Chili Review #1: Shakey's Chili Con Carne

I love chili. It's not a very popular dish in the Philippines for some reason, but I think people just don't want to give it a chance. Hopefully, this would be the first in a series of reviews of chili dishes, preferably those that come a complete meal in itself rather than just an add-on or a topping (which is more common).

This is a new item from Shakey's Pizza, which I tried immediately after I saw the announcement. Consistency of it is very soupy and thin, very much like how I remember Wendy's Chili to be (before they phased it out). It seemed a bit bland both in taste and spicyness. A little more salt wouldn't have hurt, and a lot more hot spice would have made it better. Filipinos are not known to like food that's too spicy except perhaps Bicolanos and most of Southern Philippines. Which is a shame because spicy is good for you. Reports I read online seem to indicate that eating spicy food actually prolongs your life. So why not put a little spice in your life? Spiciness in this chili is barely there that it's hard for me to actually consider it chili.

I'd give this 2 out of 5.

Jollibee's Plus Meals

I have to say, Jollibee's Corned Beef is pretty good. Comparable to even Purefoods and Delimondo. Sometimes, I even prefer it. But the problem with Jollibee's corned beef is that often times it doesn't seem like it's enough. I've finished the whole thing and I'm still hungry. Of course, I can order another one, but I really don't need additional rice, drink and egg. In fact, I really don't like the way they do eggs because they often overcook it.

Ilyn recently discovered that you can actually order extra corned beef. Just the corned beef. An additional order (Plus One) is P44. Two additional orders (Plus TWO) is P88. I'm like WOAAAH. All of a sudden, I'm ordering this A LOT for breakfast. A regular order of Corned Beef (around P100), and Plus Two Corned Beef and you get this huge pile of corned beef for only P188. And I no longer walk away hungry. If I can walk at all.

This is applicable to their other breakfast items like Tapa and Hotdog.

Thanks Jollibee!!

(THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED POST haha!)

Online Ordering

One lazy Sunday morning I was feeling too lazy to go out or even cook breakfast. A McDonald's breakfast ad flashed on my Twitter with a link to order online and I thought, why the hell not? I haven't been too trusting of the online side of commercial businesses after I got no replies from a few email inquiries I made at company websites. If they can't answer, what more actually fulfilling an online order?

But that Sunday morning I was feeling adventurous so I decided to try it out. I registered with the local McDonald's website and ordered breakfast. I thought well, if it doesn't work out, I'll just eat bread or something in the kitchen. It wasn't a big deal. Not 5 minutes later our phone rang and it was McDonald's confirming our order. I thought wow, that was fast. And roughly 15-20 minutes later our order arrived. It was great! It was such easy, hassle free experience that we ordered from McDo two more times in the next couple of weeks.

Next we tried ordering pizza from Greenwich. Unlike McDo, Greenwich Pizza is a local business so I was a bit wary, not sure what to expect. On their online form, they made it mandatory to ask for a mobile number rather than a landline, which is a bit inconvenient. I hate using a mobile and when they did call some 10 minutes later, I had a hard time talking to them because of the crappy mobile connection. What is weird is that about 10 minutes later they called AGAIN, this time another person confirming our order again. I mean... why? But the pizza did arrive soon enough, so it's all good!

Next we tried ordering pizza from Shakey's. No hassle. This is becoming too easy! By the way, delivery orders from Shakey's come with a free extra pizza and softdrinks. Just too awesome, Shakey's! Thank you.

Now we come to KFC. It's Easter and I thought I'd order a bucket of chicken online. Sent the order at a quarter to 11. Nobody calls. I mean, it's already almost an hour later and nobody's calling. I did get a con (KFC arrives just as I was typing this.)

Let me continue. I did get a confirmation via email that they got the order and are now processing it and I'm asked to wait 30-45 minutes for our order to be delivered. Some 20 or so minutes later, I get a 2nd email saying that their San Pablo branch now has our order and is now processing it and that I'm asked to wait 30-45 minutes for our order to be delivered. The exasperation at this drove me to write this blog entry and as I was writing it, our KFC delivery arrived, an hour after I sent in my online order. It's no big deal. It arrived here. We ate, we had a good time.

So far, no fails in our online ordering adventures! Where to order online next???

Jollibee's Ultimate Burger Steak And Why I No Longer Want It. (UPDATED)

UPDATE (December 2014): Hey, what do you know? They now include mashed potatoes with their Ultimate Burger Steak! YEAH! Now I like it again. I recently tried it and I loved it, although it still included fries, and the mashed potatoes just wasn't enough. I wanted more! Hopefully, I can order extra next time!

Yes! I'm back from a bit of a hiatus on this blog, and I'm back with a RANT! Yes, a RANT. You know I kinda like Jollibee's burgers, and this Ultimate Burger steak is no exception. I really like it, apart from the damned soggy fries.

Whoever thought it would be nice to put the burger steak on top of fries and drown it in gravy must have confused "fries" with "mashed potatoes", which is well, NOT THE SAME THING.

Drown mashed potatoes in gravy YES. That's AWESOME. More gravy, please!

Drown fries in gravy? Well, that's just STUPID. Who wants to eat soggy, limp fries? I don't know. Certainly not me!

I solved my problem by asking the clerks at the counter to separate the fries when the prepare it for me. That really shouldn't be a problem, right? Well, yes, for the most part. The couple times I was able to request this I came away really happy.

Well, a while ago, I went back to Jollibee (this is the branch here in San Pablo City next to the SPC Medical Center), ordered Ultimate Burger Steak and requested the same thing. Please separate the fries.

The manager downright said "NO". And then offered to separate the gravy instead. Huh? WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? I don't get the logic. I don't understand what sense that makes. Are they saving on paper (the paper bag that comes with separating fries)? But then they are using an extra plastic cup if they wish to separate the gravy. Again, I don't understand.

We told the manager we were able to ask to separate the fries before and then the manager went off and angrily scolded his staff for separating the fries. "WE DON'T SEPARATE FRIES!!"  wtf. I mean, wtf.

Jollibee SPC Medical has just earned its special place in Bizarro world.

I complained about this online to Jollibee's customer service, but not having received any reply, I'm posting this here for everyone to read.

I'm not buying any more Ultimate Burger Steaks in that branch. Or maybe not at any branch anymore.

You know, I can be asked the same thing. What's the difference if Jollibee wants to separate the gravy instead? Well, genius...it's the fact that they refuse to grant a customer's request, which is in my opinion, not really unreasonable. I can pay for the God damned extra paper bag if they want because that's HOW I WANT IT. I eat my food how *I* want it, and not how *they* want it.

Maybe I'll just stick to the CHAMP. Sorry Jollibee. Your twisted sense of logic has lost you an Ultimate Burger Steak customer.

McDonald's McSpicy Burger Taste Test!

Ok, sorry, I wasn't able to take a photo of the burger myself. It was an unexpected thing, walking into McDonald's one day and I saw this new burger. I asked the counter person if it was chicken and she said YES.

So yeah! I just had to order one. Like I said, I wasn't able to take a picture, but the one I got actually generally looked like that photo, except of course mine wasn't THAT thick. It was thick, but not that thick.

I had given up  the standard McChicken Sandwich after KFC came out with their Zinger sandwich which I reviewed here. Up to this point my favorite chicken fast food burger was the Zinger. Now it was time to see if I'll have a new favorite.

What did I think?

I thought the McSpicy was just awesome. Well, as awesome as KFC's Zinger sandwich is. In fact, it tastes very much like a Zinger with that crunchy breading on a chicken fillet with just the right amount of heat that I can tolerate and still enjoy. The only real difference is that the McSpicy came with lots more lettuce. So is the McSpicy my new favorite burger?

Let me just call it a tie. I love them both. I'll eat them both if I can. If I'm in McDonald's I'll eat this one. If I'm in KFC, I'll eat the Zinger. That's pretty much it!

Hainanese Chicken at Hainanese Delights

I'm a big fan of Hainanese Chicken, ever since I tasted the real deal at a hawker's center in Sinagpore. (Read  that blog entry here.)

Ever since then, I've been on the lookout for a local version here in the Philippines that would be as good. I've tried several dishes from many other restaurants, including a couple of high end Chinese/Singapore style places, but their chicken always come up lacking.

So far the best local Hainanese Chicken I've tasted I found in Hainanese Delights, which is surprisingly kind of a fast food type place that's slowly spreading across malls in Metro Manila. The two branches I visited was in Robinson's Galleria in Ortigas, and the one in SM Megamall Building A.

Of all the Hainanese chicken I've tasted so far, theirs is the best one I've tasted. The chicken is soft and perfectly seasoned. Their spice combo of ginger, hot sauce and soy sauce is unlimited. (In other restaruants they either had limited amounts of it or didn't have them all together). Not only did they serve the chicken with that special Hainan rice (Rice cooked in chicken stock), it was also unlimited. Other restaurants just serve plain rice which is like WTF. You don't serve Hainanese chicken without serving Hainan rice. That's just wrong. (I'm talking to you, Sentosa, Shangrila Mall.)

Highly recommended, if you want to get an idea of authentic Hainanese Chicken from Singapore!

Check out their website here:
http://www.hainanesedelights.ph/

Chicken Burger at RC Burger, San Pablo City

Everytime I take a walk up Paseo De Escudero past Jollibee Plaza, I would notice this new Burger place beside Toto's Bacolod Chicken called RC BURGER. For some reason, I just knew in my gut (which often has the right insticts) that it wasn't just another run of the mill sidewalk burger that's everywhere in San Pablo City. I tried one of those sidewalk burgers once, and holy crap they were horrible. The patty was flat as paper and all it seems you were eating was a ketchup sandwich. Ugh.

But like I said, I had a different feeling with RC Burger. It's by no means a sidewalk burger as it actually has a nice spot with tables and seats. Today I asked someone to take out a Chicken Burger for me. I wanted to see if it would actually be available. Often times, many food places would have chicken alternatives on their menu but it won't actually be available. Shawarma stalls in San Pablo are primarily guilty of this.

Much to my glee, the Chicken Burger was in fact available. And it came in wrapped in aluminum foil. It looks promising already. It's been my experience that burgers wrapped in aluminum foil are usually awesome. So how was it?

Opening the foil, I discovered how fully loaded this burger was. There were tomatoes, onions, cucumber and a really nice thick patty. The chicken was thick and newly cooked because it was still hot and crispy. Best of all, it tasted great! I tasted the just the patty itself and it was very very nicely seasoned. As a whole package it's one of the best chicken bugers I've had. I'm not kidding.

Looks like my instict was right all along! For 55 pesos, this was more than worth it. Ilyn walked in the room while I was eating it and commented how nice it smelled! So this is us, setting a date to eat some RC Burgers together sometime very soon.

I will try to eat some of their beef burgers next time just so see if it's even better than their chicken burgers.

So yeah, highly recommended from me!

Yep, they even have a Facebook Page here!
http://www.facebook.com/RCBurgerCo?fref=ts

Jollibee's Amazing Aloha! What Did I Think?

I couldn't believe the day would come, but it did! Jollibee's Amazing Aloha is back! And today, May 15, 2013 was the big day it was reintroduced to Jollibee's menu. Of course, me and Ilyn went on an Amazing Aloha date to mark this occasion!

OK! So what did I think?

Well, the first thing I noticed was that here in San Pablo, the Aloha didn't come in the Amazing Aloha box which it comes in when served in Manila. I saw a few friends post photos of it, and theirs came in a box. This is, strictly speaking, not really that important. But still, when burgers come in a box, they strangely feel more special, am I right? So right off the bat, this burger was already off by a couple of special points.

OK opening the paper wrapper I get....

OK.... well... it doesn't look anything like their Jollibee's promo pics. I mean, check this out:

Well, I'm nitpicking here as I know for a fact promo pics are never really representative of the actual product, and Jollibee is far from the only restaurant guilty of this. Pretty much all of them are. But I just want to jab them with this just for kicks.

The important thing is, The Amazing Aloha is back, whatever form it comes in. And more important than that... how does it taste?

Oh wow. I gotta say, well, I just love Jollibee burgers, to be honest. They're by no means the absolute best burgers that one can buy in the Philippines, but if I get a hankering for a burger, a Jollibee burger is usually what I want. They have a certain taste and texture that's agreeable with my taste buds.  The Yumburger seems too small for me and The Champ seems a little too huge (and messy) to eat. But I just absolutely love their Champ, it's my favorite Jollibee burger, if I have the appetite to finish an entire one.

For a long time I settled on their Double Yum with Cheese, which is a Yumburger with double patties and cheese. It seemed to be the best midway between the Yumburger and Champ. The problem is, Jollibee phased out Double Yum with Cheese almost at the same time they phased out Amazing Aloha. When they did that, I remember I was really quite bummed!

And now, having the prodigal Aloha again in my hands, I seem to have found both the Double Yum and the Amazing Aloha in one burger! And I think that's great! What I'm saying is, the Aloha is smaller now than what it once was. I remember it being as huge as the Champ. Now, it's basically a Double Yum Burger with pineapple, cheese, lettuce, and bacon. Now that may disappoint some long time Aloha fans, but I don't mind it being smaller.  My appetite is now smaller and after having finished one, I already felt very full. So it's really just the perfect size for me.

I do have to say that I really didn't notice or taste any of the bacon or the lettuce, but what I like about the Aloha is the sweetness and slight sourness that the pineapple adds to the taste of their patties. I don't know why, but that combination is really just perfect for me.

I have no problem in saying it's now my favorite Jollibee burger!  What's this I hear about it being available only for a limited time though? That's kind a weird. I hope they keep this on their menu permanently!

Hey Jollibee! Bring Back the Amazing Aloha Burger!

Graphics aside, The Amazing Aloha is not really back... at least NOT YET! Quite a few blogs are popping up clamoring for the return of this Jollibee burger that I thought I'd throw my own two centavos in.

A few people know that Anthony Bourdain recently ate this burger on his TV show after he visited a Jollibee branch in the US.

Now that freaked out a few Filipinos like me collectively going, "It's available in Jollibee US?! Why isn't it available in Jollibee's hometown?!" COME ON!

Even before that Anthony Bourdain's bit on TV, I was already sending emails to Jollibee asking for the return of The Amazing Aloha. This has been their reply:

************
Sir Gerry,

Thank you for your patronage of Jollibee. Your feedback is highly appreciated and Jollibee will definitely be looking into this so we can further improve our service for our customers. Store support teams will be looking into the overall effect of the suggestion to the business.

Again thank you very much and we hope that you’ll visit Jollibee again soon.Sincerely yours,

Lerma Icapin-AquinoCustomer Care

************

Looks like we could have a say in it! So if you want to do your part to bring The Amazing Aloha back, send Jollibee an email:  feedback at jollibee dot com dot ph

My wife doesn't really like burgers, but this is the only she really likes eating. So that's really saying something.

And while Jollibee is at it, why not bring back Double Yum with Cheese as well? Sometimes I want  a middle ground between the small Yum w/Cheese and the huge Champ. Double Yum w/Cheese usually fit the bill. I don't know why they phased that out as well.

Breakfast at KFC, Shell Mamplasan

We went to Manila yesterday and along the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) we stopped by Shell at Mamplasan to have some breakfast. This was around 8 in the morning. We were glad to see that Kentucky Fried Chicken was not only open 24 hours, but they were also serving breakfast. This is new to me. I've never seen KFC's breakfast menu before.

Good thing they had a lot of chicken on the menu (well, obviously I guess). I had the Chicken Tocino, coffee and orange juice (above) while Ilyn had the Chicken Sausage.

The girl at the counter was kind of puzzled that we ordered a second drink (the orange juice) when we already had the coffee. Well, hello? If I start to get hiccupy from the food, do I glug down the scalding hot coffee? Of course I won't. In fairness, I get this puzzlement from many other food joints like this. I don't get it.

Anyway, the chicken tocino was good. It wasn't too salty and it was just sweet enough. I really have no complaints about that. I tasted Ilyn's chicken sausage, and I kind of liked the taste of that better. It had a very nice smoky flavor.

The coffee was revelation. I never really expect to get good coffee from fast food places like this, so this coffee took me completely by surprise. It was not only good, but it was pretty good! It had a really unique taste to it too. Since I always take my coffee black, sugar is really the only additive to it. I don't know it must be the combination of the coffee itself, the sugar and even the paper cup that brought about this unique taste that I found addicting. I don't usually finish a cup of coffee. Most of the time I really only finish half. But this time I finished it all. Next time I'll go to another KFC to see if all their coffee is like this or that one time was just a fluke.

Ok, here comes the bad.

I don't really have any complaints about the food or service... the restaurant itself had a big issue for me. It was hot inside, and it smelled kind of bad. I don't know if we just came in too early and they hadn't opened the AC yet, but it was hotter inside than it was outside. And the place had an almost overpowering bad smell that I  just can't describe. It smelled like various smells that have been left cooped up in an enclosed place for a little too long. It's actually enough for me not to want to go inside again, in spite of the nice coffee.

You're Funny, KFC!

Dear KFC...

Ha! ha! You're so funny. I saw this on TV and many other places... your new burger with the cheese on top. Ha! ha! I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Thank you, And I mean that.  But aren't you a little too late on this April Fool's joke?

Because really... this HAS to be a joke, right? I mean, who'd be crazy enough to actually believe this is the real thing? I mean cheese on top? What sense could there be in it?

I mean... even Jimmy Kimmel thinks it's funny!



See the press you're actually getting from this? SHEER GENIUS, KFC!