McDonald's trials fusion food in Australia

The fast food chain is set to introduce the "My Dinner Now" menu for people too busy to cook.

Forget Big Macs and fries. Australians will soon be snacking on lemongrass chicken and beef rendang as McDonald's serves up a new menu of "fusion food."

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The fast food chain said Monday it would introduce dishes with Thai, Indian and Italian influences that would "satisfy the more cosmopolitan palate" of people too busy to cook.

McDonald's regional manager Raylee Joyce said 19 outlets in New South Wales state would trial the "My Dinner Now" menu until October, with a possible national rollout next year.

"Research indicated what most people know only too well, that busy lifestyles have given rise to a marked increase in casual eating-out, with take-away sales increasing by more than 40 per cent in the last five years," she said.

Beef bolognese penne pasta, and orange, lime and ginger chicken will also be on the menu.

The chain has diversified its traditional burgers and fries menu since the hit 2003 US documentary Super Size Me, in which director Morgan Spurlock ate only McDonald's for a month and experienced a catalogue of health problems.