What's on the Menu: McDonald's France

What's on the Menu takes a look at feature items on the menu at McDonald's in other countries to see how American fast food has adapted itself to local tastes. Why McDonald's? It works for the Big Mac index and that's good enough for me.

Parlez vous francais? Yeah, me neither but that didn't stop me from plumbing the McDonald's France website to see how the country known for haute cuisine eats quickly.  First up!  Le P'tit Moutarde!

Le P'tit Moutarde ("the small mustard") is a small hamburger on a fancy bun.  It's a regular McDonald's hamburger patty with a fancy mustard sauce, and slice of tomato on a ciabatta bun.  Think of it as a fancier McDonald's hamburger.  I could see it in the U.S. as an upscale-type of snack item.

Fancy!  The Crumble & Poire Williams Sundae features pear-flavored syrup with a crumble topping on a swirled cup of soft-serve ice cream.  Poire Williams is a sweet pear liquor made from Barlett pears.  I doubt this has any liquor in it but it's pretty interesting no?

They have frappes already!  In four flavors to boot: cappuccino, banana caramel, framboise (berry beer), and vanilla.  Frappes in the U.S. are still being test marketed... booooooo...

Huh.  This looks very familiar no?  It seems the snack wrap is everywhere.  The chicken looks more tubular on Le P'tit Wrap ("the little wrap" unless I guess wrong) but otherwise it's the same Ranch Snack Wrap that we have here in the U.S. which means shredded lettuce, cheddar cheese, ranch dressing, and a fried chicken strip wrapped in a flour tortilla.

More ciabatta!  The Premio au Parmesan is a premium McDonald's item with an Italian theme and features a ciabatta bun, a thick all-beef patty, parmigiano reggiano cheese, diced seasoned tomatoes, a leaf of Batavia lettuce and a creamy sauce.

Strikingly similar to Japan's Shaka Shaka Chicken but without the fun name, McDonald's France's Chicken Shake (insert picture of blended chicken here) features two tube-like breaded chicken strips rather than a single breaded chicken breast but is otherwise the same concept: you dump the flavored powder in the provided bag with the chicken, shake well, and eat.

The shaking powder comes in three flavors: curry, provencal (dried tomatoes, onions, parsley, and garlic flakes if it's anything like provencal sauce), and barbecue.

Other U.S. fast food restaurants have tested this concept in the U.S. but I guess it didn't catch on because McDonald's never has.

All-in-all, McDonald's France's feature items seem to be a little more upscale than McDonald's USA.  More Angus Burgers and less McDouble.

Related:
Spotlight on: McDonald's in Japan
What's on the Menu: McDonald's Chile