also OK.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Ukkk Big Mac curried soy burgers.
ReplyDeletekarmanot, it sounds as if they have not merely "vegetarianized" the American hamburger (as many American chains like Fuddrucker's have done), but instead have created McDonald's-style items in the larger conceptual context of Indian food. That is probably the only way they could dependably sell to the Indian market, the only way an Indian would bother to eat McDonald's food. Maybe it's repulsive; maybe it isn't... but only Indians (and possibly Indian-Americans) are really qualified to judge.
ReplyDeleteIn Houston, there is most definitely such a thing as Indian fast food. My favorite outlet is Raja Fine Sweets on Hillcroft... their food is cheap, filling, tasty, and hot-as-hell. Most of the patrons are Indian-American. It's interesting to see how they have developed the concept of fast food in a completely different direction from American fast food. We go there every few weeks; we'd go more often but it's far away from home in an area with terrifying traffic.
I'm with you----love that Indian food!
ReplyDeletekarmanot, if you ever wondered how many workers in the American space industry are Indian-American, just consider the fact that one of the best Indian restaurants in South Texas is near Clear Lake, i.e., near NASA! That restaurant, Cuisine of India, is high-end and pricey, but it lives up to its high price. We go there sometimes on birthdays or other special events. Only slightly less budget-busting but still very good is India's, on Richmond. Ditto Madras Pavilion on Kirby, but their food is from a different region of India. Altogether, I'd estimate there are 50 or more Indian restaurants here.
ReplyDeleteI live in Koreatown, but I also live near some of the best Indian restaurants in the Silicon Valley. My Indian coworkers have introduced me to Indian cuisines that you likely have never heard of, it seems like every other village in India has their own cuisine. Which makes sense since, before Britain unified it, India was a bunch of independent countries that didn't even speak the same language, about as alike as France and Germany. I don't think anybody has ever confused French cuisine with German cuisine, or confused German cuisine with Italian cuisine, yet those nations combined are smaller than than the southern half of India.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of Indian vegetarians, but there are also a lot of Indian meat-eaters (though not beef, that's Pakistani). And there's plenty of Indian fast food around here, it's just something rice-y and/or gloppy in a styrofoam plate rather than a bun wrapped in a paper wrapper, with a couple of pieces of naan bread wrapped in aluminum foil to accompany it.
The only reason I don't eat more Indian food is that it's so unhealthy. Proper Indian curries have enough butter in them that I can practically hear my arteries clogging when I'm eating them! I usually do biryani when I do Indian fast food, but you can eat only so much rice... I love chicken tikka masala too, but it's so friggin' bad for you!
So anyhow, best of luck(hah!) to McDonald's. I don't see how they're going to compete with Indian fast food in India, when they can't even compete with Indian fast food here in America. Let's see, will I go out and get some biryani for lunch tomorrow, or get a McDonald's hamburger? Gosh, what a decision :).
- Badtux the Snarky Foodie Penguin
"My Indian coworkers have introduced me to Indian cuisines that you likely have never heard of, it seems like every other village in India has their own cuisine." - BT
ReplyDeleteYou are very fortunate, and likely I indeed haven't heard of those cuisines. I've been similarly fortunate to dine in the homes of my Indian coworkers over the years, and they (more often their wives or mothers) take the process a step further, cooking highly individualized versions even of dishes familiar from restaurants.
"So anyhow, best of luck(hah!) to McDonald's." - BT
Just so. IMNSHO, they won't make much headway, even with their Indian-themed novelties, even with veggie offerings. Then again, I'm hardly one to judge; I don't even like most McDonald's food in the US. McDonald's is for grabbing coffee when on the road, and not much else. Breakfast is marginal there, and anything else is inedible.
"The only reason I don't eat more Indian food is that it's so unhealthy. Proper Indian curries have enough butter in them that I can practically hear my arteries clogging when I'm eating them!"
Life is short anyway, at least in the US, and I've decided to take my chances with the few culinary pleasures available to me. My days as a serious foodie are behind me. I am still lacto-ovo-veggie, but that's for the critters more than for my health. I enjoy all that fatty Indian food a great deal, and will doubtless continue to eat it as often as I can afford, which is less often than it used to be.