An Indian tourist got into an altercation at McDonald’s in the Kuala Lumpur airport, because McDonald’s burgers have beef. She ordered a burger, but wanted it vegetarian. She threw the burger on the floor and went to the counter to confront staff.
She tells the McDonald’s employee, “I am from India, how can you?” In India she always gets vegetarian burgers from McDonald’s! The employee stay very calm and keeps repeating that they “know you are from India” and tries to explain that the burger is not vegetarian.
An Indian tourist at Kuala Lumpur Airport argued with McDonald's staff after being served a beef burger. She said she wanted a vegetarian option, but the staff told her they don’t offer one.
Many netizens later said it’s the traveller’s responsibility to check the menu and… pic.twitter.com/OKvHXV3VM0— Kitten (@0nlyk1tt3n) November 16, 2025
I don’t know, I’m from India… Even my staff, they cannot eat meat…Everything is meat. Everything is meat. …I just want to eat. I want to eat chicken, mutton, everything. I want to eat corn…I’m a customer of McDonald’s. I eat so much…It’s not vegetarian.
There are no vegetarian burgers on the menu at McDonald’s in the Kuala Lumpur airport. They are all beef burgers, except for clearly-labeled chicken and fish items. She’d picked a standard beef burger off the picture menu, assuming “burger” at McDonald’s meant vegetarian – her India mental model. She realized after receiving it that it was beef, and was angry at violating a religious and ethical rule – and flipped out.
Across India, McDonald’s has a very specific menu:
- No beef, no pork anywhere in the country.
- That’s driven by Hindu views on cows, Muslim views on pork, and state-level beef-slaughter laws.
They do offer several different fry dips there, though!
Not everything in McDonald’s is vegetarian. They serve chicken and fish (“McChicken”, Filet-O-Fish equivalents, Chicken Maharaja Mac). But they have a clear vegetarian line:
- McAloo Tikki (potato & pea patty, the signature item)
- McVeggie, Veg Maharaja Mac, McSpicy Paneer, Veg Pizza McPuff, Masala Grill Veg
Some locations are 100% vegetarian, such as near Golden Temple in Amritsar or Vaishno Devi. However, kitchens there are universally segregated with separate vegetarian/non-vegetarian areas and equipment, and staff work in different colored aprons based on which they’re preparing.
In this woman’s experience, McDonald’s is safe for vegetarians with at a minimum no beef. But that’s India-only. McDonald’s Malaysia and Singapore menus are more global standard. I’d add that in Bangkok Ronald McDonald greets you, sawadee krap:
I think that when you have a specific food preference or need that it’s on you to check what you’re ordering. This woman is being dubbed an “Indian Karen.” If she made a mistake, reacting emotionally isn’t surprising but throwing food on the floor and yelling at staff seems unacceptable.
Her line “I am from India, how can you?” suggests “You should know, because I’m Indian, that I can’t be served beef. Your job is to conform to my norms.”
That’s not how this works. The host country’s defaults – here, beef burgers – are what you should assume unless you confirm otherwise. You cannot assume the world works the same way abroad that it does at home. This story inverts the typical ‘American tourist’ story because here it’s an Indian tourist in Malaysia. What would she think of an American visiting INdia, ordering a salad and ice, and yelling at staff because their stomach couldn’t handle it?
And regional differences are so much of what to experience when we travel. Even at McDonald’s! Japan has shrimp burgers, France has Croque-McDo, so while I tend not to want McDonald’s when I travel (or even at home) there’s still a sense of place to it.
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