What's on the Menu: McDonald's Australia 2012

It's been a while but What's on the Menu returns with a look at McDonald's Australia menu for a look at how a global company caters to local tastes and how it differs from our own.

First a look at breakfast and the Brekkie Roll...

The Bakehouse Brekkie (i.e. "breakfast") Roll is basically your typical breakfast but in a sandwich. A sourdough bun cradles two rashers of bacon (back bacon), a fresh cracked egg (like on the Egg McMuffin), a slice of cheese, a potato rosti (i.e. a hash brown), and onion relish (fancy!).

If a roll isn't you're thing, McDonald's Australia also offers the Rosti Brekkie Wrap which contains a rasher of bacon, egg, cheese, potato rosti and BBQ sauce(?!).

For a bit more fancier breakfast fare, they have the NYC Benedict Bagel and the Boston Deli Bagel which of course have nothing to do with their respective cities unless Australians know something about bagels in NYC and Boston that I don't.

The NYC Benedict Bagel comes with rasher bacon, egg, and  a Hollandaise sauce on a toasted bagel while the Boston Deli Bagel has a tomato slice, rasher bacon, egg, and seasoned avocado.

For a different, bigger take on the Snack Wraps we have here in the U.S., Australia has the Tandoori Wrap and the Sweet Chili Wrap which are available with "crispy" or "seared" chicken.

The Tandoori Wrap adds a bit of Indian flavor with your choice of chicken, mixed with tandoori sauce, cucumber and tomato slices, shredded lettuce, and drizzled with a mint and yoghurt sauce.

The Sweet Chili Wrap is a bit simpler and features chicken, shredded lettuce, and cucumber slices with sweet chilli sauce and a special mayonnaise.

Of course being Australia, even McDonald's has Vegemite. What's Vegemite? I learned about Vegemite in undergrad from one of my floor mates who was from the land down under. It's a spread made from yeast extract (where do they come up with this stuff). It doesn't smell or look none too great and is quite salty. He had brought some with him and in sampling it, I don't remember liking it at all.

For a bit more of the mundane, in Australia, McDonald's serves a cup of soft serve and calls it their "Plain Sundae."

If you're looking for the Angus Third Pounders or Premium Chicken Sandwiches, you won't find them in Australia but you'll find their slightly different analogues with the Grand and Mighty Angus as well as the Grand Chicken. They like to use a sourdough bun on their premium sandwiches.

One of their more interesting and overly sweet sounding desserts is the McFlurry Bubblegum Squash which mixes bubblegum flavored syrup and marshmallows into soft serve.

And that ends this edition of What's on the Menu: McDonald's Australia. Be sure to tune in next time (whenever that is)!