We are getting McDonald's
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 2:38 am
For those of you worried how Bill will keep up his strength as a university professor, worry no more...
In April, as it has been rumored through the grapevine, McDonald's will be coming to Vietnam. For those of you critical of this move, you are either A. not an expatriate living in Vietnam or B. a vegetarian.
You can get a hamburger in Saigon, for sure. There are two prominent fast food chains.
Lotteria is owned by the Lotte Candy Company of Japan. Although headquartered in Tokyo, what we get here is the Korean version of the chain. All the hamburgers have bulgogi sauce. It's the first hamburger place that I have seen that gives you the choice of fries or a piece of fried chicken with a combo. It also offers Korean fast food. http://www.lotteria.com.vn/home.aspx
Jollibee is the largest Asian fast food chain. Headquartered in Manila, it gives a Filipino version of hamburgers, hot dogs, spaghetti, and fries. It also gives a Filipino version of what "fast" means. I had a business meeting last month for a seminar I was giving. Since Jollibee was the only place open at 8 AM, we met there. The woman I was meeting with (a local) is expecting a baby in a few months and had the usual cravings. She ordered breakfast at 8:05 and the meeting was over at 9:15. Her food still wasn't ready when we were finished! http://www.jollibee.com.ph/index.php?/i ... ents/21/21
We have a few other fast food chains. I have been to most of them.
Pizza Hut sells pizzas that are 60% smaller than what you get in America. Unlike Indonesia, where I lived in the mid 1990s (which used ketchup instead of tomato sauce, hot dogs instead of sausage, etc.), it uses the same recipes that are used in North America. If you eat at a particular location enough times, you qualify for a discount. I go to the Pizza Hut in the Diamond Plaza (located near Reunification Palace and Le Quy Don schools). Since I eat there once or twice a week, every week, I get a 20% discount. Be forewarned that the waitresses are terribly friendly and might expect you to ask them out. http://www.pizzahut.vn/
Pizza Inn is a chain from Texas which offers almost its entire menu in Saigon at three locations. Again, everything is smaller. It is not bad but it is expensive compare to what else is available. http://www.pizzainn.com/
KFC is the largest fast food chain in Vietnam. You can get the same instant mashed potatoes here that you get in America. The only problem is they consider a normal serving to be about one and a half teaspoons. I have a real problem eating chicken in Vietnam because most of it is "free range" and it tastes like whatever the animal was eating. KFC uses the same methods of chicken processing and preparation that are used everywhere else. You don't see the protesting here you do in America because that kind of activity is illegal. So those of us who want to eat Kentucky Fried Chicken can eat in peace! http://kfcvietnam.com/homepage.php
There are also a couple of local places I like which don't have websites:
Cappucchino was the first Western restaurant in the country since the end of the Vietnam War. It was started by an Italian in 1992 who still runs its main store in District 2 (near the first house where I lived in Saigon). Pizza, spaghetti, hamburgers, burritos, and Vietnamese items offered here are great. The tacos don't quite match up to everything else. If you order from the main store in District 2, the more you buy, the more free things you get (Coke, beer, bananas, pineapple, etc.)
Texas Bar BQ is run by Wayne McCoy from Fort Worth. Wayne is on his second Vietnamese wife (the first one died after 25 years of marriage). Located on Pasteur Street in District 3 (steps from Le Quy Don schools) it has any kind of steak you could hope for. The chicken fried steak cures homesickness. Wayne offers a breakfast menu but, unfortunately, his cook doesn't usually show up for work until 10:00. So the breakfast menu is served until 2:00. If you order "American coffee" you will get coffee served in the Vietnamese tradition (with a coffee filter over the cup) but the coffee used is Maxwell House or Folger's. You can get Dr. Pepper here but not root beer. And, even though he has neon signs advertising Lone Star Beer, the beer sold here is Saigon (green label or red label), Tiger, Coors Light (locally brewed), Heineken (locally brewed), or Bud Light (locally brewed). Saigon green, which is a little more potent than the red, is the best choice of beer.
In April, as it has been rumored through the grapevine, McDonald's will be coming to Vietnam. For those of you critical of this move, you are either A. not an expatriate living in Vietnam or B. a vegetarian.
You can get a hamburger in Saigon, for sure. There are two prominent fast food chains.
Lotteria is owned by the Lotte Candy Company of Japan. Although headquartered in Tokyo, what we get here is the Korean version of the chain. All the hamburgers have bulgogi sauce. It's the first hamburger place that I have seen that gives you the choice of fries or a piece of fried chicken with a combo. It also offers Korean fast food. http://www.lotteria.com.vn/home.aspx
Jollibee is the largest Asian fast food chain. Headquartered in Manila, it gives a Filipino version of hamburgers, hot dogs, spaghetti, and fries. It also gives a Filipino version of what "fast" means. I had a business meeting last month for a seminar I was giving. Since Jollibee was the only place open at 8 AM, we met there. The woman I was meeting with (a local) is expecting a baby in a few months and had the usual cravings. She ordered breakfast at 8:05 and the meeting was over at 9:15. Her food still wasn't ready when we were finished! http://www.jollibee.com.ph/index.php?/i ... ents/21/21
We have a few other fast food chains. I have been to most of them.
Pizza Hut sells pizzas that are 60% smaller than what you get in America. Unlike Indonesia, where I lived in the mid 1990s (which used ketchup instead of tomato sauce, hot dogs instead of sausage, etc.), it uses the same recipes that are used in North America. If you eat at a particular location enough times, you qualify for a discount. I go to the Pizza Hut in the Diamond Plaza (located near Reunification Palace and Le Quy Don schools). Since I eat there once or twice a week, every week, I get a 20% discount. Be forewarned that the waitresses are terribly friendly and might expect you to ask them out. http://www.pizzahut.vn/
Pizza Inn is a chain from Texas which offers almost its entire menu in Saigon at three locations. Again, everything is smaller. It is not bad but it is expensive compare to what else is available. http://www.pizzainn.com/
KFC is the largest fast food chain in Vietnam. You can get the same instant mashed potatoes here that you get in America. The only problem is they consider a normal serving to be about one and a half teaspoons. I have a real problem eating chicken in Vietnam because most of it is "free range" and it tastes like whatever the animal was eating. KFC uses the same methods of chicken processing and preparation that are used everywhere else. You don't see the protesting here you do in America because that kind of activity is illegal. So those of us who want to eat Kentucky Fried Chicken can eat in peace! http://kfcvietnam.com/homepage.php
There are also a couple of local places I like which don't have websites:
Cappucchino was the first Western restaurant in the country since the end of the Vietnam War. It was started by an Italian in 1992 who still runs its main store in District 2 (near the first house where I lived in Saigon). Pizza, spaghetti, hamburgers, burritos, and Vietnamese items offered here are great. The tacos don't quite match up to everything else. If you order from the main store in District 2, the more you buy, the more free things you get (Coke, beer, bananas, pineapple, etc.)
Texas Bar BQ is run by Wayne McCoy from Fort Worth. Wayne is on his second Vietnamese wife (the first one died after 25 years of marriage). Located on Pasteur Street in District 3 (steps from Le Quy Don schools) it has any kind of steak you could hope for. The chicken fried steak cures homesickness. Wayne offers a breakfast menu but, unfortunately, his cook doesn't usually show up for work until 10:00. So the breakfast menu is served until 2:00. If you order "American coffee" you will get coffee served in the Vietnamese tradition (with a coffee filter over the cup) but the coffee used is Maxwell House or Folger's. You can get Dr. Pepper here but not root beer. And, even though he has neon signs advertising Lone Star Beer, the beer sold here is Saigon (green label or red label), Tiger, Coors Light (locally brewed), Heineken (locally brewed), or Bud Light (locally brewed). Saigon green, which is a little more potent than the red, is the best choice of beer.