if you ever find yourself hungry at 3 AM in the food paradise of Singapore, one option for you might be McDelivery. yes, McDonald’s delivery. from what i can tell, your other option is pizza, but i prefer trying local fast food any day. and, as a fast food fiend (it is, sadly, my main source of food at home), i’ve always wanted to try a delivery service.
(i’m up at 3 AM because i’m working through the night while it’s business hours on the east coast of the US.)
signing up
it’s a pretty painless process to sign up — just register as a new user on the McDelivery website. while they do ask you this silly question (at least to me), you don’t have to provide a phone number in case you don’t have one as a visitor (i put in all zeroes).
and no, your response to this question doesn’t seem to have any effect — the delivery guy did not speak Chinese to me (phew) and the website did not switch to Chinese (double phew).
one cool thing i learned is that Singapore is so small — about 22% the size of Rhode Island — yet their postal codes have six digits (vs the US’s 5, if you don’t count ZIP+4) so the postal code of my airbnb pretty much filled in the entire address — i just had to add the apartment number.
ordering
there is a S$10 minimum (i had to pad my order with extras), plus delivery charge (which is 50 cents cheaper online than if you call it in); i did not tip the delivery man since all indications are that you don’t.
note that if you pay with cash, you will be prompted to enter a phone number that can receive a confirmation SMS. as i do not have a local phone number, i had to pay with card. BUT, the card i was going to use, a no-foreign-transaction fee Visa, started the Verified by Visa process which did not even prompt me for a password or other verification — just automatically failed. i had to use my debit Visa (= fee), but no Verified hassles.
delivery
be sure to copy the order number you get after your order goes through — that was my only indication of my order. i didn’t get a confirmation email and there’s nowhere (that i found) that has an order history. not like the order status page (where you have to fill in your order number manually) tells you much though, but i got a notification on my phone via my bank’s app that they charged my card, so you should keep that order number handy just in case anything goes awry — especially since i didn’t put in a phone number. (update: i did get the confirmation email, just several hours after i placed my order, but it was timestamped as sent immediately. i blame gmail!)
the delivery time on the order confirmation screen was quite accurate. the man had what appeared to be a large insulated backpack with hot and cold compartments. even though i paid with a card, nothing to sign (since i think it’s under the amount that triggers a signature, like when i went to the supermarket today).
the food
a quick review of what i got, going clockwise from the top left. keep in mind i am, as of this writing, *smug*, the foursquare mayor of my McDonald’s at home.
- fries — soggy
- ebi (shrimp) burger (oh you have to watch the video on that site!) — YUM. who knew there was such a thing as a shrimp burger? that thousand island + mustard sauce is a winner.
- corn cup — i added this as a filler to get to the minimum order amount, but i’m not complaining since corn is one of my top two favorite vegetables. they even give you a pat of butter for it.
- you are allowed a certain number of sauces with each order, so i maxed mine out. the garlic chili sauce tastes like a garlicky chili-y ketchup, but not as salty. the barbecue sauce, frankly, was swill to me. it’s more sour than sweet.
- tropical tango mcfizz — not bad! i’m not a big fan of tropical drinks but hey, when in a tropical environment, why not. it seems to have lost some of its fizz on the way over, but i can imagine it’s even more refreshing when it’s made fresh.
- apple pie — THEY STILL FRY THEM HERE. none of that healthier baked nonsense i get back home! not gonna lie, this was me when i opened the box it came in:
was it worth it? yes, that burger was delish (oishii oishii!). also, i hadn’t eaten since my foray into Little India earlier today. will i do it again tomorrow when i have to pull another all-nighter? probably not. i’ll figure something out, though. it looks like where i am (Robertson Quay) is pretty dead at this hour.
p.s., fellow American readers, don’t forget that quay is pronounced exactly like “key”! (let’s have a quay-quay!)