"For the same reason, the import of British sausages to France is forbidden."

My French husband is crazy about British sausages - we usually have to bring back a few packages of them whenever we visit the UK!! Though now we live in Brussels we can get them more easily, as they clearly aren't banned here...

Lawchick ..that last sandwich would kill me..what's the Exki like? How did you know about the horsemeat?

Im sorry K...It was Bois and it was only about three years back......I wonder if it could have been another chain..It was by a huge shopping center just off the expressway...

Well, the only two major hamburger chains currently operating in France are McDonald's and Quick -- those are the ones that you find at shopping malls and along the autoroute.

EXKI is fab. I used to get my lunch there regularly.

www.exki.be

Re the horsemeat - thankfully they have signs up at the hotdog stand explaining that they have horsemeat products...and I speak German. But don't worry, you won't be served it unless you actually ask for it.

xyz123 got me hooked on Subway sandwiches... It's funny, the stuff they sell in Munich tases so!!! much different from what I got in the US. It's the meat I believe, there, it's a mixture of meat plus fat, while the Munich Subway has lean meat and much smaller pieces of meat. In addition the vegetables are not cut as fine as over here (metric? ).
However I love it!!, just won't enter a restaurant in the US any more.

It's great they've got free refills! MCD started offering free refills just recently.

<i>MCD started offering free refills just recently.</i>

Not in the US...

Personally, I haven't been overly enthralled with the fast food in Europe, with a few notable exceptions. My favorite European fast food creation is the McKroket - it combines the genius of the Dutch Kroket (basically, deep-fried gravy) with the tastiness of a McDonald's bun. Simply fantastic. And good for you too.

Otherwise, some things don't measure up. In Denmark, the McDonald's cut a slice of cheese off of the Quarter Pounder. That is not an enhancement. They also don't serve breakfast.

I do like the availability of frite sauce, in addition to ketchup, though you can usually get mayo at a US fast food restaurant, so it isn't that big of a deal.

Personally, I think Quick kind of stinks. A poor man's McDonald's. It doesn't really bring anything to the table, yet doesn't give you the satisfying familiarity.

Heading to Madrid this weekend and may check out Fast Good. Curious to see what Ferran Adria thinks fast food should be.

I love going to Pret-A-Manger because I thing their sandwiches are great. You can't beat the price. For reasons I can't explain, when ever I am in London I have to stop at Mcdonalds for a large fry. I have issues.

When I am dying for a huge diet coke with lots of ice I head straight for the McD's in Europe.

Another bonus at McD's is if they have free maps (not all do) they have every mc'd on it so it is an easy way to navigate the city!

I very, very rarely eat fast food in the US, but when I go to Europe (or anywhere else in the world) I do stop in McD's for an apple pie: the old kind, deep fried, which are no longer served here, probably due to litigation issues. They're lovely and terribly bad for you.

And in China, I celebrated the 4th of July at a very crowded McDonalds. Irony is my favorite condiment.

In my mother's house is a framed placemat from the first McDonald's in China.

I seem to recall that my Grandparents said they got a rice ball there. Not something you see on our menu.

They went because the line was huge and they just wanted to see what the fuss was. (This was early in the 90's and a capitalist institiution like McDonalds was really unusual!)

When we've traveled, I've always made it a point to NOT eat at any American fast food joints. However...

We spent several weeks one summer in London where my husband was working. For reasons that I don't remember, he flew home several days before the kids and I did.
Even though we were living in a house in a neighborhood, had great neighbors, and had been there several times before this trip, the kids and I were particularly lonely on the rainy night that Jay flew home.
I relented that night, and took the kids to McDonalds for dinner. We sure enjoyed that little taste of home. (And the kids thought it was funny that hot dogs were on the menu.)

I've always said I would never eat at a fast food place when traveling in Europe (I haven't been to a McDonalds or Burger King in more than 20 years here in the states). That said, if they ever opened an In-n-Out in Europe, and I was walking by, my ban would be lifted.

I don't like fast food, but in Jamaica many years ago I almost kissed the floor of a Burger King (I think it was Burger King)....after 3 weeks of curried goat and jerk chicken - I couldn't take any more.