McDonalds in the Middle East

According to Wikipedia, McDonalds can be found in over 100 countries. 

You might think that a McDonalds is a McDonalds no matter where you are. But in Israel, if the McDonalds is kosher, you cannot order a cheeseburger. In some non-kosher McDonalds restaurants in Israel, you will be given the cheese separately and you can put it on the burger yourself.







I am not a McDonalds fan. I was when I was a kid but that was a long time ago! We only ate at McDonalds once or twice during our visits to Israel. But during our 2013-2014 stay in Jordan, we paid McDonalds quite a few visits. We were living in northern Jordan and there was not much up there that reminded us of America. Even though we rarely go to McDonalds while in the United States, there was something strangely comforting about eating at McDonalds. It is undeniably American. 

In Jordan, the beef does not quite taste the same as it does in America and the sauce on the Big Macs is not as sweet. If we tried to order food separately instead of a complete meal, the order takers got confused. 

A couple of times, a young man (not a McDonalds employee) stood outside the drive-thru window of the Irbid McDonalds and begged us for money. Once, Bill ordered him an ice cream cone. The guy thanked Bill with a big smile and walked away happily eating his ice cream.

Would you care for a McArabia? It is served on a pita with vegetables and halloumi, a Middle Eastern cheese. You can also have halloumi on your breakfast sandwich. We never tried these interesting variations, but stuck with good ole Big Macs and cheeseburgers…the ultimate comfort food when you are in a foreign country surrounded by kebabs, falafels, and hummus, all good food but definitely not American.

(By the way, once back in the United States, McDonalds moved back to the bottom of the barrel when it came to places for us to eat out!)

Photo of Israeli McDonalds Sign: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s_Israel#/media/File:McDonald%27s_IL_WV.JPG