Has anybody seen my Big Extra?

Greetings

Jo and I made a long list of all the famous Korean sites and establishments that we want to visit before we leave and this week I'm proud to present to you with a real gem.

Korean cuisine is world renowned, and perhaps no place further epitomizes that than the traditional Korean hamburger joint "Mec Doh Nal De".

Or as we westerners would say:


Ah yes, who doesn't love a trip to good old McDonalds? Oddly enough until the other day we hadn't yet visited a McDonalds in Korea. But we figured that we might as well visit one and see how they compare to back home. McDonalds is famous for offering the same menu choices worldwide, but they usually contain some sort of strange local contraptions as well. Once in Maine I almost ordered a lobster burger but chickened-out at the last second.

Anyway, I was hoping to find a Kimchi burger or maybe a dog burger but alas, fate was not smiling upon me.


For the most part the menu was "same-same" (as the children would say). Sure there were a few local items but nothing that made me slap my face and say "well, slap my face and call me charlie - look at that!"

Jo was a little more daring than I and decided to try some local fare. She ordered a Bulgogi burger which directly translates into "fire meat" burger. Bulgogi is amazing and one of our favorite Korean foods, so we were a little skeptical about how the McDonalds version would stack up.


Here you see our food. Can you spot the odd man out yet?

My favorite item to eat at McDonalds (and probably the only thing I actually like) is the Big Extra. I don't know if they still sell these back home as I haven't been to a McDonalds in quite a while, but they definitely don't here. They do, however, sell something called the "Big Tasty". It sounded similar to the Big Extra (and a lot like those movies HBO shows late at night), so I decided to order one and give it a try.

As you can tell the "Big Tasty" is mammoth-sized. This bad boy was probably the biggest fast food burger I've ever seen. I think it would even beat that Monster Carls Junior used to sell. (Jo's note: hmmm, sound familiar? The biggest one Shayne's ever seen.)

Unfortunately it was nothing like the Big Extra and contained lots of strange items. It had salsa? Who wants salsa on a McDonalds Burger? I just want some secret sauce (a little miracle whip left in the sun) and a few grams of lettuce and tomatoes, that's it.

Jo's Bulgogi burger left a lot to be desired too. Aside from the fact that it looked like ass, tasted like ass, and smelled like ass, it was also pretty damn small. They managed to ruin bulgogi, sweet sweet bulgogi.

I shall never forgive them.

If you paid close attention to our tray you would have noticed the following:

Corn...in a cup...with a fork.

Yes, for only a dollar you too could have some corn in a cup with mayonnaise and carrot chunks.

Hmmm, best to avoid if you find yourself in a Korean McDonalds.

I wanted to include one action shot of my giant burger, so here ya go:


I don't know if it was the size of the burger or my rapidly advancing old age but I just couldn't finish the sucker.


I'm ashamed of myself. I'm half the man I used to be (quite literally, in fact).

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this rare look at such an exotic Korean restaurant.

Next time I'll just stick to my Kimchi and rice.

Cheers

Shayne