Our trip to this particular McDonalds took place towards the middle of a week-long break from work, we just wanted simple, inexpensive food to fill the void after a long day.
It was the 22nd of July, the middle of the school holidays - just before rush hour, so we were expecting the restaurant to be relatively busy but staffing would reflect this at such a peak time... Surely? Okay, rookie error on my part. The queue tailed right back to the entrance and there were only two colleagues serving across a desk with four till points. I don't particularly enjoy waiting, but my partner and I did so patiently - people watching as we slowly progressed towards the order point.
A little fact from my time in retail and food prep... Hands should always be washed upon entering a food preparation area and hair should be tied back with a cap or net worn to protect the surfaces and food. Imagine my distaste when I observed one colleague (there will be more on this colleague later) admiring another's haircut - touching and looking at the female colleague's 'new do' and cleaning some tables before returning to assist in the food prep area; she didn't wash her hands. Disgusted.
We ordered our food; I picked the large Big Mac Meal and my partner opted for the Chicken & Cheddar Classic as they had heartbrokenly advised my boyfriend that the company no longer did the BBQ McLegend (judging by the website this turned out to be a lie), a side of chicken nuggets and two McFlurries of the flake variety - one raspberry and the other chocolate.
However... Being incredibly fussy, I fancied some sweet chilli sauce which I expected to be included with the chicken nuggets but no, once again I was proved wrong. 20p for a small tub of sauce that offered flavouring for all of 4 nuggets.
Just as I was begrudgingly paying the 20p cost of the sauce, the aforementioned - with a poor awareness of the level-2 food hygiene standards - colleague took umbrage to the presence of a group of three younger guys who had come into the restaurant to order. Yes they looked like they'd cause trouble in an empty house. Yes they probably have given the restaurant some grief in the past but they were perfectly well-behaved on this occasion. Most importantly; No it doesn't give any colleague the right to bawl over paying customers and make them feel like they're caught in the cross-fire of world war 3. I actually felt embarrassed and a little nervous about the whole scenario, I just wanted to get our food and get out.
The entire situation made the - usually relaxed and informal McDonald's atmosphere - feel like the apocalypse.
Now for the important part;
The Big Mac was, as expected, the most awesome creation to ever leave the McDonald's kitchen. Somehow, a burger from any other fast-food restaurant just doesn't cut it! The proportion of salad:sauce:burgers:buns was well calculated - I didn't even make a mess when eating it. The chips were - in all fairness - cooked well with that slight crunch to the outside complementing the light and fluffy potato inside. A gold star for the person who prepared this delight!
Chicken nuggets are - across the board - always cooked well at McDonald's. They almost excel in this arena compared to another fast-food brand who specialises in just poultry. There's a novelty to their presence in any meal, and between my boyfriend and I, the box was demolished pretty rapidly. A testament to their deliciousness!
The McFlurry was as poor an excuse for a dessert as I'd ever witnessed. The ice-cream was effectively warm foam which disintegrated immediately into a white gloop. I love soft-serve ice-cream; I love McFlurries. I tell no lies when I acknowledge that I was left feeling completely disappointed by these, as they should have been the easiest component of the meal to create! The only saving grace: Cadburys Flake pieces.
I think it's very easy to dismiss the likes of McDonald's when it comes to service and quality, but I struggle to find a reason not to want people and places to do better. Customer service at this restaurant was appalling and it really translated into the atmosphere. A casual observance, but the desserts (the one piece of our order that wasn't prepared by the guys behind the scenes) reflected a lack of training for front-of-house staff which is simply inexcusable. read more
