It has been almost a year since the highly anticipated, Filipino fast food chain Jolibee has arrived and opened its doors to Vancouverites. Located downtown on the busy Granville Strip, the takeout only, fried chicken and burger spot has seen steady lines. Lines that once travelled out the doors and around the block, with limitations on how much that can be ordered per person, in order to ensure everyone would be fed.
The result is this long-awaited visit that happened by chance. We were downtown, there was no one waiting outdoors, and the wait we did see was minimal. Placing our order with the clerk and picking it packed up, once the electronic device we were given buzzed and beeped.
Seeing as that we both had Jolibee outside of Canada, we thought we would order majority of the menu and compare it to what we can remember, having it in Brunei and the Philippines, respectively.
We were both excited for the Jolly spaghetti, which is filipino-style sweet spaghetti. However, sadly for both of us, this did not deliver as memory served. Sticky and gummy noodles with a sweeter tomato sauce finish. The flavour felt flat, even with the milder saltiness from the slices of cut up hot dog.
They are best known for their Jolly crispy chicken, with the belief that the quality of chicken makes all the difference. However, not being in the Philippines means that it was not as my guest remembered it to be from his country of origin. It was also left cooling so was not as crispy as it ought to have been by the time we brought it home for dinner: from Vancouver to Burnaby. The chicken was at least still extremely juicy, and one of the moistest fried chicken you can get in the Vancouver food scene.
The Burger Steak, is basically a ground beef patty, flattened and then dressed and served like a steak. Greasy and well-done with sautéed mushrooms. I had ordered it with a side of buttery mashed potato, but apparently this is better with steamed rice instead.
The Cheesy Yum Burger is a plain burger with salty patty and melted processed cheese between two thick and doughy halves of a burger bun. It was lacking condiments and had me searching for some ketchup at minimum.
We made our Spicy Chicken Deluxe Burger a combo with fries and their Pineapple quencher drink; and to it added on of a container of gravy. The Fries were average at best, not crispy. The gravy helped to give each stick of potato some interest, it was fairly familiar, but I cannot place from where.
The Quencher was tropical and sweet, a nice pairing alongside all the other slightly sweet items in all our order.
As for the chicken burger, there was not enough condiment and dressing to fully flavour. It reminded me of a KFC burger in build, but with the quality of white meat chicken breast from Jollibee being far more superior.
We liked the Palabok the most. Vermicelli with minced pork, shrimp, and sliced up egg. The noodles were overcooked and therefore gummy and sticky in a clump. A unique texture that I did not hate and actually found very comforting for the mouth. As a whole, this was a tasty dish that I would crave again, but with more meat and sauce.
For dessert you have to order one of their baked pies. Similar in crispy shell and warm gooey centre to that of McDonald’s grab and go pies, but with more tropical fruit fillings. Their classic pie is the Peach & Mango, which was my favourite today. A crispy shell saturated in an oil, with the flavour of grease at the edges, balancing out the sweeter compote filling.
We also had the seasonal special at the time: a limited edition Banana Langka Pie. I got more banana than jackfruit in is, and wished that both together were more sweeter, like the original version.
In short, a welcome addition to Vancouver’s fast-food scene. It has been a while since I visited from my posting of this review, and it feels like I am due a trip back. We won’t be ordering as much or everything in the future, but now know what we do like and want more of.
Jolibee Downtown Vancouver
833 Granville St, Vancouver, BC V5M 2C9
(604) 265-7353
jollibeefoods.com
