Rankings: Fast Food

1. McDonald's

Prior to my arrival to Singapore, I hated McD the most among all the fast food chains. I was biased because I found McD to be very overpriced, small in portion, and not that nice in Indonesia. Haha.. During my first few years here, I remember that I only purchased McD to get 2 Hello Kitty small toys (nope.. this was not the super huge Hello Kitty fever). Things slowly changed as I found McD here to be very innovative. For example: Twister Fries and Beef Prosperity in conjuction with Chinese New Year, Shaker Fries, the forever $2 double cheeseburger, special glasses to commemorate special occasions such as Youth Olympic Games, Olympic Games, Coke, monopoly games, and many more. The tipping point for me to favour McD perhaps is due to its presence in NUS campus and the students price there. But no matter what, the $2 double cheeseburger is always "best buy" for me if I want to save money on meals.

2. Long John Silver's

I was not really attracted to LJS at the start because their seafood is like their main attraction and they cost a bomb. I end up always eating the chicken lol. However, I have to give kudos to their unique fries :) That is still the biggest pulling factor for me. The remnants of crunchy batter come second. Their innovation of Thai-style chicken was actually quite good and now with their $4.50 meal offers, I think they can match up with the other fast food chains in terms of price. The $4.50 offer also allowed me to taste their prawn which was quite nice. Haha.. Despite their elusiveness (it is quite difficult to find LJS branch) and my experience of the crunchy batter derailed my braces, I still place this as number 2 and sometimes I travel just to eat this. Too bad they are no longer present at Toa Payoh Central =x

3. Subway

Similar to McD, I only fell in love with this because its presence at NUS. While the idea of "healthy" fast food and hefty "personalisation" of the bread, vegetable and sauce choice, I find Subway to be relatively more expensive than the others. 20% off students price in NUS really made a difference to bring the price down to a more reasonable level. Because their toasted version gives me sore throat, I now prefer untoasted version or even the wrap version. I am not a big fan for their innovation (the latest being Chilli Crab) as the price tends to be more expensive and somehow it is quite difficult for them to come out with something better with their current menu. 2 thumbs up for their current menu which is wide in variety. And interestingly, I don't find them boring (I wonder why) and I keep buying the same few things (the cheaper ones) without feeling sick. Maybe the freshness of the vegetable does make a difference. Oh ya, I almost miss out the best thing from Subway: the COOKIES!! Yum yum...

4. Popeye's

I knew this during my JC and at that time there was only one branch which was in the Airport. I find the price to be very expensive but due to it only having one branch, I did not mind to specially go to the Airport to get it. The coleslaw, the fries, and the biscuit are good. The main meals are actually so-so. I stopped patronising it for awhile when suddenly they further increased the price by removing one side dish from their meal set. Previously I can always fulfil my appetite for both coleslaw and fries but now I had to choose :( Now they have more branches, but still comparably less than the others. And that may be the factor which makes me seek after it even though the food is not really fantastic and the price is quite expensive.

5. Kentucky Fried Chicken

As the name suggests, it still serves the BEST chicken products among the rest. It used to be on my number 1 as nothing beats the joy of having that huge Zinger burger plus yummy Cheesy Fries for $5.95. It lost my favour as its price hike is the most significant. Firstly, they replaced the Cheesy Fries to Mashed Potato (which I hate) for the $5.95 meals. To replace the mashed potato to cheesy fries, I need to top up $1.70. And imagine now their basic meals cost $6.50.Thus what cost me $5.95, costs me $8.20 nowadays. Zz.. Not to mention that the Zinger is growing smaller too.

6. Burger King

This is a dethroned king. It used to be my number 1 because it used to be banned in Indonesia (the last time I had BK was back in early 1990s when my family collected Lion King figures from their Kids' Meal). As a beef lover, I liked BK because they have mostly beef and bacons. Plus they are the only one to sell onion rings and Hershey's pies. Unfortunately, I find their lack of innovation to be a bane. All their burgers almost taste the same and it does not really help to have additional menu of single vs double patty -_-". The good thing is that it no longer charges additional fee to change from fries to onion ring for the meals, although the onion ring is no longer as good as last time. Their latest innovation is BK Shots. In the picture, it looks like 2 mini burgers. When I bought, it was even smaller than 1 normal-sized burger. Haiz.. I realised that it actually looked like a number 8. But based on the innuendos used in their ads, the shape is actually inspired by females' boobs. What a desperate marketing effort -__-"

7. Pastamania

Not really considered as fast food but I used to be addicted to it until I realised that I was gaining too much weight because I had this too often. My favourite was Alfredo and I was a bit anal when they increased the price by mere $1. Surprisingly, the price remained the same until now and actually their price increase is the most reasonable as compared to other fast food chains. I just had this on Sunday (after so many years) and I find the quality is still maintained. Wow! Too bad I am worried about my weight. (and my money) .Otherwise, this will be somewhere up high on my list. Creamy pasta, unlimited cheese, wide varieties in the menu.. What else can I ask? Can't be helped to have a higher price but that is another minus point because it just does not make sense for me to spend close to $10 for a meal that frequently right?

8. Carl's Jr

They market their burgers as the biggest, most filling, and of course indirecly it means they are the fattest in terms of cost and the most fattening. Unfortunately, bigger does not always mean better. For me, the serving is just too big to the point of being sick after finishing a burger (don't even imagine finishing a meal!). And it is a trouble to get all my fingers dirty (although their ads are along the line "Let's get messy" or something). Most of their meals are above $10 so I rather have Pastamania anyday. Similar to BK's problem, they fail to innovate and all their burgers almost taste the same that it is quite boring to keep eating here.