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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not understand why people consider McDonalds to be a "treat"

712 replies

TalkinPeace · 13/03/2014 15:22

if I want a family "treat" meal I go somewhere with fresh, favoursome food made especially for us.

Why do people take their kids somewhere that sells the lowest common denominator of food and call it a "treat" ?

OP posts:
FreudiansSlipper · 13/03/2014 23:12

last time i had kfc, maybe 6 months ago they had changed their chips to fries

fried chicken should not be with fries it is wrong

EatShitDerek · 13/03/2014 23:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FreudiansSlipper · 13/03/2014 23:14

thankfully i have never found worms in fish

shall look out for them now

MoominsYonisAreScary · 13/03/2014 23:16

Yes! A whopper burger with mcd fries and bk milkshake

SallyMcgally · 13/03/2014 23:20

I used to LOVE McDonalds. Whenever I went to Paris with my flat ate (which was often) we nought it was a real treat to eat McDs rather than find a lovely bistro Confused but now I think they're gross. I'm sure they've changed the recipes or something. It's not because I'm elegant. My favourite dinner is still 2 packets of chipsticks and a Twirl.

treaclesoda · 13/03/2014 23:23

valuable info about worms in fish! Grin

FreudiansSlipper · 13/03/2014 23:31

thinking of becoming a vegetarian

i can still eat macdonalds fried and wimpy do a lovely bean burger Grin

ZingSweetMango · 13/03/2014 23:33

I want a Big Mac now.
shame they don't do takeawaysSad

PrincessScrumpy · 13/03/2014 23:33

only a treat as I won't have to load the dishwasher or clean the crumbs from under the table. I used to work in London a lot and get a Bigmac on the way home to eat on the train. I remember loving it but now I think they are disgusting. They do do nice coffee though and have lots of high chairs so I used to take dtds there and meet another friend with twins. Starbucks only had 3 high chairs so decision was made. I had a coffee and dc ate fruit snacks I'd packed for them. Manager never minded and even often bought my coffee to me so I didn't have to queue when the twins were tiny. Our local one is really lovely in that way - still can't stand the food though! For an unhealthy kid-friendly treat I'd rather go to Pizza Hut.

BlueSkySunnyDay · 13/03/2014 23:39

The children liked to go for the toys but have never really liked the food - possibly because I use minimum salt and it really is very, very salty.

Ds1 goes into town with his mates and would prefer a subway/costa/neros if it was up to him ..all of those are much more expensive.

BlueSkySunnyDay · 13/03/2014 23:45

Personally if I were going to have a hideously bad for me treat id rather go to the kebab van Grin

Rommell · 13/03/2014 23:46

Me and my friends were once threatened in the Brixton McDonalds by a guy with a crack pipe - we'd gone in there from the pub and had a bottle of wine with us which we poured into plastic cups while we ate our (poor taste lower class) burgers. The staff didn't mind at all but the crackhead went off on one about how we were 'dissing' McDonalds with our wee tipple. Happy days. Grin

Rommell · 13/03/2014 23:53

He was complaining about us 'dissing' McD's while actually smoking crack in there, just in case that wasn't clear. Grin

NigellasDealer · 13/03/2014 23:54

Grin rommell sounds as random as Brixton gets

manicinsomniac · 13/03/2014 23:59

I'll admit to being a hysterical McDonalds hater. It gives me mild anxiety just walking into one - like the calories can attach themselves to me just by breathing the air Grin. At least I know IABU though.

I do wonder if I don't see it as a treat because it was a regular thing for me growing up though so I never came to see it as a special and good thing. I used to go every week in between ballet and brownies/guides and I didn't really like it. None of us liked it and I can remember whining and asking to go home for tea or somewhere else. My Mum would say things like 'this is the only place that's open' 'there's no time to go home' 'I know it's not nice but please just eat it'.

Whereas the boarders at the school I teach at think McDonalds is a huge treat. I take them away for a weekend once a term and I can provide beach trips, cinema, skiing, climbing, alton towers, bowling, camping and on and on and on ... but without fail the bit they look forward to the most is that we stop at McDonalds on the way home because we've missed school tea. They aren't allowed it at home so it's a major deal. (does make me a little sad about the effort I put into organising the rest of it when we could evidently just do a fast food restaurant tour instead!)

What I don't understand from this thread is those people who say they cook 'fresh flavoursome food' 340 (or whatever) days of the year and therefore McDonalds is a treat. Surely, if you cook good food like that (which I don't!) McDonalds would be an occasional punishment not an occasional treat! It's all tasteless, greasy and limp. 'Fresh flavoursome food' (in my mind anyway) is something that you would look forward to eating, even if you have it every day.

OneOfOurLilkasIsMissing · 14/03/2014 00:01

My God, I want a spicy veggie bun and large fries so badly now. I love McDonalds. It's gorgeous.

And yes it's a treat. It's the cheapest food we can get that still tastes really good. The only restaurants I can afford (very occasionally) are ones that can serve a nice main course for no more than about £7.50 a person, and once I've added on the cheapest drinks and cheapest desserts, it's pretty expensive for me. Whereas Maccy's is at most £5 a head for the entire meal, but normally less. Up to £13-£15 for everyone (me + 2 kids), or £30+ for everyone?? Very easy decision

We go about once a month. We also have fish and chips about once a month.

It's not even unhealthy as part of a good diet. A healthy diet and lifestyle is not about the individual foods you eat, it's about putting everything together. It's your weekly/monthly diet as a whole, not one meal on one day.

OneOfOurLilkasIsMissing · 14/03/2014 00:04

What I don't understand from this thread is those people who say they cook 'fresh flavoursome food' 340 (or whatever) days of the year and therefore McDonalds is a treat. Surely, if you cook good food like that (which I don't!) McDonalds would be an occasional punishment not an occasional treat! It's all tasteless, greasy and limp

But I don't find McDonalds limp, greasy or tasteless. I love the taste. That's what makes it a treat.

I hate spicy food unless it's very mild, but some people love it. I'm not going to sit here saying "but why would you subject yourselves to that shit, it's all awful, it burns your mouth and tongue and makes you feel ill", whenever my older kids order a really hot curry. Because I know that that would BU.

manicinsomniac · 14/03/2014 00:08

Okay, sure but, even if you do like it, it can't compare to 'fresh flavoursome food' can it? So you are still 'treating' yourself to something that is worse than you usually get. If you don't cook such great stuff all the time then I can see why it would be a treat. Maybe. Although I really don't think you can compare spicy food being a taste preference and McDonalds food - there's nothing subjective about saying McDonalds is limp and greasy. It is objectively limp and greasy.

ZingSweetMango · 14/03/2014 00:09

when a friend of mine (Hungarian) came to England as an aupair in '97 her family wanted to surprise her with something fantastic at the weekend.

she was very excited at all the possibilities - British Museum? Tate Gallery? a tour inside Buckingham Palace?

they went to McDonald's in nearby village so she asked what the surprise will be.
they said "This"

Shock Grin

She couldn't have been more disappointed...

roomwithoutaroof · 14/03/2014 00:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

OneOfOurLilkasIsMissing · 14/03/2014 00:22

Okay, sure but, even if you do like it, it can't compare to 'fresh flavoursome food' can it?

It does for me, it tastes just as nice as much of my home cooked food. And no, my home cooked food is not crap or rubbish food.

The fries are floppy but that doesn't make them taste any less good. I like that taste a lot. I can't stand chips that are in any way hard inside. Taste is completely subjective, so it does compare to spicy food.

Spero · 14/03/2014 00:34

O for goodness sake. You can't eat filet mignon every bloody night. Just as I can't read Chekov every night. Sometimes I want to read Stephen King. or Heat. Or grazia.

The food is not 'limp' or 'greasy'. I would never say no to the chips.

Variety and a lack of precious snobbishness really is the spice of life.

I miss the Brixton MacDonalds now.

manicinsomniac · 14/03/2014 00:44

I'm not snobby. I barely cook at all. My children can eat whatever the hell they like, I don't restrict them in any way whatsoever. It's me that has the hysterical hatred not them. It's not snobbishness it's mental illness.

But many other posters have claimed that they cook 'fresh and flavoursome food' almost every night. So it's very logical to say that McDonalds must be more of a punishment than a treat on the odd occasion that they have that instead.

And the food is most certainly both limp and greasy.

Spero · 14/03/2014 00:48

Who are these 'many other' posters who cook 'fresh flavoursome food' every night?

did I come late to this? I haven't seen them.

But I agree, if you are cooking 'fresh flavoursome food' every night then very little must seem like a treat for you.

OneOfOurLilkasIsMissing · 14/03/2014 00:54

McDonalds is very flavoursome, and it's fresh. It's not cooked 2 days beforehand then heated up in a microwave, my "spicy" (it's very mild) veggie bun is always cooked after I order it, they never have any precooked, not enough people order them.

My vegetable pasta is also flavoursome and fresh (the pasta itself is dried not fresh but you know what I mean), as are my veggies boiled in the pan with quorn/meat, as is my stew, etc etc. And on occasion, my quick and easy cupcakes are delicious and fresh. And are also bad if you eat lots of them every day. I don't cook expensive food ever, can't afford it, but it's fresh and flavoursome all the same

As is Maccy's

Limp and greasy is subjective, because we're disagreeing already. I'd say half the curries I see are more oily and greasy than a Maccy's easily