Jollibee First Time Review
This is an interesting review to put out, due to the place itself. A large chain worldwide but when I have brought it up to most people in the United States, I get a very quick, huh? The slightly weird mascot aside, this place has been piercing the mind with what I can expect from it with food. Perusing over the menu it seems like an executive continues to be presented ideas and will always say yes to adding menu items, that’s not saying its a huge menu but the cuisines don’t make a ton of sense together. Burgers with fried chicken, sides of all sorts, and the menu item that boggles the mind is the spaghetti with hot dogs. Well I went through the doors of this establishment to see if it is worth a drive for all of you.
The order:
A two piece meal
-Spicy Fried chicken
-Biscuit
-Gravy
-Mango Peach Pie
-Fries
-Beverage (Diet Pepsi)
and then a side of the Spaghetti
Spicy Chicken-
Solid crunch set this off very well, but once you made it through the crunchy exterior a very flavorful inside came through. It was cooked well with the moisture being just enough. This sat in the car for about 30 minutes and the crunch was still there which says something. The spice could be felt but not as much flavor as I wanted came through with taste. Overall the flavor was good as it was seasoned well. This chicken was melt in your mouth good, recommend going for this menu item when there. 8.1/10
Gravy-
Special, that’s the one word description for this part of the meal. There was so much flavor in the brown gravy to add to the fries, chicken, or dip the biscuit into it. It was the star of the show every bite it was involved in, making this mystery brown sauce well worth it and shockingly good. Salty, sweet, savory, and a hint of umami make this sauce a must get when ordering. 9.3/10
Biscuit-
Best biscuit I have gotten from fast food. A little crisp on the outside gave way to a buttery and soft inside that was not dry. It went so well with the gravy, making this a must order more than one when at the establishment. 8.8/10
French Fries-
Could have used more Salt on these, not under salted too much but they could use some more. The texture was great as the crispy outside was golden brown and setup the fluffy pillow like inside very well. 7.7/10
Peach Mango Pie-
This had a very runny inside, the filling went everywhere when I bit into it. The mango flavor was subtle, the peach took center stage and that wasn’t a bad thing. The crust on the pie was very good but almost seemed closer to an egg roll than a pie, I liked it. 5.5/10
Jolly Spaghetti-
The Spaghetti is notorious here as it seems to be polarizing with the sweet red sauce that resembles chili in some sense which in its own accord make some people mad. This establishment said, hold my beer, lets add meat into the pasta, but not just any meat, Hot Dogs. Who doesn’t love hot dogs? In their pasta? Its a weird flavor as I’m sure your imagining, I’m not going to say its not, but it also isn’t terrible. Good? No not that either, its in some weird middle space in my brain where I can’t quite hate it but I’m not going to stop someone who does from expressing those thoughts. The other end of the spectrum that love this, I wouldn’t stop them ether, I’m just stuck on this one. Its sweet, like very sweet with a surprising amount of smokiness. The noodles themselves have flavor but subtle, kind of bland, but still some flavor. I would not go out of my way to get this dish, it is not worth it but if you see one and stop in quickly just to see what the fuss is about, I won’t judge. 5.2/10
Cold Reviews
Fried Chicken and Gravy- Better hot than cold, gravy lost its fastball a little, not bad but not the same. Chicken still crunchy but the spice didn’t come through as much. Not bad but its definitely better heated up than cold. 7.2/10
Spaghetti- Worse cold but still not mad about this, but I should be, its hot dogs in pasta, my Italian roots are crying. 4.8/10
I put Jollibee in the worth going to category of restaurants, its got some things you have to try once, others you can skip, and a few that are worth going back again and again.
View of the Two piece ChickenJoy Meal
Some Golden French Fries, slightly under salted
Another Overhead view of the fries
Last Picture of the fries
Gotcha, but this is the real last Picture
The Mango Peach Pie, with that egg roll like crust
Another view of the Pie
Inside the Pie view, apologies about the greasy fingers but the pie has some grease
Another Photo of the inside
That meal again, showing the Biscuit and gravy up close
Very close up on that mystery brown gravy that has every flavor you would want turned up
A little closer to that buttery biscuit that is the best I have had from fast food
Close up on that spicy chicken, that had a good crunch after sitting int the car for 30 minutes
An overhead view of the meal from another angle
The jolly Spaghetti, sweet and more sweet comes back to memory with this dish
Another view of the spaghetti which reminds me of the slight smokiness
Last Picture of the meal, but man that spaghetti is something. I understand both sides of the arguments.