McDonald´s

McDonald’s is a massive name in the fast food industry and is the world’s biggest chain of fast food restaurants.There is quite a wide variety of food available at McDonalds and most things on the menu are extremely tasty.

Breakfast

The breakfast menu at McDonalds has a wide range of food products and is one of my favourite things about McDonalds.

Items on this menu include a choice of bagels, pancakes with syrup/sausage, toasted bagels, porridge, bacon roll, and of course the McMuffin’s with a choice of bacon and egg or sausage and egg. There are also drinks available such as coffee, tea and orange juice. What I find a little odd about this menu is the presence of a chocolate muffin, blueberry muffin and a sugar coated donut, these certainly wouldn’t appeal to me first thing in the morning. As you might expect, most of the things on this menu again are not very healthy. The Sausage and Egg McMuffin for example contains a whopping 420 calories, and having eaten these numerous times in the past, although they are very tasty I can say that they are on the small side and are really not that satisfying. A healthier option here would be the porridge, containing 195 calories or there is also a fruit bag consisting of 80g of sliced apple and grapes. Each bag contains just 42 calories but in my opinion, this is hardly enough for a breakfast meal.

The Saver Menu

The double cheeseburger is usually what I go for when I fancy a little snack and not a full meal but with a calorie content of 440 it's really not the lightest or healthiest option. The double cheeseburger contains two burgers which McDonald's claim to be 100% beef. On top of each burger there is a slice of cheese and jut underneath the top of the bun, there are pickles, onions, mustard and Heinz Ketchup. Overall this is a very tasty burger from the menu and one that I eat way too often. Originally these were 99p but one of these will now set you back £1.39 which I think is a fairly reasonable price.

If you are feeling a bit peckish a slightly better option would be the cheeseburger, exactly the same as the double cheeseburger but only containing one beef burger. This burger is a lot better on the calorie front and contains 295 calories. Even so, the content is still high for a snack considering this doesn't do much to fill you up. It is also high in carbohydrates containing 31 grams, 7 grams of which are sugars. Fat content is also quite high with 12 grams per portion, 6 of which are saturates. The price of a cheeseburger is currently 99p which unfortunately makes it too easy to consume often.

The third burger on the saver menu is the chicken mayo. Described as "crispy coated chicken with lettuce and cool mayo in a toasted bun", this really is a tasty little burger. The downside yet again is the calorie content of 310 which is outrageous for a burger of this size. There is also 37 grams of carbohydrate and 13 grams of fat with the one redeeming quality being that only 1 of these grams is saturates. Overall, this is a nice tasting burger but it is on the small side which won't leave you feeling satisfied for long.

One of my favourite things on the menu at McDonalds are the fries. Thin and crispy, these fries are absolutely scrumptious. They are available in various sizes and the medium size is available on the saver menu for just 99p. Again these pack in the calories, containing 330. Carbohydrate content is also high at 42 grams per portion and there is a whopping 16 grams of fat.

Thankfully, there is a healthier option on the saver menu. The Garden Salad is a mixed salad with cherry tomatoes in a balsamic dressing. With only 10 calories per portion, this is definitely a good option for calorie counters. The bad news is that this is only a side salad so portions will be very small and probably unsatisfying if hungry.

Thirsty? Well there's good news! Medium soft drinks are also available on the saver menu. Choose from Coca-Cola, Fanta, Diet Coke, Coke Zero or Sprite.

There are three deserts to choose from on the saver menu. The McFlurry, Toffee Sundae and Strawberry Sundae. A McFlurry will set you back around 330-340 calories with carbohydrate content of 60 (54 grams of which are sugars). Although tasty and lovely for a sunny day, these are very unhealthy, especially when consumed in conjunction with other McDonalds foods. The Sundaes consist of dairy ice cream that is swirled with either toffee or strawberry sauce. Again not the healthiest option with a calorie content of 300-330 and a huge amount of sugar, similar to that of the McFlurry.

Healthier Options

If you are a healthy eater or are following a low calorie diet, it’s pretty unlikely that you will be considering McDonalds as a place to eat. However, there are a few healthy options available in the form of salads. There is the choice of a grilled or crispy chicken salad or the grilled chicken and bacon salad, both come with a choice of balsamic or Caesar dressing. Calorie, sugar and fat content decrease quite drastically with these options.

Something for Children

For children there is the Happy Meal which consists of a choice of chicken nuggets, fish fingers, a cheeseburger or hamburger. Each of these options is accompanied by a small portion of fries and a drink. There is also the option of a fruit bag and healthier drink options such as water or juice. Very occasionally, this is a great treat for children and each meal comes with a toy which follows the current theme, usually cartoon characters from new movies.

Value Meals

There are a number of standard meals available on the menu with a choice of various burgers, chicken nuggets, fish or chicken.

The Big Mac meal is one I usually tend to go for when eating at McDonalds. The Big Mac itself consists of two beef patties which McDonalds claim are 100% beef. These are accompanied by lettuce, pickles, onion and cheese with Big Mac sauce and is sandwiched between a sesame seed bun. The Big Mac packs in a massive 490 calories with 24 grams of fat (10 of which are saturates). Nice for a treat, but after researching the nutritional information, I will be trying my best to stay away from these.

Other options include the Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal, Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal, the Big Tasty meal, McChicken Sandwhich and the Fillet-O-Fish. All meals are served with fries and a choice of drinks.

Hopefully so far, this review will have given you a good idea of the food available at McDonalds restaurants. There is of course much more on the menu, but I have focussed mainly on what I have tried and what I feel are the best parts of the menu.

Overall the food is extremely tasty and the products are acceptable in terms of value for money. The downside is that although the meals do seem rather large, they don’t really leave you satisfied for very long, and overindulgence can leave you feeling bloated, sluggish and not too well.

The Restaurants

Food at McDonald’s is available to take away or you can opt to eat in. Restaurants are typical of fast food joints, with chairs and tables, all of which seem of an acceptable standard in cleanliness, most of the time anyway. Service is generally very fast both within the restaurants and at the drive thru and I usually find the staff helpful and efficient. Opening hours can vary between places but an increasing number are now open 24 hours.

I would recommend McDonald's as a quick fix if you're hungry out and about or as a very rare treat for the family. I don't class McDonald's as a place which offers nutritional healthy meals by any means and would definitely not recommend it as part of a healthy diet.

**Also on Dooyoo under the same username**