A man who attempted to rob a McDonald's restaurant in Surrey, B.C., didn't get fries with his order, but he did get fried when a worker doused him with a litre of boiling cooking oil.

Police said just before midnight Wednesday, the man walked up to the drive-thru window of the restaurant at 96th Avenue and 160th Street.

With his face partially covered by his shirt, the man pulled a knife and ordered the cashier to hand over some money. He then reached in through the window with his arms and head to grab money from the cash register.

When the cashier started yelling, it prompted a fellow worker to act, said Sgt. Roger Morrow of the Surrey RCMP.

"One of the other staffers ... in the restaurant grabbed some kind of a container ... I don't have the specifics to what type, and ends up throwing what we estimate to be about a litre of boiling oil onto the robber's face, his head and neck," said Morrow.

The man then fled, leaving most, but not all of the cash behind. It's thought he may have suffered second-degree burns. Police are now looking for a South Asian male, about six feet tall, 20 to 25 years old, with burns on his hands, neck and face.