Fast food is one American export the world would be better off without IMO. That is quite a sight, though, seeing Colonel Sanders face in a zoo in Thailand!
I don't recall a KFC from my visit in 2008. My travel experience in Asia is actually limited to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Singapore. But while I know that western brands are the name of the game in this part of the world, I'd rather have the zoos offering their genuine cuisine to the guests. But because most of the guests are locals, they want 'exotic' food in the form of KFC and the like, just as their local food is exotic to me and I would have to visit expensive restaurants to get it in the west.
This comes from someone who wanted nothing else than fried chicken and chips during travel as a child and teenager. Approaching my 30th birthday, I can't tell you how much I regret it, but I hope to have some decades to make up for my foolishness and immaturity when I was younger!
Erm, I think the perception differs from where we live in. Local food at our tourist attractions (Singapore Zoo) are marked up really highly thats why we prefer fast food as the price is kept at a acceptable level. One bowl of laksa at the Singapore Zoo can cost near to SGD$10 when we can get it for about $3 outside!
Practically all zoos have just fast food, which is a shame.
I'll be visiting the Dallas World Aquarium in the autumn. I understand that its owner started out in the catering business and thus puts great pride into the aquarium's restaurant. I'm looking almost as much forward to see and try the restaurant as I am to see the animals of the place!
Having just eaten there myself last week, it is by far the best zoo restaurant(s) out there. You will have to pick which restaurant you want to eat at (there are 3). Or just do what most Americans do, eat at all three.
I have only made one trip outside the U.S., when I went to France and England last year, visiting two zoos in each country. One of them (Le Menagerie in Paris) was too small to have a cafe. But the other three - London Zoo, Port Lympne, Parc Des Felins - ALL had consistently better food than I see at American zoos. Parc Felins is full service (and has even been upgraded since I was there, according to their website). The two British ones had cafeteria style restaurants with some very nice home cooked dishes. At Port Lympne, which is a very charming setting inside the mansion's former plant conservatory, I had some vegetable lasagna that was unquestionably the best lasagna I have had in my life.
Not sure if all European zoos are like this, but my limited experience shows they outshine American zoos in this area. The best overall food I have seen at a U.S. zoo is at my local Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.
