About a month ago I was in the Edison area on business and while traversing the rt. 1 corridor north, I noticed a new occupant had taken over the beloved yet short lived Roy Rogers location. Not only did I notice the new occupants odd name; Jollibee, I also couldn’t miss the line of cars, spilling out into the right lane of rt. 1. Literally 20+ cars waiting in the drive thru line.
This ordeal made me want to see what Jollibee was all about so off to google I was, and all I can say is WOW…what an assortment of fast food;
Fried Chicken - Chicken Tenders - Chicken Sandwiches - Burgers - Salisbury Steak - Hot Dogs - Spaghetti - Palabok (Filipino rice and pasta dishes with shrimp and egg) - Beef Tenders - Pulled Pork - Corned Beef !! Various sides and a peach mango pie for desert!
This was so fascinating I privately nominated @seal to take one for the HO team, but as usual he failed me. So yesterday I was back in the area and decided to give them a try, well as the pictures below will show, there were still well over a dozen cars in line, two lines that actually that merged. The total wait was about 15-20 mins, which I really didn’t have to spare but I just couldn’t pull myself away from this place without giving it a try.
For as busy as they were the line moved and my order was ready in typical fast food manner. I imagine dining in must be an experience because you can tell they stress the “Jolly” portion of Jollibee. The worker at the window greeted me with an aggressive waive and a “Hello Jolly Day to you”… this was repeated once I received my food as well. I asked her how long they have been opened and she said 2 mos. I asked if it was always like this and that’s when I saw the sad eyes of an overworked fast food employee, peering out above her mask as she replied: " Yes, from opening to closing it never stops"…then with what I’m sure was a frown under her mask she waived and said; “Thank you have a Jolly day” and I was off.
I’m a moderate fried chicken fan, I enjoy it but I’m not going out of my way to get in line at Popeye’s etc. I do Popeye’s and KFC and would put them on the top of my fast food chicken list. I used to love Roy Rogers, but alas they are few and far between these days.
Onto the food! As you can see the chicken is nicely fried, they offer spicy so I oped for that. They put little “spicy” flags on the chicken to make sure you know. Wasn’t sure how to eat spaghetti as I drove, so fries were the safer choice. I also requested an up-charge for 1 piece of white meat, I was instructed they only carry dark meat.
Long story short, it was pretty meh, not really bad but not really good. I didn’t really care for the chicken. The spice was fine but overall it tasted like it was a spicy cheetos coating on it or something similar, nothing that really appealed to me at all. The fries were from the frozen bargain section of restaurant depot, the side of gravy was “ok” but after a few bites I noticed an odd flavor that I really think was sugar. It turned me off after the first few dips.
A pretty big let down, but perhaps I’m in the minority with my taste because they place is jam packed apparently every day. lol So who knows…don’t listen to me and go try for yourself and let me know what you think!! (though if you don’t like it you can’t blame me, I warned you!!!)
.
Got a 10 piece bucket and am still eating it. It is good cold, and still remarkably crispy. Also tried the adobo rice (as sadly they do not have garlic rice yet). It was kind of like a fried rice with bits of pork - not bad. The palabok fiesta is now available too. I liked it, but wish that there were more toppings (pork and egg) - it is mostly sauce with a few shrimp.