While I rarely dine at McDonald’s, I always try to do so when visiting a new country. The main reason is to see what unique, local menu items might be available.

In the summer of 2017, the Michael W Travels family spent 5 weeks in the Pacific. We visited a bunch of island nations in the region and had a really great time. McDonald’s didn’t have locations in all of the places we visited but we did have a meal at McD’s in Fiji and Samoa.

During our trip, we also visited McDonalds American Samoa.

While not located in a foreign country and officially part of the US, I hoped that the American Samoa location would have some interesting menu items.

I’ve previously written about McDonald’s we’ve visited in:

• Russia
• Japan
• Serbia
• Germany
• Romania
• USA (Mozzarella Sticks)
• Mexico
• Nicaragua
• Canada
• Poland
• Costa Rica
• Ireland
• Korea
• Fiji
• Samoa

(I’ve also visited McDonald’s in many other countries that I haven’t written about.)

Due to a mechanical issue with the plane, we arrived a bit later than expected to American Samoa from Samoa. So by the time we got there it was time for lunch. With a McDonalds American Samoa right across the street from our hotel, it was a perfect time to give it a try.

At first I was a bit disappointed. It didn’t notice any unique menu items.

I decided to order a three piece Chicken Selects. When ordering I was asked an interesting question. “Would you like rice with that?” Hell Yeah!

White Rice:

I’ve never had rice at McDonald’s before so I was excited to give it a try. (Yes I know, it’s just rice, but still…)

When I got my order, I was impressed. Rather than the food looking like fast food, it looked like it could’ve been from a restaurant. I guess the rice just gives off the look of not being fast food.

The rice was a bit clumpy at times but it went well with the Chicken Selects. There isn’t really much to write about when it comes to white rice but I enjoyed the combination. Lucas also really liked it too and I’m not sure that we missed having more greasy fries.

If rice was served at McDonald’s at other locations, I’d most likely order it over fries.

To save time, Kim and I felt it was a good idea to go for breakfast at McDonald’s the following morning. McDonald’s seemed like a meeting place with many people there knowing each other. We actually went to McD’s for breakfast a second time and noticed some of the same people there. Maybe McDonald’s is the island’s hang out! 🙂

SPAM & Portuguese Sausage:
When I looked up at the breakfast options, I was happy to see rice included with their “McAiga” Breakfast Platters.

Aiga means family in Samoan and I planned to share this massive meal with Lucas. (Kim and Theo had some of it, too.)

The platter came with either SPAM or Portuguese Sausage, you could also get both. I had to try both of these special McDonalds American Samoa breakfast meats so I opted for the Local Deluxe Breakfast which came with both.
When I took the cover off of the platter, I thought that the food smelled pretty good. The rice was no different than what I had the day before and the eggs looked a bit rubbery (I guess they were microwaved) but they tasted fine.

As for the meats, they were hit and miss.

I’ve never had SPAM before and have made jokes about the canned meat in the past but I have to say that I was impressed. SPAM basically tastes like salty corned beef. It’s tasty and pretty good! Don’t knock it unless you’ve tried it.

Lucas gave it a try too and enjoyed it. Kim tried a small taste of it but I think the thought of what SPAM might be skeeved her out.

The Portuguese Sausage wasn’t as enjoyable. I don’t remember if it was spicy or not but the meat had a strange taste to it which I did not like. Lucas also wasn’t a fan, definitely preferring the SPAM.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, McDonalds American Samoa had a few menu items which I’ve never seen on menus before. Rice makes for an excellent side order and McDonald’s may’ve turned me into a fan of SPAM. (FYI- since visiting American Samoa, I have not had SPAM again.)

Do you like to visit McDonald’s when you visit new countries? If so, do you have a favorite menu item that you’ve come across?