McDonald's, the fast-food giant that introduced Hong Kong palates to the taste of hamburgers 27 years ago, has added rice dishes to its menu here for the first time.
The US chain is offering two rice dinner dishes - grilled chicken with mushroom sauce and chicken cutlet with curry sauce - to entice diners in the increasingly competitive fast-food market.
McDonald's defied critics in the 1970s when it successfully enticed Hong Kong people to give up their rice boxes for Big Macs and fries. It now has 158 outlets in the territory.
The company yesterday said it had decided to offer the $22 dishes because it was 'what our customers are asking for' and said outlets in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines were also now serving rice.
The initial response in Hong Kong had been 'extremely positive', it claimed.
The decision is likely to have been spurred by the territory's declining and increasingly cut-throat fast-food market, which has seen rivals such as Cafe De Coral, KFC and street corner cafes slash prices.