The menu does have the American classics, like chicken nuggets, Big Macs, and sausage McMuffins. But it also has one major thing America doesn't have but probably wishes it did 24-hour delivery. At any time of the day or night, you can get your McDonald's fix in Taipei without even leaving your house.
But what kind of food shows up when you place that order? Here's what McDonald's tastes like in Taiwan.
The pork burger with cheese sauce was a twist on an American chicken sandwich.
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Martha Sorren
The fried pork patty was topped with lettuce and what tasted like nacho cheese. The cheese gave it a nice flavor, but the patty didn't necessarily taste any different than chicken. Still, it was my favorite of the Taiwanese McDonald's specialties I tried. Although I don't eat pork often, it's a flavor I recognize and being smothered in cheese made it melt in your mouth.
It cost 49 NT (New Taiwan dollars) which is about $1.60 USD.
The shrimp burger tasted pretty much the same as the pork burger.
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Martha Sorren
This sandwich also had a fried patty, which made it hard to determine the shrimp flavor amongst the breading. I'm not a huge seafood fan, so eating it cooked in a burger was a little out of my comfort zone. But even if the flavor had been more up my ally, the small a dab of Thousand Island dressing and sprig of lettuce didn't enhance the flavor much. It could have used more dressing, in my opinion.
It cost 69 NT or about $2.30 USD.
The shake chicken had a DIY nature to it.
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Martha Sorren
The shake chicken consists of a piece of fried chicken and some powdered wasabi. You empty the powder into the bag with the chicken and shake until the flavoring is distributed.
The only problem is it doesnt always get seasoned evenly.
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Martha Sorren
One part of the chicken was super spicy while other parts had barely any spice. I'd probably recommend sprinkling the package evenly over the chicken and then shaking it. That way you don't bite into one wasabi covered chunk that makes you cry. The chicken itself was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside like McDonald's is known for.
This was an add on item as part of a meal that also came with a drink and fries for an extra 33 NT, or about $1.10 USD.
Corn soup was a drink option.
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Martha Sorren
Instead of getting a soda or coffee with your meal, you could choose corn soup for about $1.10 USD. While the soup was good, and came with real corn chunks, it left me wanting a drink. I wouldn't have put it in the beverage category.
Breakfast has different options too.
Martha Sorren
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While you can still get burger buns and English muffins, there aren't any biscuits at these McDonald's. Instead, you can get breakfast sandwiches with toast.
This is Canadian bacon, cheese, and hash brown sandwich.
Martha Sorren
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It also came with mayonnaise and ketchup, but everything went pretty well together and tasted good. Honestly, American McDonald's should consider adding the hash brown side to the sandwich. It gave it a crunchy texture and fluffy potato flavor.
The sandwich cost about $1.60 USD.
The typical foods tasted the same, which was comforting.
Martha Sorren
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You can still get chicken nuggets and a Big Mac too. A 10-piece nugget came with a zingy honey mustard sauce. The nuggets were moist on the inside and crunchy on the outside. The Big Mac patty was flavorful and the toppings tasted fresh.
The nuggets were about $5 USD and the Big Mac was about $2.50 USD. Taipei's 24-hour delivery, though? Priceless.
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