My girlfriends and I recently went to Seattle for a triple birthday trip (yeah, three of us had birthdays within 5 days of each other) and knowing us, it was going to be allllll about the food.
Lil Sis recommended we stop for Jollibee, a Philipino fast food chain highly popular in Asia because she thought it was the bomb diggity of fast food.
Jollibee was a bout a 15-20 minute drive from Bellevue and is located further below Seattle in Tukwila. It's connected to a mall called Southcenter Mall.
It had a really interesting Asian KFC vibe, most likely because they specialize in fried chicken (called "Chicken Joy" hehe). Even Anthony Bourdain tried Jollibee on his show "Parts Unknown" and loved everything about it. You can watch it here below.
[Jollibee segment starts at 0:40]
If you haven't seen "Parts Unknown by Anthony Bourdain" before, you're missing out. It's incredibly eye opening from a cultural perspective and he always talks about food. :)
Connected next door is a Filipino Bakery in which you can get copious amounts of Pan de Sal, every flavour of Mamon, and Ensaimada.
They sell things like fried chicken, burger steaks, sweet spaghetti, burgers, and mango pies to name a few.
First off, I LOVE how every chicken joy automatically comes with a side of gravy. Can Church's Chicken, KFC, and LA Chicken adopt this? Please?
This is the 2pc Burgersteak w/ Mash Potatoes ($3.99) and it is exactly what it says it is. Two pieces of burger patty and a scoop of mash. Nothing special, but it's really inexpensive.
The 3pcs Chicken Joy with side of Corn, Gravy ($5.99) and Jollibee Spaghetti ($3.99) was absolutely delicious. The fried chicken rivals LA Chicken (thought LA is still better) and is heaven when dipped into the thick artificial but addicting gravy. Sweet spaghetti is a classic Filipino dish and apparently every Filipino mom will try to make their spaghetti as closely as Jolliebees. The sauce is thick, meaty, sweet, and who can resist those little cut up wieners?
All in all, Jollibee reminded me of eating fast food in Asia, with its 90% oriental customer demographic, weird and uncommon food combinations, and delicious never-good-for-you goodness.
It's a place all foodies should try, with no high expectations of course because after all, it is still just a fast food chain.
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