Really, McDonalds? The McMici?

McDonald’s has a new campaign where they offer “traditional Romanian food” in the McDonald’s style. You can choose from a few interesting items, the most notable being the McMici. It’s definitely just a sandwich with meat that vaguely tastes like mici. How do I know this? Well, I tried it. For science.

In case you are unfamiliar with mici, it is basically an amazing grilled sausage thing that most people really, really enjoy. Ask any Romanian about mici, and most likely you’ll get a response along the lines of “Mici!” with some patting of the belly. You don’t need a lot of words to communicate how much these little sausages are loved.

I think traditionally it’s a mix of beef and pork, usually grilled outside and served with mustard. It’s the kind of thing you can buy on the side of the road or at a restaurant.

Claudiu and I went to McDonald’s because we were kind of hungry and it was on the way to Carrefour (grocery store/mall-type place). He got the DOUBLE McMici (omg) and I, being of sound mind, ordered a regular cheeseburger.

A double McMici

We split a drink and fries and also a Plăcintă casei, which to me sounds like the Latin name for some kind of weird animal, but apparently it means something like “pie made in the home”…or so I’m told 🙂 I’m not trying to be a hater, but this dessert is basically  a lame attempt at trying to make another item Romanian because it’s just an apple pie with ice cream. C’mon McDonald’s, if you’re going to uncomfortably pander to the Romanians, you might as well have tried to make a decent dessert. They really missed an opportunity to do something more special. A McPapanasi? McCovrigi??

Placinta?

Always eat dessert first 🙂 or else it will become soup

Speaking of special, this particular McDonald’s was really something to behold. It had not only a play place, but also a full basketball court (!) and a train car that’s painted up all cute specifically for birthday parties. I remember begging my mom to have my birthday at McDonald’s when I was a kid. A train car would’ve made it infinitely cooler.

The restaurant itself was packed – tons of people eating inside and out. There was even an overflow eating section outside which is where we ended up sitting since there were no other seats. It was a lovely day and we were glad to be in the sunshine…eating a double McMici.

Hoo boy.