Around the World: KFC Hong Kong - New Bucket Rice

While KFC is known for their iconic bucket of chicken, it looks like they're trying something else in a bucket over in Hong Kong: rice. Not just any rice though, but specifically Chicken a la King... in a mini bucket. They're calling it Bucket Rice and it's part of KFC Hong Kong's "Streetwise" value menu.

Inside the mini bucket, there's sliced fried chicken and mixed vegetables (corns, carrots, and peas) in a creamy sauce over rice. The price isn't bad at all at $20 HK (~$2.85 US).

News: Sonic - Half-Price Shakes All Day on June 20

In case you want a half-price shake from Sonic but don't want to wait until after 8pm this summer to get one, Sonic is celebrating the Summer Solstice, the day before on Thursday, June 20, by offering half-price shakes all day long.

Review: Jack in the Box - Jack's Big Stack Burger

Jack in the Box's Jack's Big Stack burger is stacked with two jumbo beef patties, American cheese, pickle slices, onion rings, mustard, and mayo onion sauce on toasted sourdough.

My local Jack in the Box offers them at $4.49 a piece. They also have a coupon on the Jack in the Box website for $1 off that doesn't expire until the end of July.

News: Pizza Hut - New Firebaked Style Flatbread Pizzas

Pizza Hut unveils their newest crust option with new, limited-time Firebaked Style Flatbread Pizzas. The Flatbread Pizzas are available to order in a box of six and, similar to the previous Pizza Sliders, can be topped in three different ways, with up to three toppings each. An order costs $11.99.

News: McDonald's - BOGO Quarter Pounders June 18 - 20

McDonald's entices you to try their three new Quarter Pounder burgers by offering a "buy-one-get-one-free" offer on Quarter Pounders starting tomorrow, Tuesday June 18, and running until Thursday, June 20, at participating locations.

Review: 7-Eleven - French Vanilla Iced Coffee

7-Eleven's French Vanilla Iced Coffee is a mix of coffee, sugar, milk, plus artificial and natural flavors in a chilled pre-mix. You just add ice in a cup and fill it yourself similar to a soda fountain. It's described as "light" and "sweet" on the 7-Eleven website.

7-Eleven is currently running a promotion where you can buy a 16-ounce medium cup for $1 (normally about $1.59).

News: McDonald's Tests Dollar Menu Expansion

McDonald's is looking to expand the Dollar Menu with new "Dollar Menu & More." The new menu expands the menu with some new burgers and new variations on current value burgers like the McChicken and McDouble. Most menu items range from $1 to $2.

Notable new items include the Dijon Swiss Burger and the Southwest Burger, while new versions add bacon or tomato and cheese to value-priced chicken and burger platforms. The menu also includes current Dollar Menu items such as the McChicken, soft serve cones, and the Cheddar Onion Burger.

Local Review: Grill 'Em All - Primate Fries

Grill 'Em All's Primate Fries are their take on In-N-Out's Animal Fries. The key differences are shredded cheddar cheese instead of American cheese and the fries themselves. The grilled onions and Thousand Island dressing remain the same.

An order costs $5.

Around the World: McDonald's Singapore - New Durian McFlurry

McDonald's Singapore makes an interesting move for a fast food chain of general appeal by incorporating an extremely polarizing fruit into their latest, limited-time McFlurry, the new Durian Crunch McFlurry.

For those of you who have never heard of or encountered the durian fruit, it is an extremely pungent large fruit with a spiky shell that would not look out of place as the head of a mace.

Around the World: Wendy's Malaysia Goes Local with Chicken Rendang

In what may be an example of a truly localized dish from a major fast food chain, Wendy's Malaysia offers new Chicken Rendang Deluxe, which is basically a fast food version of the local dish of the same name (sans the deluxe).

Rendang originates from Indonesia and is popular among several countries and Southeast Asia. It's a type of heavily-spiced curried meat dish that's been reduced so that there's not much liquid remaining.

Frozen Friday: Fruttare Coconut and Milk Popsicles

Fruttare is Unilever's worldwide brand for juice- or milk-based popsicles that was just recently introduced here in the U.S. Coconut and Milk Fruttare bars are mostly milk, sugar, water and coconut in frozen form.

A box of four bars typically costs about $3, but I received these courtesy of Unilever.

News: Red Robin - New Wolverine-inspired Burgers

Red Robin is doing a cross-promotion with this summer's The Wolverine movie (the super hero not the animal) and offering two Wolverine-themed burgers: the Berserker Burger and the Kuzuri Style Tavern Double burger.