What I Ate: February 5, 2009 (Jollibee)

Having heard good things about Jollibee's fried chicken, I took Harold to the Jollibee (447 Great Mall Dr, Milpitas, CA‎ - (408) 719-1344) at Great Mall in Milpitas. I warned Harold before hand that I hadn't really heard anything about the flavor of the chicken, but everyone mentions how crunchy it is. I personally don't care if the texture of the breading is super crunchy or not (like KFC's Original Style) but I do want the chicken to be flavorful. I ordered two pieces of ChickenJoy (what they call their chicken) and side of buttered corn and French fries.

The chicken was quite crispy, but the crispy layer was so thin that there really wasn't much crunch after initially breaking through the thin skin. It also didn't really have much taste. The flavor can best be compared to pork rinds. The flesh of the chicken itself was also unflavorful. It was extremely tender (except for the thinner parts which were overcooked and dry) and super juicy. The fried skin must act as an amazing thermal insulator because both Harold and I were burning our mouths with the chicken even ten to fifteen minutes after we got our food. The only way I could get over the blandness was to dunk the chicken into the gravy which came with the meal. The gravy was excellent.

The mango pies that we got were good. Here the bland breading worked well to produce a decent dessert. The not-too-sweet mango filling with the crispy, flaky crust was pretty good.

For dinner, I grilled a dry aged rib-eye steak to rare while Tina sauteed some dandelion greens. This might be the last time in a while that I cook - I'm finding it really stressful trying to fit it into my hectic schedule.