Gimme rice burgers!

I very rarely dine in the local McDonald's (or any other fast food outlet for that matter), except when I am at the airport and it's about the cheapest place to get a meal or just plain coffee while waiting to check-in for my flight.

But for some quirky reason, I like to check out McD when I travel out of the country, just to see what they have on their menu that we don't. Closer to home, McDonald's in Singapore offers rice pattie burgers, which they call the "Fan-tastic" burgers, and I think that it is a good option for those who don't fancy "traditional" burgers made with buns.

Rice is such a staple food for us in Asian countries. And McD's local rival KFC has caught on to this fact. Their latest product, the Colonel Rice Combo has an interesting TV advert with the so familiar tagline, "Never eat rice ah?" Malaysians can definitely relate to this very short, simple and clever message delivered with an understated dose of humour.

The Edge Daily reported late last year that Golden Arches Restaurant Sdn Bhd, the licensee of McDonald's restaurants in Malaysia plans to open up to 10 new outlets each year to help it maintain a profit growth of 15% to 17%.

Presently, there are 173 outlets with a domestic market share of about 42% in the quick service restaurant segment, which commands RM1.6billion of 10% of the eat-out market. It's CEO & country manager Robert J Beard said in terms of market share, McD is "neck and neck" with KFC which was reported in May 2006 to have a 35% market share with a total of 355 KFC outlets.

In line with McD's expansion plans, I wonder if they are going to spruce up their menu and come up with something new and fresh and healthy? Like, ... rice?

(Pictured below is what's on the menu of McD Singapore.)

Chicken Fàn-tastic™

Beef Fàn-tastic™