We tried the same McDonald's meal in the US and the UK. They were the same price, but one was a better value.

• We compared similar McDonald’s meals in New York City and London.
• The meals cost exactly the same, but there were some key differences.
• The US meal had a more flavorful sandwich and a bigger drink.

Our New York-based reporter visited her local McDonald’s in Brooklyn.

It featured a thick, crunchy fried chicken filet topped with spicy mayo and pickles on a soft potato roll.

It looked far more substantial than the more basic chicken sandwiches often associated with McDonald’s, like the McChicken.

Erin was also impressed by the size of the chicken filet, which was about the same size as her palm.

The chicken filet was moist, while the crispy breading held its own, despite the generous serving of sauce slathered on the bun.

It stayed crispy beneath the toppings and delivered a savory, black-peppery flavor that gave each bite a little extra kick, on top of the creamy, spicy sauce that left a slight lingering heat.

No McDonald’s meal is complete without fries.

The fries were thin, salty, and hot — the familiar classic that remains one of the chain’s most consistent menu items. The US order came with a generously filled carton that was large enough to share, though Erin had no trouble working her way through most of it.

The fries were delicious dipped in ranch — an American staple.

The tangy, creamy dipping sauce gave the salty fries an extra punch of flavor and made for an especially satisfying final bite.

Erin also tried one of McDonald’s baked desserts.

The hand pie had a flaky, golden-brown exterior and came in a sleek purple sleeve. It cost $1.99, excluding tax.

The apple pie’s golden crust was decently crispy, with a light crunch that held up well around the warm filling.

Inside, the soft apples were sweet and caramelized, giving the dessert a cozy, almost homemade flavor that made it a satisfying end to the meal.

Erin did think the pastry could have been a bit less doughy and a bit more flaky to better resemble a real apple pie.

Our London-based reporter visited her local McDonald’s in Islington.

This McDonald’s had lots of emoji faces on its windows to advertise McHappy Day, a charity fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House UK on September 26.

It was the first day of the World Menu Heist in the UK and Ireland.

Roya went to McDonald’s on September 22, which was the first day of the World Menu Heist.

These are popular McDonald’s items from around the world, made into limited-edition items in the UK and Ireland.

At lunchtime, the restaurant was busy at the self-service kiosks, but there were plenty of seats available.

Inside, you can order at the counter or at the self-service kiosks. A lot of people pick up their orders after placing them on the McDonald’s app.

Roya ordered a medium Spicy McCrispy meal, which came with fries and a drink. She tried the Guava Sprite Zero from the World Heist Menu.

Roya opted for the “eat in” option, so the meal came on a tray. Adding a paper bag at this McDonald’s would have cost an extra 13 cents.

The meal cost £11.38 ($15.18) including tax.

The Guava Sprite Zero from McDonald’s India is Sprite Zero with guava-flavored syrup and ice.

The drinks we ordered weren’t a direct match: Erin ordered McDonald’s strawberry watermelon refresher in New York, which was not on the UK menu when we checked, while Roya tried the UK-only guava Sprite Zero.

This drink was part of the World Heist Menu. Roya found it refreshing and liked the extra tang that the guava-flavored syrup added to the Sprite.

There were also some differences in the portion sizes and sugar content between our two drinks.

A medium soda at McDonald’s is much bigger in the US, where it holds 21 fluid ounces, compared with 13.5 fluid ounces in the UK.

McDonald’s UK still sells some sugary drinks, but its soft-drink menu leans more heavily on zero-sugar options, including Sprite Zero. That reflects the UK’s Soft Drinks Industry Levy, introduced in 2018 to encourage manufacturers to cut sugar from beverages; drinks with more than 5 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters are subject to the tax.

The Spicy McCrispy chicken burger was up next.

In the US, the McCrispy is marketed as a sandwich, whereas in the UK, it’s more commonly referred to as a burger.

The McCrispy was launched in 2022 after the discontinuation of the very popular Chicken Legend. The spicy version launched this year.

It consisted of a crispy chicken breast filet, shredded iceberg lettuce, and spicy mayo.

Roya thought the chicken filet was substantial — much bigger than the beef burgers typically sold at McDonald’s.

Different from the US potato roll, the bread is a sourdough-style bun topped with sesame seeds.

McDonald’s varies its recipes and menus across countries to comply with local regulations and cater to customer tastes. For example, Canadian McDonald’s has a maple-and-cheddar chicken burger, another item that featured on the World Heist Menu.

The chicken was juicy and had a thick layer of spicy batter, which stayed crispy — though the burger felt quite dry overall.

The filet itself was moist, with a crispy, crunchy batter that Roya thought had a satisfying kick of heat. This was different from the US version, which has a lighter, less-crunchy breading without any heat — all the spicy flavor comes from the sauce.

She thought there could have been more spicy mayo and pickles, like in the US, to add a bit more texture. The lettuce, while adding a nice freshness, didn’t do much for the dryness.

The McDonald’s fries were hot but could have been crispier.

While the London-based reporter always enjoys McDonald’s fries, she thought they could have been crispier this time — they were a little floppy.

Roya, who prefers her food saltier, added a salt sachet to the fries. Nonetheless, they came out hot and were a satisfying companion to the burger.

McDonald’s UK says it has reduced the fat, salt, sugar, and calories in its menu since 2020, which may contribute to the milder flavor compared with the US fries.

American McDonald’s fries also have beef flavoring added to them to replicate the old-school taste of frying in beef tallow.

Roya used the ketchup dispenser in the restaurant for her dip.

Ketchup and barbecue sauce are usually available from dispensers in most McDonald’s in the UK. Roya opted for ketchup, which added a lip-smacking tang to the fries.

Ranch is not as popular or well-known in the UK, but McDonald’s UK did have it as a limited-edition dip this summer.

With no lattice crust, the apple pie in the UK looks and tastes different from that in the US.

The apple pie in this London McDonald’s costs £2.29 ($3.05), including tax.

Roya’s UK apple pie was fried and sealed like a hand pie, unlike the lattice-topped baked pie sold in the US. The UK version closely resembled how McDonald’s in the US used to make its apple pies before it switched to a baked, not fried, version in 1992.

The US version got another update in 2018, when the latticed crust was introduced, and the chain switched to a sliced apple filling with cinnamon.

The apple pie is deep-fried, making it extra crispy.

Because the apple pie is deep-fried, it makes for a very crunchy outside, which complements well with the warm, soft, and sweet filling.

The fried batter does make it feel a little heavier for a midday dessert, but it’s worth it for the crunch.

Overall, our experiences were more different than we expected.

From the design of the restaurant to the actual menu, there were some key differences between the two locations. Even similar items differed in terms of ingredients and size.

We were surprised that our meals were the exact same price, and the chicken sandwiches were pretty similar in portion size. However, the sodas were very different in size, with the US medium drink being much larger, and the UK apple pie looked more like a fried strudel than a lattice pie.

The chicken sandwich in the US also had more sauce and a saltier flavor, which Roya thought the UK version lacked.

From the restaurant design to the last bite of pie, our cross-Atlantic McDonald’s taste test proved that “the same” order can mean something very different depending on where you are.

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