Results tagged “fastfood”

It's been ages since we heard any news of Krispy Kreme, the American donut slinger which was supposed to come to our shores sometime "soon" over eight months ago. But it seems that Cityweekend has now found an actual store - and it says it will finally open in "early December 2009." When it does do its non-specific opening day, the first 200 people lined up at the door will receive a "special surprise." So uh... Krispy Kreme stake out anybody?

          

Oh the artery-clogging glory of it all! There are few words to express our good, old fashioned love of American fast food, but in celebration of the first Carl's Jr. to open in China, we figured we'd find a few grade-A words to celebrate. In case you've never been in the States, Carl's Jr. is a bastion of burgers, fries and shakes, all served to order and in heaping portions à la mode américaine glutton.

Has KFC been substituting cod fish in its food with some other type of species? According to Xinmin, an insider at the fast food establishment has alleged that it uses a species of fish called "Dragon Cod" (龙鳕鱼) instead.

CNReviews has discovered what looks to be one of the first Carl’s Jr. to hit Shanghai. Snapped in Raffles City Mall near People’s Square was this very promising looking construction setup promising charbroiled goodness from 卡乐星 (ka le xing). The burgers in the ad look absolutely huge, though what burgers in ads don’t? When exactly will we get to see how closely they live up to the hype? We‘re not sure! They were supposed to have come by March this year already.

McDonalds ain't messing around with its China strategy. Having already spread out its home delivery service last year, and then lowered prices for its popular items on the China menu two months ago, it's now announced plans for a major hiring spree.

• Construction starts on rail link [Shanghai Daily] "Construction on the 29.68-billion-yuan (US$4.34 billion) Shanghai-Hangzhou high-speed railway started yesterday at Fengjing area in Shanghai. The project, which is expected to be completed before the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, will cut the journey between the two cities to 38 minutes from the current one hour or more and is part of a plan to cut travel time between any two cities in the Yangtze River Delta Region to within one hour."
• Has Western Fast Food Hit a Wall in China? [Mark's China Blog] "I can't say that I'm that surprised that Chinese people may move away from eating western fast food as much as they have been. First, western fast food joints in China aren't cheap. In America, when you eat the crap that fast food places serve up you at least don't have to spend much money. That can't be said for China."
• China: ‘Can I supersize my stimulus?’ [FT Alphaville] "Expectations are growing China could super-size its stimulus package when it votes on the budget next week, especially since the draft currently being considered already foresees a record-breaking fiscal deficit for the country in 2009 of some 950bn yuan (higher than previously expected)."

Krispy Kreme might be feeling the squeeze in the United States, but fears of bankruptcy hasn't stopped the uber-delicious donut purveyor from entering China. According to Brand Republic, the shop has partnered with BBDO Guerrero to expand overseas and plans to open up 35 stores over the next five years in Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin. Yikes! Even more places selling delicious sugar-glazed fried bread? Be still our expanding waistlines.

McDonalds will be cutting prices for many popular items on its China menu. Popular options like the Filet-O-Fish, Double Cheeseburger, McNuggets, McPuff, and the Mala Pork Burger, are all getting a nice discount. Sure, it's still more expensive than local food, but all expats craving their fast food fix can now do it even cheaper. Yay, recession! Source: Straits Times

At the side of the Maglev station, between the two terminals, three new restaurants are opening at Pudong Airport on August 10 (Sunday). There is a new KFC (for those who can't walk 5 meters to the existing branch), a Pizza Hut, and a Chinese fast-food joint. Also opening soon is a branch of the noodle chain that features Bruce Lee wearing the "Game Of Death" yellow tracksuit as their logo (Note to self: find out name of that restaurant!).

With the world looking at China leading up to the Games, China continues to make a concerted effort to meet the social standards of Western developed countries. In addition to public service announcements teaching people to be civil to each other, the powers that be (in this case the Jing'an Municipality) have have even gone as far as launching a volunteer guerrilla campaign to bribe people with small gifts to clear their tables at McDonald's and KFC.

From Sexy Beijing:

American style fast food is big in China these days and chains like McDonald's continue to expand across this massive market. At the same time, young Chinese are fatter than their parents were. Coincidence?

Thou shalt not collude on pricing, the regulatory god said unto the Moses of industries in most countries, including China. But the instant noodle cabal either did not hear it or turned a deaf ear. In late July, noodle makers joined forces in raising prices by about 20 percent, and as much as 40 percent for some products.After less than three weeks of regulatory pressure, media assailing and public discontent, the industry backed down, apologized and initiated an across-the-board price cut. Is this a triumph of consumer rights and regulatory protection? Yes ... hmm maybe.

Continue reading "Thou shalt not collude on pricing, says China Daily columnist but fails to hit out at state-owned airlines"

Shanghaiist is somewhat of a frequent flyer to Beijing, and because he isn't employed by some big multinational but rather runs his own little business, he can only afford to put himself on cattle class and often has to scour the internet for the cheapest available deals. We especially love this nifty little function on eLong.com which shows you the cheapest available flight within a week of your selected departure date. That has worked to our advantage in the past because we have relatively flexible schedules, and we have flown to Beijing for as low as RMB530 (that's RMB400 for the ticket and RMB130 for miscellaneous taxes) on Hainan Airlines.

With the sun out, the temperatures high, one can only think of one thing-- what's going on in the World of the -ist's?

Even though we are way way past school age, we still get a little melancholy at the close of summer. Fortunately, our friends across the -ist network know that the shenanigans don't need to end just because the big yellow buses are back on the roads. So, grab your sunscreen and your favorite hangover cure, as we take a tour of end of summer fun from -ist cities all over the damn place.

SFist commeters pose for before and aftershocks when the mayor commemorates a 1906 earthquake...at 4:30 in the morning. A hot tip on the Chronicle vending machines comes in and the SFist war correspondent risks life and limb to post this dispatch from the frontlines.

Shanghaiist has always been miffed by KFC’s roaring success in China. In a country where fine dining is the national pastime, how did something as mundane as fried chicken capture the discerning palettes of 1.4 billion Chinese? Well, thanks to the good people at Yum Brand China’s (KFC’s parent company) marketing department, we now know why -- eating fried chicken makes you smarter and, better yet, helps you get the chicks, too! (No pun intended.)

Actually, Mr. Kreskin predicted nothing of the sort. We did. And, really, we're only talking about the "big" part. Here's why:

Those who have passed by Jing'an Temple this week have doubtlessly noticed the mighty Whopper swaying in the breeze, ready to fatten up a populace already hip to the featherless chickens of KFC and bottomless troughs of McDonald’s fries. The closed-to the-public opening ceremony of China’s first Burger King was a sight to behold on Monday -- slick industry fat cats (many of them quite large) mingled in the shiny new space, cutting ribbons and espousing the virtues of that fantastic flame-broiled taste. (The media was there, too.)

Shanghaiist has always been one to pull for the underdog (except for in baseball), so it makes sense that we grew up eating our fast food at Burger King[1], not McDonald's -- well, at least until Wendy's moved to town. Oh, those were the days -- before nutritional information was mandatory, when a family of four could order two Whoppers, two Jr. Whoppers and onion rings for everyone and actually feel good about themselves. These burgers were flame broiled, that must make them good for us.