It’s National Breakfast Day!!
National Breakfast Day will be held on March 18, 2013 (Monday). 1000 Egg McMuffin™ will be given out, per participating store, while stock lasts.
For more details, scroll down.
Archive for the ‘1.5 Fast Food’ Category
McDonald’s Open Doors Kitchen Tours
September 12th, 2011 
365days2play The McDonald’s Open Doors Kitchen Tours are coming up again! If you’ve always wanted to know what goes on behind the scenes, from the time you place your order to few seconds later that you receive your fish fillet, now’s the chance to sign up for the tours and find out first hand. Us lucky bloggers were invited to get a sneak preview before everyone else, but the real clincher? Being able to bring our cameras into McDonald’s kitchens! I was pretty surprised that McDonalds allowed us to do so, but if they weren’t going to object, I wasn’t going to object.
First stop, my most favourite stop of all, the FRENCH FRY station! When cooked well, don’t you think they are just lovely? These here are a bit messy. According to my friend who used to work at McDonalds, all fries should be placed upright, and the yellow strips on the back of the cardboard should not be visible or it means you aren’t getting enough fries! Hmmm, these here don’t really pass.
I really wish I knew how to cook fries like McDonalds. It’s too bad they don’t have their blue colour mayonnaise packets anymore. I love dipping the fries in mayo and pepper!
The fries frying station…
McNuggets are also fried here
The frozen fries are kept in the fridge above, and dispensed by dropping out of the fridge automatically into the metal frying contraption
Cute! Bun troubleshooting tool!
I really had a hard time trying to get a few good pictures of the guy making the burgers. Mr Fastest Fingers First was literally zooming all over the place. Before I could even snap, the burger was done. My DSLR camera can’t make it when compared to Mr FFF!
Only managed to take a picture of the McChicken after it was done. I hope he managed to get the buns toasted just right. Yeah, managed to get the Cheeseburger one. Mmmmm cheeeese.
Speaking of cheese, here’s a close up shot. I just had to, of course. I wonder what sort of cheese they use. Can’t seem to find it in the supermarkets.
Once again, Mr FFF getting nuggets out of the warming cabinet. He’s already taken 2 before I’ve managed to get a picture.
Closer look at the warming cabinet. There’s a time limit to how long the food items can be stored here before it has to be chucked out. Something along the lines of 10 – 20 minutes. If you want your food piping hot, you’re always welcome to request a fresh or customised order.
Don’t ask me why the hands on the clocks don’t match the words…
Before the patties even get to the warming cabinets, they have to first be grilled. And this clam-shell contraption here does the job. First, put the frozen patties in.
Contraption will clamp down on the patties to grill them. With this contraption, each patty will be cooked for the same amount of time and to the right thickness!
When the timer beeps, remove the grilled patties!
Voila, they are ready! I spy a few few red spots on the patty. I guess if you want yours really well done, ask for it.
Our friendly McDonald’s ambassador then brought us into the store room. They should call a box room since it was full of boxes. Didn’t know that Big Mac Sauce is dispensed from a can.
Next up was the walk-in freezer. It was very fun to be able to step into the freezer, with the freezer fans blasting cold air right into your face. I thought I would be able to see raw meat here, but it was also pretty much more boxes. Despite that, I’m sure little kids would find it exciting to be able to venture into a freezer for the 1st time in their lives.
I actually have done this numerous times as I used to temp at the airport inflight catering centre. One of my tasks was to procure frozen food from the freezers when needed. I was only 15 at that time and I found it a treat to be able to venture into the silent freezer away from the clanking of plates and dishes outside. It kind of stopped being fun when one occasion, the floor was so slippery that I couldn’t find traction while trying to pull open the huge metal door…..
Next, we got to see the staff lounge. They even had a TV in the staff lounge. Hey my company should learn from McDonalds. Free McDonald meals are provided for all staff, although I wonder if one could tolerate eating from the same restaurant every single day.
The who’s who in McDonald’s King Albert Park branch
In case the staff have problems remembering how the burgers should be prepared
Barbecue sauce or curry sauce for you, Madam?
View of the ground floor
Bloggers listening intently to the welcome briefing. Do not touch anything for hygiene and safety purposes!
And Ronald McDonald, Hamburglar and the 2 hairy ones bid us goodbye
OK I had to end off with more fries. Picture of the latest cheese fries promo…it’s really delicious…and sinful. Tastes like cheezels!
More information on McDonalds and the Kitchen Tours
This year’s Open Doors in Singapore will see 300 sessions of kitchen tours, conducted between 18 September 2011 to 19 February 2012, at 25 McDonald’s restaurants island-wide. The kitchen tours will take place every 3rd Sunday of the month. Participants will learn about McDonald’s food from “farm to fork” system. Register online at www.mcdonalds.com.sg/opendoors.
Did you know that McDonald’s uses 100% beef with no additives and fillers, whole-muscle chicken thigh, Grade AA eggs sanitised and oiled for freshness, 100% vegetable oil with no cholesterol and no trans-fat? NO TRANS FATS! FINALLY!
Photography or filming is not permitted.
Posted in McDonalds 
Tags: bun, burger, cheeseburger, fast food, fish fillet, French Fries, fries, McChicken, McDonalds, McNuggets, nuggets, patties, patty, trans fats 
3 Comments »McDonald’s Fries
September 11th, 2011 365days2play 
Forget chocolate cake and ice-cream. McDonald’s French fries is the real comfort food for me. Apparently, they are now trans fats free. If your fries are not piping hot like how you want them to be, McDonalds will get you a new serving, no questions asked.
Watch this space, going to do a full write-up of the McDonald’s Open Doors Kitchen tour I attended on Saturday.
Smiths Fish and Chips
July 3rd, 2011 365days2play When we first saw Smiths Authentic British Fish and Chips moving into Tanjong Katong, we were quite excited. I know there are loads of places that serve fish and chips, but here was a shop, a standalone fish and chip shop mind you, that was proclaiming its authenticity, obviously we were excited about it. Having been to the World Famous Fish and Chip shop in New Zealand, I had high expectations for Smiths’ Fish and Chips. Did you know that fish and chips are the most popular form of fast food in New Zealand, more popular than McDonalds, KFC etc?
After Smiths opened, I chanced upon a couple of reviews that weren’t very positive. Add the fact that the cheapest fish and chips at Smiths will set you back by at least ten dollars, the need to visit Smiths became less compelling. Alas, find ourselves at Smiths we did 2 weeks ago, when the cafe next door which we wanted to go to was full. Smiths was packed, so we had our hopes up.
It was quite interesting to find that they have scampi and chip butty, which are things that are probably quite foreign to most Singaporeans. For the record, I love scampi. Scampi looks and tastes like prawns, but when I was in the UK, every single wait staff I asked said it was a fish. Wikipedia says it is a type of lobster. As for chip butty, that is a chip sandwich, ie chips in between slices of bread……..best not to know that these exist.
I ordered the Cod & Chips $17 while the Partner ordered the Dory & Chips $10. The Cod fish was quite terrible. It was tough, dry and totally lacking in flavour. Cod is one of my favourite fish (I am very fussy with fish) but if I hadn’t personally ordered the cod myself, I would not have known that the piece of fish I was eating was cod, the most expensive item on the menu!!! I wonder if the cod had been sitting in the warmer for a long time until it had become dry, if most people order the cheaper options…
On the contrary, the Dory fish tasted much better. It was juicy and flavourful and I wish I’d ordered that instead and saved 7 bucks, and so did the Partner because he had to relinquish half his lunch to me.
I have to say, these fish and chips are darn oily. They don’t come with the mushy peas either, you have to pay $2 to get some. You have to pay $2 to get some gravy too. The batter is pretty thick, so if you’re on a diet, this is really not the place for you. But, if you’re not on a diet, the batter is quite tasty. In fact, you can pay $2 to get more “batter scratchings”…
HP sauce or vinegar to go with your fish? It’s common to have fish and chips with vinegar in the UK and in NZ. Smiths also provides tomato sauce. You won’t find chilli sauce here. I tried.
I would possibly give the fish another chance. But Smith’s chips were probably the soggiest chips I have ever eaten. If only I could order the Dory fish on its own without the side of chips.
On the whole, I think the prices are too high for a non-restaurant setting, for the quality of food served and for the portion size.
***Photos all taken using the iPhone 4***
Smiths – Authentic British Fish and Chips
230 Tanjong Katong Road,
Singapore 437018
ECP – Exit 11
Directions to Smiths Fish and Chips
Tel :9639 8348
http://www.smithsfishandchips.com
frenchie@smithsfishandchips.com
Posted in Smiths Fish and Chips, Tanjong Katong Tags: chip butty, chips, cod, dory, fast food, fish, Fish and Chips, lobster, mushy peas, Scampi, tanjong katong 5 Comments »VeganBurg
December 11th, 2010 365days2play It was a total spur of the moment that we ended up at VeganBurg. Had previously heard about it from Tiny Island, and just as we were driving past it, my father said he’d heard about it too. That was good enough reason to stop by and try it out, never mind it was only 5pm and not really dinner time yet!
VeganBurg looks quite nice and inviting. I like the bright and woody feel to the place. 3/4 of the seats were taken up, not bad for 5pm and a place slightly off the beaten track. It’s only 5 minutes from Eunos MRT station and just off the turn-off from the PIE, but not along the main pedestrian routes.
VeganBurg specialises in vegan fast food burgers. There are only 5 burgers to choose from, but it seems they also have a 6th Christmas themed one. In addition, they offer sides like seaweed fries, vegandog (like a hotdog), potato spinach pops etc. The potato spinach pops sounds interesting, wish I’d ordered that! Coffee is quite affordable too. A cafe latte costs $3.80. We didn’t try the coffee since we were trying to keep with the healthy theme here. Click the photo below to see the menu.
The burger meal comes with drinks and fries. We chose the Apple Blackcurrant and Beetroot Carrot. Tastes quite nice but unfortunately, the drinks come out of a bottle and aren’t freshly made.
My father tried the Hawaiian Pineapple Burger – Organic Ciabatta bun with a pan-grilled pineapple slice and a soya patty glazed with sweet plum sauce. He didn’t enjoy the burger and said it was too plain.
I had the Tangy Tartar Burger – Organic Wholemeal Bread, soft and flaky Vegan patty that is bread crumbed and battered and deep fried, tangy tartar sauce with alfalfa. I thought it was quite good actually! The bread was soft and light, while the patty had a very nice texture. I can’t really describe the flavour, to say it tastes like soya beans would be wrong. I’ll just say that if you didn’t tell me this was a vegan patty, I may not have known. I do wish they had reduced on the Tartar Sauce, I had to use a fry to scoop the excess out.
The chilli dips have onion powder in them. Tasty! Try dipping the fries in the pepper mix too, tastes great. I often dip my fries in pepper at McDonalds, does anyone out there do the same?
Vegan Burg’s Menu
Each table has a magazine slot with magazines in them. A nice touch.
Great to know that Santa doesn’t eat meat. How did he get so fat then?
Veganburg is situated next to a pet store. There will be kitties strolling past outside but they are cute and harmless. The flatface kitty next door also likes a good rub. He was enjoying it very much!
VeganBurg®
44 Jalan Eunos Singapore 419502
Tel: 6844 6868 Fax: 6844 1021
Opens Daily from 11am to 10pm
Website: http://www.veganburg.com
Directions : – http://www.veganburg.com/contact-us/
Posted in VeganBurg Tags: Burgers, eunos, fast food, soya, vegan, Vegan Burger, Veganburg No Comments »
