5 ms·

It's worth noting that KFC in other countries is often better than the greasy mess we typically find in the US. Same with McDonald's in my experience as well.

by axaxs 5y ago

izgzhen 5y ago
Can’t agree more. Chinese branch of KFC/McDonalds not only has many delicious specials you can’t find outside China, even the basic fried chicken is much more juicy and flavorful. I can only find similar fried chicken in some very niche brands in US.
leppr 5y ago
In this particular case though it is quite strange to me. Between katsu and tenpura, the Japanese are expert at fried food, in which they place peculiar importance on the lightness/crispiness. I tried KFC in Japan and it's mostly the same as anywhere else, a greasy mess.
- ryder9 5y ago
  > Between katsu and tenpura, the Japanese are expert at fried food the japanese aren't a hive mind
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- dylan604 5y ago
  pretty much everyone is familiar with frying food. howver, they all use different ingredients/spices/etc. that was always the KFC thing with their secret blend of spices. their original recipe isn't crunchy at all. so it's not really worth saying all fried food is the same so Japanese are expert where KFC (or any family table on a Sunday in the South) are not.
- kyawzazaw 5y ago
  I mean tempura is Portugese influenced so what's so strange about a modern influence of fried food?
- distantaidenn 5y ago
  Try the current rage here: Karaage no Tensai (Fried Chicken Genius). It's a greasy mess of fatty bits. I could barely finish a serving. I suppose there's always a line due to the massive portions. There's good and bad, just like everywhere else -- excluding South Korea. Korean fried chicken is simply next level.
ravenstine 5y ago
When I lived in New Zealand for a year, one day my friends at school wanted to sneak out during lunch to go to KFC (which there they market as "kiwi for chicken"). This was something you'd not hear American high school students say, at least in California. However, it was significantly better tasting. Not mind blowing or anything, but pretty decent.
h2odragon 5y ago
I do not understand "KFC" as a business model; in the southern USA they have competition (every gas station has fried chicken), and the KFC chain seems to be dedicated to providing the worst food and the worst service in the market. For the last 20 years or more, the KFC nearest to me has been known to the locals as a place to avoid at all costs. They've had 2 periods of revival, in the month after new owners took over, neither lasted more than a month or so. The default state is under cooked food, high prices, and shitty service. They have a policy of shorting orders and shorting change; it must be policy, random error would happen in the customers' favor sometimes. I'd suspect they were a cover for some illegal activity, but if they are its happening at some higher level that I cannot perceive.
- cartoonworld 5y ago
  It's just par for the course for generic-ass buy-a-job franchise schemes. McDonald's afiak has pretty close management of their operations to counteract this expected behavior.
- DangitBobby 5y ago
  My experience is mainly that the chicken is pretty good but way overpriced for what it is. Service is on-par with other fast food. So I also don't understand why people choose KFC. Even when I did decide I wanted to eat there, They were also typically closed around the time I'd be looking for dinner.
city41 5y ago
I was so impressed with McDonald's in France I ate it several times last time I was there.
- TheCoreh 5y ago
  Yes, I've tried it in a couple countries and the best McDonald's meal I've had was in Champs-Élysées, Paris, France.
  - dopidopHN 5y ago
    France is actually a significant market for McDonald. It was the second one a decade ago, no idea if it’s still the case. They also have some type of coffee shop/pastry joint inside, where you seat and the waiter brings the food.
- QuesnayJr 5y ago
  The best McDonald's I've ever eaten in are in Switzerland. I think it's because they use Swiss beef which is of uniformly high quality.
eplanit 5y ago
It's true. From my own experience, Starbucks in Japan is far superior than in the US, too. 7-11's are _wonderful_ in Japan.
- jleyank 5y ago
  I have found (US, Canada, UK) that Starbucks like most chains responds to the local competition. Where there's good coffee available in quantity, they hire baristas who drink it and know what they're doing. When there's few options, youthful customers or lots of tourists they go with the colored drinks and the coffee sux. I have also found that outside the US (possibly outside of N America), there's less sugar and more taste involved.
  - Tade0 5y ago
    McDonald's in Italy is interesting - ketchup is not free (€0.50) and in taste is a lot like tomato sauce.
- skhr0680 5y ago
  7-11 were great for the 5 minutes their CEO actually cared about making customers happy and brought in innovations that literally forced nearly every other convenience store to consolidate into a mega chain into order to stay in business: - aggressive expansion of corporate-owned stores - very clean and modern toilets with a “free to use” policy - vertical integration: nearly every product became 7-11 branded. - better quality of food in general, especially hot items - fresh coffee, brewed to order Of course, they fired that guy for a penny pincher and the quality took a dramatic nosedive to the point that shitty 7-11 products are a meme now. Things like bentos with a bottom that curves upwards to make it look like there is more product than there really is, sandwiches with filling only in side the visible from the shelf, shrinking onigiri, or “strawberry pulp” that is literally a picture of strawberry pulp printed onto the cup. Nearly all of the other brands consolidated into Famima, and now Famima is competing on quality to take advantage of the situation. It was amazing how quickly they got their act together when they realized what was going on at 7.
  - 5y ago
BrandoElFollito 5y ago
KFC in France, while still a low key fast food, is not bad. Much better than McDonalds for sure.
nebula8804 5y ago
This is not always true. A prominent food blogger Mikey Chen visited the KFC Buffet in Tokyo and was thoroughly disappointed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIzhomIj-YQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIzhomIj-YQ
jmkni 5y ago
KFC in the UK/Ireland is pretty good. It’s definitely not good for you, but it’s tasty.

It's worth noting that KFC in other countries is often better than the greasy mess we typically find in the US. Same with McDonald's in my experience as well.

by axaxs 5y ago

It's worth noting that KFC in other countries is often better than the greasy mess we typically find in the US. Same with McDonald's in my experience as well.

izgzhen 5y ago

Can’t agree more. Chinese branch of KFC/McDonalds not only has many delicious specials you can’t find outside China, even the basic fried chicken is much more juicy and flavorful. I can only find similar fried chicken in some very niche brands in US.

leppr 5y ago

In this particular case though it is quite strange to me. Between katsu and tenpura, the Japanese are expert at fried food, in which they place peculiar importance on the lightness/crispiness. I tried KFC in Japan and it's mostly the same as anywhere else, a greasy mess.

ryder9 5y ago
> Between katsu and tenpura, the Japanese are expert at fried food the japanese aren't a hive mind
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
dylan604 5y ago
pretty much everyone is familiar with frying food. howver, they all use different ingredients/spices/etc. that was always the KFC thing with their secret blend of spices. their original recipe isn't crunchy at all. so it's not really worth saying all fried food is the same so Japanese are expert where KFC (or any family table on a Sunday in the South) are not.
kyawzazaw 5y ago
I mean tempura is Portugese influenced so what's so strange about a modern influence of fried food?
distantaidenn 5y ago
Try the current rage here: Karaage no Tensai (Fried Chicken Genius). It's a greasy mess of fatty bits. I could barely finish a serving. I suppose there's always a line due to the massive portions. There's good and bad, just like everywhere else -- excluding South Korea. Korean fried chicken is simply next level.

ravenstine 5y ago

When I lived in New Zealand for a year, one day my friends at school wanted to sneak out during lunch to go to KFC (which there they market as "kiwi for chicken"). This was something you'd not hear American high school students say, at least in California. However, it was significantly better tasting. Not mind blowing or anything, but pretty decent.

h2odragon 5y ago

I do not understand "KFC" as a business model; in the southern USA they have competition (every gas station has fried chicken), and the KFC chain seems to be dedicated to providing the worst food and the worst service in the market. For the last 20 years or more, the KFC nearest to me has been known to the locals as a place to avoid at all costs. They've had 2 periods of revival, in the month after new owners took over, neither lasted more than a month or so. The default state is under cooked food, high prices, and shitty service. They have a policy of shorting orders and shorting change; it must be policy, random error would happen in the customers' favor sometimes. I'd suspect they were a cover for some illegal activity, but if they are its happening at some higher level that I cannot perceive.

cartoonworld 5y ago
It's just par for the course for generic-ass buy-a-job franchise schemes. McDonald's afiak has pretty close management of their operations to counteract this expected behavior.
DangitBobby 5y ago
My experience is mainly that the chicken is pretty good but way overpriced for what it is. Service is on-par with other fast food. So I also don't understand why people choose KFC. Even when I did decide I wanted to eat there, They were also typically closed around the time I'd be looking for dinner.

city41 5y ago

I was so impressed with McDonald's in France I ate it several times last time I was there.

TheCoreh 5y ago
Yes, I've tried it in a couple countries and the best McDonald's meal I've had was in Champs-Élysées, Paris, France.
- dopidopHN 5y ago
  France is actually a significant market for McDonald. It was the second one a decade ago, no idea if it’s still the case. They also have some type of coffee shop/pastry joint inside, where you seat and the waiter brings the food.
QuesnayJr 5y ago
The best McDonald's I've ever eaten in are in Switzerland. I think it's because they use Swiss beef which is of uniformly high quality.

eplanit 5y ago

It's true. From my own experience, Starbucks in Japan is far superior than in the US, too. 7-11's are _wonderful_ in Japan.

jleyank 5y ago
I have found (US, Canada, UK) that Starbucks like most chains responds to the local competition. Where there's good coffee available in quantity, they hire baristas who drink it and know what they're doing. When there's few options, youthful customers or lots of tourists they go with the colored drinks and the coffee sux. I have also found that outside the US (possibly outside of N America), there's less sugar and more taste involved.
- Tade0 5y ago
  McDonald's in Italy is interesting - ketchup is not free (€0.50) and in taste is a lot like tomato sauce.
skhr0680 5y ago
7-11 were great for the 5 minutes their CEO actually cared about making customers happy and brought in innovations that literally forced nearly every other convenience store to consolidate into a mega chain into order to stay in business: - aggressive expansion of corporate-owned stores - very clean and modern toilets with a “free to use” policy - vertical integration: nearly every product became 7-11 branded. - better quality of food in general, especially hot items - fresh coffee, brewed to order Of course, they fired that guy for a penny pincher and the quality took a dramatic nosedive to the point that shitty 7-11 products are a meme now. Things like bentos with a bottom that curves upwards to make it look like there is more product than there really is, sandwiches with filling only in side the visible from the shelf, shrinking onigiri, or “strawberry pulp” that is literally a picture of strawberry pulp printed onto the cup. Nearly all of the other brands consolidated into Famima, and now Famima is competing on quality to take advantage of the situation. It was amazing how quickly they got their act together when they realized what was going on at 7.
- 5y ago

BrandoElFollito 5y ago

KFC in France, while still a low key fast food, is not bad. Much better than McDonalds for sure.

nebula8804 5y ago

This is not always true. A prominent food blogger Mikey Chen visited the KFC Buffet in Tokyo and was thoroughly disappointed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIzhomIj-YQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIzhomIj-YQ

jmkni 5y ago

KFC in the UK/Ireland is pretty good. It’s definitely not good for you, but it’s tasty.