McDonald’s has been around for decades in Singapore, and I’m sure most of us have resorted to eating at McDonald’s at least once or twice due to convenience, its relatively low prices, or just to curb your plain old craving for good ol fast food.
With outlets islandwide, everyone has access to McDonald’s. So, here’s a whole list of McDonald’s hacks for a more interesting and money-saving McDonald’s experience. Even though this guide was made in Singapore, I’m sure some of these food hacks can be applied in other countries too.
Without further ado, I present to you, 9 McDonald’s hacks every McSingaporean needs to know.
1. Cheaper Frappes
I realised that ordering a Frappe from the McDonald’s Food Counter costs one to two dollars less than if you order from the McCafe Counter. What’s more, the McCafe choices have limited size options, so you might have to purchase a large Frappe when your stomach only has space for a medium.
Although your choices at the Food Counter are limited to only two flavours, Mocha and Caramel, it’ll save you quite a sum of money if you order your Frappe there.
2. Ice Cream Pancakes
This hack is time sensitive and works only at McDonald’s outlets that have dessert kiosks (dessert kiosks start selling ice cream early, but not at the main counter). Buy Hotcakes from the food counter during the breakfast period (before 11am), and then head to their dessert kiosk (normally open at 10am, but varies from outlet to outlet) and order a Vanilla Cone, or a Sundae.
Simply dump your ice cream on the plate or on top of your hotcakes and you’ve got yourself some soft serve ice cream pancakes. They are SO DELICIOUS, I really recommend you to try this out.
3. Freshly-fried French Fries
Some people don’t mind their fries soggy, but I for one, really despise them in that state – I like my fries crisp and fresh out of the fryer.
To be guaranteed of being served fresh fries, simply ask for fries with no salt. Then, proceed to the condiments counter and grab a salt packet to add to your fries, which also gives you the liberty to control the salt input level.
I figured this one out when I was fed up with getting served cold, dangly and overly salty fries.
4. More Drink For The Same Price
Don’t you hate it when you take three sips out of your drink and are left with close to nothing remaining? That’s because your cup is 50% – 70% filled with ice.
Well, next time, when you order a drink, ask for no ice; they fill the cup to the brim without charge, and your drink comes out cold anyway. If you’re worried that it won’t be as cold as you’d like, simply ask for less ice then. OR for the extra ‘gian peng‘ Singaporean, return to the counter later and ask for a small cup of ice – they’ll normally accede to your request.
5. Make a Curry Cheese Mcspicy
I found an ingenious way to unlock a McSpicy’s maximum potential. Order a plain (no sauce, no veggies) McSpicy meal, add cheese (extra $0.60, but it’s so worth it trust me), and ask for curry sauce. Go back to your table, remove the top bun, slab on a layer of french fries, dump the entire packet of curry sauce, and put the top bun back on.
Everyone, I present to you, your very own Curry Cheese McSpicy. It’s the best thing you could ever eat at McDonald’s (I should totally patent this). Please try it out and let me know if you like it, because everyone at the table agreed that it was pretty bomb.
6. Poor Man’s Big Mac
Raise both hands if you’ve thought paying $5.45 for a burger isn’t worth its value. Students surviving on a small allowance, this is for you. The internet calls this the Poor Man’s Big Mac. Order a McDouble ($2.40), add lettuce and ask for Big Mac sauce instead of ketchup and mustard.
There you have it, a Big Mac with slightly thinner patties, minus the extra bun in between, but hey you save $3!
Warning: Some outlets might not allow for you to substitute Big Mac sauce for the ketchup and mustard, but there’s no harm in asking, guys.
7. Fish n’ Chick Burger
Combining the cheapest two items on the McDonald’s burger menu, the McChicken ($2) and Filet-O-Fish ($2.50), you’ll create a burger equivalent of the Frankenstein monster, at the low price of $4.50. That’s still much cheaper than the other burgers that McDonald’s has to offer.
Plus, this burger offers different textures and flavours that the rest fail to do.
8. Free Water
This one might seem like common sense to most of us, but trust me, there are people out there who want to purchase bottled water along with their salads.
Please don’t do this. McDonald’s gives you a free cup of cold water if you’d just ask for it.
9. Level Up Your Sundae
Tipped off by one of our dear readers, Zaaki Nasir, about a Black Foresty McHack which he terms ‘The Siglap Sundae’, we felt it was too tempting not to try this hack immediately.
Recipe: 1 cup Hot Fudge Sundae, one shot of strawberry sauce (extra 50 cents), mix well.
Torn between choosing the Hot Fudge or Strawberry Sundae? Get this jacked up sundae instead. It’s inexpensive, and you get to have the best of both worlds.
It might be a tad too sweet for some, but oh come on, it’s McDonald’s. LIVE AND LET LIVE.
I hope you found these hacks helpful, and please, if you know anymore, do share it with us, and we can all have a little fun during our next fast food run.