# Forum More Stuff At the end of the day  Fast food is only for the Rich $$$$

## METRIX

Marc wil love this one, just another massive rip off of us Aussies. 
So have been trying to eat healthy for a while now, haven't had Mc Chew crap for over 12 months. 
Had a lot on this evening so thought I would stop in at Mc Ripoff and get something against my better judgement. 
Ordered a Peri Peri Wrap regular meal, and as I was hungry added a quarter pounder, through the muffled speaker I hear something like $18, I thought Nah she didn't say $18 !! 
Got to the window and yes the girl said that will be $18. ??, I asked sorry is that correct, I though she might have put down two meals or 3 perri perri's, checked, yes the peri peri meal is $12. ??, and the Quarter pounder is $6.??. 
I replied, thanks but at $6 you can take the Quarter Pounder off, am I out of touch I thought a Quarter Rubbish was around $3 - $4. 
Have Mc Spew linked their prices to the motorway weekly price increase, for $6.?? I would expect a lot more than a crappy mass produced Quarter Pounder.
We go to any pub, have a sit down lunch, Steak with peppered sauce, a side of Salad and chips and a beer and it cost $14 
Mc spew make mass produced tasteless suggarry, saturated fatty heart attack rubbish for nothing and sell it for ridiculous prices come on there is seriously something wrong here.
I now know why I haven't been near one of these places for ages, all the more reason to not go back to one again.

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## phild01

I used to regularly eat Maccas but dropped back to maybe 2 or 3 times a year, and you are right. More recent visits and found the same as you, way more than expected.
But they have tap water for free thankfully as I stopped drinking coke 2 years ago.

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## PhilT2

Years ago the cost of a Maccas franchise was about half a mil, now I think it's closer to $2m plus ongoing fees of course. This cost has to be recovered somehow. They might not be the goldmine that they once were but I've never heard of one going under. Their marketing is good and the negative press about their food is always countered by positive imagery. Personally I'd go hungry before I'd eat there, but the local one is always crowded.

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## Marc

MacDonald used to be dirt cheap many years ago. It was also bottom of the bird cage food. 
Since they make little attempts at improving the quality, the price has gone up substantially.  
But so have all other food outlets, from fish and chips, Indian, Vietnamese or Thai or Laos or Malasian food, Lebo crap, or Aussie take away all have increased their prices. Go to an Indian, German or Italian restaurant and drop $100 for two. 
Every price has increased and it is not hard to figure out why. Check your power bill today and compare with 10 years ago. The price we are paying is directly related to morons in charge that are pandering to the pseudo green vote. 
That too will pass. 
I used to go to restaurant for lunch every day when I worked in the office. When I hit 85 kilos, I decided to skip lunch and dropped 4 kilos in a matter of months. Later i dropped breakfast and dropped another 5 kilos.  Now I eat once a day, and loving it. We are not built to eat 3 times a day, we are built to eat 3 times a week. 
But of course that doesn't have much to do with the price of Maccas. I do like their raps though, and their attempt at making something resembling coffee is noted. Can't fault them for trying and yes, they are a very good business model even when MacDonald's business is not selling food  :Smilie:

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## InsaneAsylum

I'd be lucky to visit the golden arches more than once every 5 years and even then it's for breakfast. nothing to do with the price, it's just the burgers and chips are plastic @@@@. In saying that, the sizes have got smaller over the years and the cost has increased. 
Would rather spend $12 at subway or grill'd, even hungry jacks has better burgers according to the ad anyway  :Biggrin:

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## METRIX

> I'd be lucky to visit the golden arches more than once every 5 years and even then it's for breakfast. nothing to do with the price, it's just the burgers and chips are plastic @@@@. In saying that, the sizes have got smaller over the years and the cost has increased. 
> Would rather spend $12 at subway or grill'd, even hungry jacks has better burgers according to the ad anyway

  I used to eat Hungry Jacks quite a bit, and put on about 10 kg over 4 months when I was doing a house up in the city, I used to work on the house then leave later in the evening I would drive past a HJ on the way home and used the drive through and get a whopper burger meal probably 3 or sometimes more a week, !!!!!. 
I ended up looking like a big Whopper Bopper so I stopped going there, I hadn't eaten it for about 2 years, then one day had it and the burger tasted so awful, it was completely fake, a guy I was with said it's the fake smoke they put on them, I said fake smoke, yes they are not flame grilled to get the flavour they spray fake smoke to give it a grilled flavour, EWWWWWWW.

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## r3nov8or

> ...
> We go to any pub, have a sit down lunch, Steak with peppered sauce, a side of Salad and chips and a beer and it cost $14
> ....

  Where is this place? I haven't seen prices like that for years. The beer alone would be $6 - $8

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## phild01

People put down McDonalds for their burgers but I say the meat is better than any of the fast food place I have been to.  Better than HJ's or the corner burger store. If only they would do lettuce, beetroot, tomato and cooked onions and NO sauce of any kind.

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## METRIX

> Where is this place? I haven't seen prices like that for years. The beer alone would be $6 - $8

  That's because you live in Melbourne, Plenty of them in Sydney some with good views as well most all have good beer gardens. 
Last time we were in Melbourne we stayed near the racecourse, went to dinner at one of the many eating places that were close, food was great and reasonably priced, then went to a pub on a corner on the main road, got 4 local beers and it was $36 !!!, needless to say we found somewhere else to drink. 
In Sydney they call them Tradies lunch special, heaps of pubs have them, Melbourne would Artsy Fartsy the name up and charge double  :Biggrin:   :Biggrin:   :Biggrin:

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## METRIX

> People put down McDonalds for their burgers but I say the meat is better than any of the fast food place I have been to.  Better than HJ's or the corner burger store. If only they would do lettuce, beetroot, tomato and cooked onions and NO sauce of any kind.

  If you want a proper burger, you need to come to our site next week, there is a burger shop about 2 minutes away, they make "REAL" burgers, and they are very tasty, problem is you will need to drive to picnic point to get it  :Smilie:  
Have you had the Kebabs in Hornsby across the road from the Blue Gum, MMMMMM the Lamb ones are VERY tasty, best Kebabs in Sydney.

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## r3nov8or

> ... Tradies lunch special, heaps of pubs have them, ...

  Tradies lunch specials. Yes, we have them, but I'm not up with the current lunch prices. Never was what I'd call "steak to die for", but decent value.  
I had beer in a Macca's in Denmark once. It was the best thing about the place  :Smilie:

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## phild01

> Have you had the Kebabs in Hornsby across the road from the Blue Gum, MMMMMM the Lamb ones are VERY tasty, best Kebabs in Sydney.

  I'll keep that in mind but somehow kebabs bring back bad memories :Biggrin: 
The old rubber duckies has good pies

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## METRIX

> I'll keep that in mind but somehow kebabs bring back bad memories
> The old rubber duckies has good pies

  Nah these are fresh Kebabs, they go through those spinning things every day, so the meat is fresh every day, get the Lamb (its real lamb pieces not grinded up bits and pieces), add Cheese, Garlic sauce it is the best
When you go there you pick up the wrapper and tick what you want, put your name on it then give it to them, of an afternoon after school you cannot get in the place for all the Barker kids, and it's pretty much busy ll the time. 
The guys that work there are always friendly and courteous, the shop doesn't have much to offer in the way of Luxury  :Smilie:  but it's the food you go there for. 
When one of my mate's come up from Melbourne, he always says were going there, he used to boast about his local place and how good the Kebabs were, I took him there one day, and he said the local one it crap compared to this one. 
Where's old rubber duckies ?

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## phild01

I'll give the lamb a go.  Parking is crap on that side of the hwy.
Rubber Duckies  was where the truckies pulled in before the F3 bypass. Between Asquith and Mount Colah on the highway.

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## METRIX

> Tradies lunch specials. Yes, we have them, but I'm not up with the current lunch prices. Never was what I'd call "steak to die for", but decent value.

  Perhaps that's why you haven't seen them for years, because you are looking for that "steak to die for" you won't get that for $10, the reason these pubs offer this is to attract the tradies in rather than let them go to Maccas. 
There is one place that has very good steak for $10, others not as good, but other offerings are good at other places such as Peri Peri chicken salad is good.

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## METRIX

> I'll give the lamb a go.  Parking is crap on that side of the hwy.

  Yes it is, just park in the bluegum and walk up.

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## r3nov8or

> Perhaps that's why you haven't seen them for years, because you are looking for that "steak to die for" ...

   Perhaps, as I implied, I'm not even looking  :Biggrin:

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## Jon

My favourite is KFC but is the most expensive of them all.  They have the best chips. 
Dont mind Hungry Jacks. 
Number 1 son worked at Maccas for 12 months or so. Picking him up at night after shifts the car would stink of maccas grease from his shoes and we would need to wash his uniform separately for the same reason.  
Subway is not for me, doesn't matter what I order I end up with same after taste for the next few hours 
Currently waiting for my Pizza Hut pizzas to be ready. 
I sound like a fast food tragic but in all honesty it might be one meal every couple of weeks.  Tonight is family treat night. 
But one lunch each weekend will either be a pie or a vietnamese pork roll from the local bakery.  We all have our weaknesses

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## phild01

> My favourite is KFC but is the most expensive of them all.  They have the best chips.

  They stopped selling corn, haven't been back since and the zinger burger was my favourite. Their chips are best followed by HJ's.

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## METRIX

> My favourite is KFC but is the most expensive of them all.  They have the best chips.

  100% KFC chips are the best, but only if you can't find properly cooked crinkle chips these are bester  :Smilie:  
My first job we used to do a lot of working back after hours repairing a sheet load of commodore computers. 
The best part was the boss would go to Red Rooster and get us a meal thing, it had real potatoes, gravy chicken peas, it was soooo nice, don't know what they do these days haven't eaten it for 10 years after I wasn't impressed with a chicken roll thing, it was horrible. 
Subway is ok, it's one of those either you like it or you don't things.

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## r3nov8or

> My favourite is KFC but is the most expensive of them all.  They have the best chips. 
> ...

  For a family of 6, KFC's Giant Feast is actually one of the cheapest per person and we always have some left over 
I don't count any crappy $5/cardboard pizza in this calculation  :Smilie:

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## cyclic

Here on the sunshine coast in beautiful Queensland,the following is available 
Breakfast at Venice Cafe a licensed restaurant, located in the Sebal Maroochydore, 2 eggs with 2 slices of bacon with one slice of toast for $5 cooked the way you want it.
That's right, $5. 
HJ's, toastie being ham cheese and tomato toasted sandwich $2.95 with seniors FREE coffee. 
North Shore Tavern any lunch time 7 days a week, fish and vegetables, or calamari and vegetables, or snags with veg plus other full size meals all for $11 ea. 
KFC, family pack with chips feeds 5 for $21, had this last night cause the relatives were here. 
Mc Donalds, have not been inside a Mac outlet in over 15 years.

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## bluehorse

I am ashamed to say I am a fast food addict.  The big change in fast food in the last 5 years is the phone apps.  You can get some great savings using the apps, most notably    Typically I'd spend say $5 to $8 on a meal.  Its not massive generally (small sized meals etc) but I'm like most of you I could do with a few less calories.

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## Marc

> Subway is not for me, doesn't matter what I order I end up with same after taste for the next few hours

   Interesting. I like Subway but can not digest it. Something they use does not agree with me.

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## Marc

There was a place we used to stop for burgers on the way to pig hunting, just past Katoomba on the left. Fantastic burgers like home made. Can't remember the name of the place. Somewhere close to the explorers tree ... anyway, it was a while ago.

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## r3nov8or

Subway. 
They bring out a new 'one' and plant a picture of it in the store... for a limited time only to boot! 
"I'll have one of those", pointing
"Sure, what bread would you like?"
"Whatever that one is"
"Please choose a bread sir"
"Whatever. Wheat"
"Sure. What would you like in it?"
'Well, whatever is in that one"
"I'm not sure about that. What would you like in it?"
"Meat balls"
"But that's not in the picture sir"
"So you *do* know what's in it!"
"Um, no, not really sir"
"Steak'
"Thank you sir. Cheese?"
"Is there any in the picture?"
"Yes, Swiss"
"There you go!"
"Salads?"
"Oh, forget it"   :Smilie:

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## JB1

I went to an Vietnamese restaurant tonight and took a photo of the specials menu because I was surprised at the price.  
Surely they are hoping you order a drink or two if you order from the specials menu. 
My 4yo and 6yo ordered from the $6 menu. The wife and myself had the dishes which were about $10 each. Oh, they offer free tea too. 
Metrix, you can still find decent pub lunches in Melbourne,  just gotta know where to go. But I admit Sydney has heaps of cheap RSL/Pokies places. 
As for Kebabs, I feel like they are the poorer cousins of the Greek yiros which has nice chunky lamb pieces cooked over charcoal. Not a fan of the thin shaved middle eastern lamb kebabs.   
====

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## METRIX

> Interesting. I like Subway but can not digest it. Something they use does not agree with me.

  I don't mind subway, but I don't like the olives or the carrot, everything else is fine.

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## METRIX

> Subway. 
> They bring out a new 'one' and plant a picture of it in the store... for a limited time only to boot! 
> "I'll have one of those", pointing
> "Sure, what bread would you like?"
> "Whatever that one is"
> "Please choose a bread sir"
> "Whatever. Wheat"
> "Sure. What would you like in it?"
> 'Well, whatever is in that one"
> ...

  I thought you would love subway, you can ask for every ingredient individually, I do dislike it when the person in front of you doesn't know what they want. 
After the stress attack they have over which bread, then IF they should have cheese, then which cheese, then if they want it toasted or not toasted, then you get to the really hard part the salad. 
Ohhh I will have Umm, ohh so many ingredients, maybe tomato, ok, oh NO not tomato, well umm maybe ahh no I won't go that, put some carrot, and umm, mmm now not sure if I should get pickles. 
Ohhh I would like some of that, whats that, ITS BLOODY LETTUCE what do you think it is, then the killer comes what sauce do you want, ohhh wow which one should I go, ummm chilli, ok, oh wait no don't put chilli on there I don't like chilli ??? lets go for, ummmmm whats in that sauce TOMATO THATS WHY ITS CALLED TOMATO SAUCE, is that one nice. 
 I don't like not nice, to top it all off salt or pepper, mmm now did I have my 2mg of salt this morning, can I have another 1mg now ?, ok just pepper, ok, OH WAIT is that black or white pepper, I don't like white pepper, FINALLY. 
Then when it's nearly all over would you like cookies or cake with that as a meal, OHH WOW now I am really confused, do I get one cookies or one cake, or two cookie and no cake, can I have one chocolate and one raspberry, or do I have to take two chocolate, and would I have to eat them both now, what if I can't eat them both now, can I take one with me ?, ohh yes I will have a mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, OHH actually No I don't want a cookie im on a diet. 
Would you like a drink with that, No I didn't like the drinks you have in the fridge, we have help yourself postmix, WHAT HELP YOURSELF, are you serious, can I choose what flavour I want, yes, wow that sounds great, ok, I will have a diet coke, ok here is the cup help yourself to the machine, but the cup is empty, yes the machine is over there please help yourself to what you like, ohh you mean I have to fill it, yes it's over there, ohhh maybe I won't have a drink, that machine looks complicated to use. 
Ok no problem, that will be $9.00, meanwhile 25 other customers have queued up waiting to get their sandwich, AHHHHHHHH 
As you are leaving the store this customer pulls out their iPhone X taking a picture to put in their major achievements of today album  :Smilie:   :Smilie:

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## Marc

I understand the business model that offers the customer the alternative to make his own sandwich the way he wants it, however the customer is not a chef, and is not required to know what goes with what. If I go to a coffee shop and want a vegio roll or a chicken chilli roll, i don't expect the dude to ask me how to make it, in fact I get a bit annoyed when they do. There is such thing as too many choices. I like the Vietnamese rolls. I just say everything but no Cucumber and plenty of chilly. That's it.
There was a yugo coffee shop across from our office and you go there you say put some of this and some of that and at the end the sandwich cost $15. Oh but you asked for Avocado and ham and ...  :Frown:

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## METRIX

I guess the good thing with Subway is a lot of people have allergy or intolerance to certain food, my mate cannot have tomato or he ends up need to use hie epi pen.
So they can still get something quick on the fly without having to specifically ask, can I have a ?? burger with no cheese or pickles, then having to wait for it to be custom made. 
The best place we used to go to was in Sydney Uni, you made the sandwich yourself, if you wanted 4 slices of cheese you put 4 slices of cheese on it, when you finished making it, they weigh the sandwich and charge by weight, it worked perfectly.

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## Marc

Oh I like that! Can't have too much cheese!

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## Bigboboz

> I thought you would love subway, you can ask for every ingredient individually, I do dislike it when the person in front of you doesn't know what they want. 
> After the stress attack they have over which bread, then IF they should have cheese, then which cheese, then if they want it toasted or not toasted, then you get to the really hard part the salad. 
> Ohhh I will have Umm, ohh so many ingredients, maybe tomato, ok, oh NO not tomato, well umm maybe ahh no I won't go that, put some carrot, and umm, mmm now not sure if I should get pickles. 
> Ohhh I would like some of that, whats that, ITS BLOODY LETTUCE what do you think it is, then the killer comes what sauce do you want, ohhh wow which one should I go, ummm chilli, ok, oh wait no don't put chilli on there I don't like chilli ??? lets go for, ummmmm whats in that sauce TOMATO THATS WHY ITS CALLED TOMATO SAUCE, is that one nice. 
>  I don't like not nice, to top it all off salt or pepper, mmm now did I have my 2mg of salt this morning, can I have another 1mg now ?, ok just pepper, ok, OH WAIT is that black or white pepper, I don't like white pepper, FINALLY. 
> Then when it's nearly all over would you like cookies or cake with that as a meal, OHH WOW now I am really confused, do I get one cookies or one cake, or two cookie and no cake, can I have one chocolate and one raspberry, or do I have to take two chocolate, and would I have to eat them both now, what if I can't eat them both now, can I take one with me ?, ohh yes I will have a mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, OHH actually No I don't want a cookie im on a diet. 
> Would you like a drink with that, No I didn't like the drinks you have in the fridge, we have help yourself postmix, WHAT HELP YOURSELF, are you serious, can I choose what flavour I want, yes, wow that sounds great, ok, I will have a diet coke, ok here is the cup help yourself to the machine, but the cup is empty, yes the machine is over there please help yourself to what you like, ohh you mean I have to fill it, yes it's over there, ohhh maybe I won't have a drink, that machine looks complicated to use. 
> Ok no problem, that will be $9.00, meanwhile 25 other customers have queued up waiting to get their sandwich, AHHHHHHHH 
> As you are leaving the store this customer pulls out their iPhone X taking a picture to put in their major achievements of today album

  That was mostly me the first time I went there (edit out the salt and achievement shot)!  You walk in thinking you're just choosing off the menu and the pricks keep asking you detailed questions you haven't begun to think about as you just think you're getting what's on the board. 
The next time I'm there, I'm shaking my head at the next poor sod who's there for the first time  :Smilie:

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## Bigboboz

> I understand the business model that offers the customer the alternative to make his own sandwich the way he wants it, however the customer is not a chef, and is not required to know what goes with what.

  Agreed.  Fine, allow for customisation but at least have the standard option ready to go.

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## Bigboboz

> As for Kebabs, I feel like they are the poorer cousins of the Greek yiros which has nice chunky lamb pieces cooked over charcoal. Not a fan of the thin shaved middle eastern lamb kebabs.

  Hit and miss on the chunky lamb over coals.  I've had some shockers where the lamb was rubber nuggets.  If the place is busy they don't deliver on consistency and it's a complete lottery if you get the tender pieces vs rubber. 
But when it's good...it's real good

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## Marc

And when business is low they freeze the blob and heat it up again in the morning. Those are the real hepa rolls.

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## phild01

I had Subway at Broadway about 15 years ago and only of last resort.  The ingredients like ham were absolute lowest quality.  I stuck with meatballs which weren't bad.
 Actually like Ikea meatballs too.  Think I just like meatballs.

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## METRIX

> I had Subway at Broadway about 15 years ago and only of last resort.  The ingredients like ham were absolute lowest quality.  I stuck with meatballs which weren't bad.
>  Actually like Ikea meatballs too.  Think I just like meatballs.

  Broadway was also the first place I had it as well, it has changed a bit since 15 years ago  :Smilie:

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## METRIX

> And when business is low they freeze the blob and heat it up again in the morning. Those are the real hepa rolls.

   I remember we were at parramatta looking at the car yards, was hungry, stopped in at a take away place thought kebab would be nice, went in it was a dingy place and the blob was about the size of a rockmelon, looked like i had been spinning around for the last two weeks, YUK. 
There is only two places I will eat them from one in Marrickville and the other in Hornsby, reason is they go through the meat so quick, I think they go through multiple blobs every day, and fresh ones are made every day irrespective of what's left at the end.

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## Jon

> reason is they go through the meat so quick, I think they go through multiple blobs every day, and fresh ones are made every day irrespective of what's left at the end.

  I remember a consumer affairs or similar warning a few years back where they were saying that at super high turnover places they can be cutting from the new face before it has had time to cook properly.

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## METRIX

> I remember a consumer affairs or similar warning a few years back where they were saying that at super high turnover places they can be cutting from the new face before it has had time to cook properly.

  I have been eating them from the two places mentioned above for over 10 years, never been sick from either. 
The good ones don't just cut it and throw it into a pita bread, they put the meat onto the hotplate and give it a last blast before wrapping them up.

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## Jon

Yes, it more the food vans at shows and festivals where the queue is a mile long and  safe food handling gets waived for fast turnover.  I even worry about sausage sangers at places like that.

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## METRIX

> Yes, it more the food vans at shows and festivals where the queue is a mile long and  safe food handling gets waived for fast turnover.  I even worry about sausage sangers at places like that.

  I have been watching that Unwrapped 2.0 food series on SBS Food channel, it goes into the factories that make of all the thousands of sweetie sweets in USA, it's a good series, but I am astounded by some of the factories how they have their dirty hands all over the foods, some are very good and have masks, hair covers, and gloves, but some have bare hand on everything from the start to the finish. 
Even up to the final part where they are picking up bagels etc with bare hands and putting them into bags !!!! 
I once had a plastic packaged Turkish bread from Woollies (not made by Woolies), it was fresh when bought, sat on the benchtop for two days and developed green mold really quick, the worst thing was the mold was in fingerprints where it had obviously been touched by dirty hands when packed !!!!!

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## Jon

Thinking about kebabs, maybe it is nostalgia but the best kebabs I have had was when I was growing up in Auburn back in the  '80s.
The bread was warmed by holding it against the burner and then rubbed against the skewer of meat to pick up some of the lovely juices and then assembled.  Perfect balance of salad and meat and not over stuffed.

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## Bigboboz

My current favourite kebab joint is in Stanmore. A favourite with cabbies so it's always busy. They often have to give it a blast as Metrix said on the hotplate given the turnover. 
They heat the bread but not from the burner plus bonus meat juices! They do have a homemade chilli sauce that I always get  :Tongue Smilie:

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## plum

It's pretty sad that Sydney peeps seem to have kebabs as the best take away food available. Last time I was in Sydney, ordered a pizza and it had sesame seeds on the base, WTF,  seriously, that isn't authentic Italian pizza. I found your take away was dominated by one ethnic culture, whereas down here the choice is endless. Note to a certain poster when visiting Melbourne. Keep away from 'Hipster' Pubs and suburbs, they'll bleed you dry. 
Within a 2km area from place, we have the choice of at least 20 different cultures and their cuisine. Last week was African, really good, barbequed fish with salad and a few froffies.

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## Bigboboz

I think you're jumping to a number of conclusions there!  Not seeing any bias there at all... :Rolleyes:

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## commodorenut

Depends where you're talking in Sydney or Melbourne.  I've spent a lot of time south of the border for work, and I stay in Carlton, as I can always get a great breakfast & dinner in Lygon St, for a reasonable price.  But trying to find something decent for lunch out in the 'burbs is another story. 
Like above, within 2km of my place (well out in the 'burbs) I can choose from a myriad of options.  We have the usual big chains, but also quite a number of great independants - from hamburgers, to pizza & kebabs, as well as a great pizza/pasta takeaway.  Difference is, I'll spend $60 to get 3 awesome pizzas (delivered) vs $20 for the same thing from the cardboard chains.  Some of the small "secret haven" take-aways from my area now have a presence on Menulog, which has been great for their business, but it means a 1/2 hour wait now, rather than 15 minutes. 
One of my favourites not far from work is Frango at Bella Vista (an offshoot from their Petersham shop).  Predominantly Portuguese charcoal chicken, but the charcoal pork belly they do is awesome.
Spent many a night buying & eating a whole chook at Petersham years ago....

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## Marc

> I think you're jumping to a number of conclusions there!  Not seeing any bias there at all...

   Bias is essential to predict behaviour when there isn't enough information. A critical survival skill. Especially when it comes to food. I have extreme prejudice when it comes to wild mushrooms. And choosing to ingesting food with the accompanying bacteria added by the sloppiness or lack of skill of the cook, requires extreme prejudice, bias and some more.

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## Bigboboz

> Bias is essential to predict behaviour when there isn't enough information. A critical survival skill. Especially when it comes to food. I have extreme prejudice when it comes to wild mushrooms. And choosing to ingesting food with the accompanying bacteria added by the sloppiness or lack of skill of the cook, requires extreme prejudice, bias and some more.

  Completely agree, it's part of the process of how we learn but it does have it's short comings as identified by Plum's conclusions!

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## Marc

Pizza merits a chapter on it's own.
When I came to OZ some 30+ years ago, I landed in the very Italian suburb of Haberfield. 4 "authentic Italian" pizza shops were very promising, but revealed very quickly that the son and daughters of Sicilians have no idea how to cook pizza or their parents were actually cobblers or bricklayers. Burned cheese and undercooked base was he norm, and after the Italians succumbed to the lifestyle urge and sold the business to Lebanese who made a mess of it went broke and sold it to asians, or Iraqis, the pizza is now a no man's land. Note that I have not mentioned any of the pizza franchise. I believe that what they sell as pizza is a different dish better described as a criminal attack to what once was the real fast food.  :Smilie:

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## r3nov8or

> ... Note that I have not mentioned any of the pizza franchise. I believe that what they sell as pizza is a different dish better described as a criminal attack to what once was the real fast food.

  "Just pick a colour, they all taste the same"

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## r3nov8or

> ... Not seeing any bias there at all...

  And none at all from a "certain poster", either...  :Rolleyes:

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## r3nov8or

> ... "authentic Italian" pizza ...

  ... is actually pretty crap too. 
We (me and two mates on a backpacking holiday) landed in Venice by train in 1986. Starving, we went to a pizza place. Hmmm, "Fungi" pizza sounds nice. I like mushrooms. Pizza arrived - super thin base, thin tomato paste and mushrooms, neatly arranged so there was only two small thin slices of mushroom per piece! Nothing else. I'm sure the tomato paste was only added to stop the mushrooms falling off! Wasn't cheap either. Far prefer our style of pizza, but not the franchises...

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## Marc

> ... is actually pretty crap too.

  Ha ha, you were served a pizza marinara or variation on it with no egg plant I gather. Should have asked for a pizza Margherita.  
The problem with almost all pizza made in Australia is that no one bothers cooking the base a bit before adding the topping when the topping is heavy with vegetables and cheese. A light topping like the marinara allows to cook the lot in one go, not so any of the other pizzas. 
I remember a pizzeria that was just outside my daughter's school. It had one of those oven with a conveyor, that was timed to cook in the time it took the pizza to come the other side. Invariably his pizza was undercooked and the topping burned. After suffering such atrocity for a while, I decided to ask him to do it different. I asked him to put the base in the pan and push the pan half way in the oven. I was the only one there so he obliged. Now I said, add the topping as per usual and push it again inside this time 1/3 of the way.
 I finally had a proper Margherita pizza for a change.
PS
"proper" pizza oven should go from 350 to 400C and cook the pizza in 1.5 to 2 minutes.  :Smilie:

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## r3nov8or

> Ha ha, you were served a pizza marinara or variation on it with no egg plant I gather. Should have asked for a pizza Margherita.  
> ...

  What?

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## Marc

Marinara pizza e le moste arde pizza to macke. Notte too muche tomate sasse, garlike, oregano  and basse.  :Rofl5: 
Even this expert burned the pizza slightly at the sound of Colombian music.  :Smilie:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQuEdDcdRbQ

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## commodorenut

If I want a really good pizza I make my own in the Weber:

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## Uncle Bob

I believe the best pizzas come from New York

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## phild01

I had a pizza in NY, found it too sweet.
Most of the bread in the US is too sweet.

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## Marc

> I believe the best pizzas come from New York

  Mm ... and the best Vodka is made in the Phillipines?

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## r3nov8or

> Mm ... and the best Vodka is made in the Phillipines?

  Maybe Italy is good at something? Coz it ain't pizza  :Biggrin:

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## commodorenut

> I believe the best pizzas come from New York

  Unless you're from Chicago, then it has to be the deep dish....

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## Whitey66

> Maybe Italy is good at something? Coz it ain't pizza

  No, it's building hornstiffening cars and motorcycles.

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## commodorenut

> No, it's building _unreliable_ hornstiffening cars and motorcycles.

  There, fixed it for you  :Smilie:

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## METRIX

> I believe the best pizzas come from New York

   Actually it's Melbourne and Sydney, they have both been claiming the top pizza in the world titles for the last few years, poor Italy, poor New York they can't compete.

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## Jon

> ... is actually pretty crap too. 
> We (me and two mates on a backpacking holiday) landed in Venice by train in 1986. Starving, we went to a pizza place. Hmmm, "Fungi" pizza sounds nice. I like mushrooms. Pizza arrived - super thin base, thin tomato paste and mushrooms, neatly arranged so there was only two small thin slices of mushroom per piece! Nothing else. I'm sure the tomato paste was only added to stop the mushrooms falling off! Wasn't cheap either. Far prefer our style of pizza, but not the franchises...

  Late to the party I know, but I will second that.  I have eaten authentic pizza in small Italian town well off the tourist circuit and will swap it any day for the loaded delights we can get over here.  They may have invented it but others have perfected it.

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## Uncle Bob

> Unless you're from Chicago, then it has to be the deep dish....

  And apparently they have the best fried chickens in the state, just ask Aretha Franklin  :Biggrin:

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## Whitey66

> There, fixed it for you

   I suppose you are right, they are about as reliable as a Commodore  :2thumbsup:

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## commodorenut

> I suppose you are right, they are about as reliable as a Commodore

  Number of Italian cars on the road vs number of specialist workshops says it all.....
When Fiat bought Chrysler it actually improved their reliability score, even with all the Jeep issues.

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## r3nov8or

*F*ix *I*t *A*gain *T*ony   :Biggrin:

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## Smurf

> Check your power bill today and compare with 10 years ago. The price we are paying is directly related to morons in charge that are pandering to the pseudo green vote.

   How is allowing financial speculation pandering to the green vote?  :Confused:  
Wouldn't that sort of thing appeal more to conservative "right" voters?

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## Marc

Well Smurf ... at risk of starting another emission trading thread, high cost of electricity is a reality thanks to pandering to the green vote. You know ... save the planet? CO2 will burn the joint down? 9m sea lever rise? The rain will be a thing of the past? Dams will never fill again? We MUST have renewables or the sky will fall on our heads? 
Politicians have danced around this topics for a couple of decades in the hope of harvesting watermelons votes.
It's only now that it is hitting the hip pocket that reality came home to roost. And now we are going to hide behind "speculation" from the bad rich? That is a bit rich if you ask me ...

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## phild01

McOz meal currently $5. As it has beetroot, tomato and onion, it would be the best burger they have ever offered IMO :Smilie:

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## Bros

> high cost of electricity is a reality thanks to pandering to the green vote.

  Don't agree with that it is caused by greedy state governments allowing the assets to be sold and to make matters worse allowing vertical integration.

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