Filipino Invasion into Irvine!

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Got the bucket combo today, chickenjoy, spaghetti and 3 mango peach pies.  Parking lot was crazy, inside Seafood city was crazy.  Line for Grill city almost reached the entrance of the supermarket.  Jollibee wasn't as bad.  And they were pretty efficient, thumbs up for a well trained staff and none of that soft opening BS. 

Got to say, the chicken was mighty tasty.  I think they must brine the bird, the meat will have trouble staying on the bone if it wasn't for the crispy battered skin holding it all together.  Beats KFC hands down, about the same as Popeyes but much more tender.  No white meat, so you better like dark.  They have some sort of chicken strips, that should be white meat but probably dry.  Not a fan of the spaghetti, kid loved it though.  Sweet and rich, with cut up hot dogs in it.  It does pair well with the salty fried chicken.  The mango pie was ok, kinda liked the old McDonalds pie, deep dried with a fruit filling.  $20 for the bucket combo, my kid and I killed the chicken and downed the pies, spaghetti for lunch tomorrow.
 
Maybe it's just me but I am totally confused by the photos. Isn't Jollibee a Filipino place? Why is there mainly fried chicken in the photos? I completely get that there is a lot of "Colonial" influence in the Philippines. However, they still have their own cultural identity which is separate from what you would find in a typical American's kitchen any day of the week unlike the pictures which looks like my dinner table (the only thing missing are the casseroles... don't tell me they serve those too.) Is seems like sliced up hot dogs in the spaghetti is as far as they're willing to go... and that's so "1960s SpaghettiOs", which every American kid is familiar with. Does this restaurant even serve real Filipino food? I don't expect to see balut on the menu anytime soon but where's the lechon?
 
SoCal said:
Maybe it's just me but I am totally confused by the photos. Isn't Jollibee a Filipino place? Why is there mainly fried chicken in the photos? I completely get that there is a lot of "Colonial" influence in the Philippines. However, they still have their own cultural identity which is separate from what you would find in a typical American's kitchen any day of the week unlike the pictures which looks like my dinner table (the only thing missing are the casseroles... don't tell me they serve those too.) Is seems like sliced up hot dogs in the spaghetti is as far as they're willing to go... and that's so "1960s SpaghettiOs", which every American kid is familiar with. Does this restaurant even serve real Filipino food? I don't expect to see balut on the menu anytime soon but where's the lechon?
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SoCal, Jolibee in itself is meant to be a Filipino version of McDonalds/KFC but catered to Filipino taste rather than an ethnic food place.  In the Philippines, Jollibee Corporation owns a lot of other restaurant brand that caters to other types of food. (eg Chowking for Chinese, Greenwich for Pizza, Mang Inasal for native Filipino foods, Red Ribbon for bakery etc). 

You can go to the nearby Grill City or Crispy town inside seafood city for more authentic Filipino food.
 
GH said:
SoCal said:
Maybe it's just me but I am totally confused by the photos. Isn't Jollibee a Filipino place? Why is there mainly fried chicken in the photos? I completely get that there is a lot of "Colonial" influence in the Philippines. However, they still have their own cultural identity which is separate from what you would find in a typical American's kitchen any day of the week unlike the pictures which looks like my dinner table (the only thing missing are the casseroles... don't tell me they serve those too.) Is seems like sliced up hot dogs in the spaghetti is as far as they're willing to go... and that's so "1960s SpaghettiOs", which every American kid is familiar with. Does this restaurant even serve real Filipino food? I don't expect to see balut on the menu anytime soon but where's the lechon?
Click to expand...

SoCal, Jolibee in itself is meant to be a Filipino version of McDonalds/KFC but catered to Filipino taste rather than an ethnic food place.  In the Philippines, Jollibee Corporation owns a lot of other restaurant brand that caters to other types of food. (eg Chowking for Chinese, Greenwich for Pizza, Mang Inasal for native Filipino foods, Red Ribbon for bakery etc). 

You can go to the nearby Grill City or Crispy town inside seafood city for more authentic Filipino food.
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Couldn't have said it better! Growing up in the Philippines, Jollibee was "our" version of MdDonalds, with dishes that catered to our unique culture and tastes. I have many fond memories of birthday parties at Jollibee as a kid.

Because I grew up in the PI, it never seemed weird to me that Jollibee, unlike McDonald's, served fried chicken or sweet spaghetti. Also, I loved the cut-up hot dogs in my spaghetti!
 
SoCal said:
Maybe it's just me but I am totally confused by the photos. Isn't Jollibee a Filipino place? Why is there mainly fried chicken in the photos? I completely get that there is a lot of "Colonial" influence in the Philippines. However, they still have their own cultural identity which is separate from what you would find in a typical American's kitchen any day of the week unlike the pictures which looks like my dinner table (the only thing missing are the casseroles... don't tell me they serve those too.) Is seems like sliced up hot dogs in the spaghetti is as far as they're willing to go... and that's so "1960s SpaghettiOs", which every American kid is familiar with. Does this restaurant even serve real Filipino food? I don't expect to see balut on the menu anytime soon but where's the lechon?
Click to expand...

Jollibee serves another noodle dish called the Palabok. As far as I know, it is distinctly Filipino. If you want other Filipino dishes, Grill City (mentioned earlier) is just across Jollibee and there's more inside the grocery (in a corner that sells ready-to-eat Filipino food)
 
Just grabbed some food at Krispy Town.  Located @ the far back of Sea Food City. Chicken leg and thigh (one piece), rice, and vegi roll for $5.50. The food taste decent and no long line. Not that many people go there since it's in the back of the store.
 
Finally tried that Grill City place.

It's okay. Unbelievable because the line was still over 10 people deep at 10:30am on a Sunday morning.
 
GH said:
SoCal said:
Maybe it's just me but I am totally confused by the photos. Isn't Jollibee a Filipino place? Why is there mainly fried chicken in the photos? I completely get that there is a lot of "Colonial" influence in the Philippines. However, they still have their own cultural identity which is separate from what you would find in a typical American's kitchen any day of the week unlike the pictures which looks like my dinner table (the only thing missing are the casseroles... don't tell me they serve those too.) Is seems like sliced up hot dogs in the spaghetti is as far as they're willing to go... and that's so "1960s SpaghettiOs", which every American kid is familiar with. Does this restaurant even serve real Filipino food? I don't expect to see balut on the menu anytime soon but where's the lechon?
Click to expand...

SoCal, Jolibee in itself is meant to be a Filipino version of McDonalds/KFC but catered to Filipino taste rather than an ethnic food place.  In the Philippines, Jollibee Corporation owns a lot of other restaurant brand that caters to other types of food. (eg Chowking for Chinese, Greenwich for Pizza, Mang Inasal for native Filipino foods, Red Ribbon for bakery etc). 

You can go to the nearby Grill City or Crispy town inside seafood city for more authentic Filipino food.
Click to expand...

Ah. Okay. So, it's like a Filipino rendition of American fast food. Okay, I get it. It sounds a lot like my future menu at my restaurant, BobaSchnitzel?.

We have good friends who are Filipinos from Guam and they eat completely differently from what is pictured so it was very perplexing, indeed. Well, particularly on a special occasion, of course.
 
GH said:
Jollibee valentine series commercial recently released (sorry can't find one with pure English subtitles on the second one -- but more than half of the dialogue are in English anyway)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlgOe99WEpc
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:'( :'( this is the most beautiful chicken ad I've ever seen. Now I have to go take Tagalog 101 to find out how he got friendzoned?! They got my hopes up then crushed them at the last second, leaving me hurt & confused. Jollibee loves torturing us.
 
morekaos said:
https://youtu.be/peBjbIKQ7bo
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Wow. I've watched a bunch of this guy's tutorials on Youtube but I never realized until your post that he's actually a good singer, too. Never knew who he was. Only found him on Youtube after a friend of mine - a lady from the Philipines - sent me a link.

The pointing with the lips thing is a really cute trait. I like it when they do that.  :)
 
That video is even more entertaining if you are Filipino...like me.  All of it is true.  No one enjoys a good Filipino joke than a Filipino.
 
morekaos said:
That video is even more entertaining if you are Filipino...like me.  All of it is true.  No one enjoys a good Filipino joke than a Filipino.
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No way. That's awesome. Filipinos are the best.
 
More impressive is that guy (Mikey Bustos) actually was born and grew up in Canada and I think still lives in Canada up to now.  But his accent, expressions and mannerisms are right on --
 
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