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2013-03-29
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An excerpt from my blog http://bit.ly/14kKrXh: So how is Jollibee Singapore? Everybody I have spoken to about the new Jollibee warned me that the best course of practice would be to avoid the place for the next six months until the queues had calmed down (J: I told him I will never set foot in Jollibee until after three months!). News reports and rumours from friends confirmed that the crowds at Jollibee were extremely high and approaching levels only seen before in Singapore when Ikea discounte
So how is Jollibee Singapore? Everybody I have spoken to about the new Jollibee warned me that the best course of practice would be to avoid the place for the next six months until the queues had calmed down (J: I told him I will never set foot in Jollibee until after three months!). News reports and rumours from friends confirmed that the crowds at Jollibee were extremely high and approaching levels only seen before in Singapore when Ikea discounted its meatballs one day to ten cents. However, unable to contain my curiousity for six months, I found myself braving the hordes of chickenjoy addicts and joining the throng just ten days after its opening day.
At first glance the queue was not so bad – no worse than some chicken rice places in Raffles Place at lunchtime. Then my eyes followed the queue into the waiting area that snaked around the side of the restaurant and knew that I was going to be waiting for quite some time. A huge line of people triple-backed on itself in the waiting hold which was composed of mainly Filipinos, a handful of Singaporean families who were excited about joining such a long queue (“Look how many people are queuing! It must be good!”), and one very obvious white guy (myself). I joined the carnival-like atmosphere of the queue and settled myself in to a long wait. For everyone’s information, I joined the queue at 18.11 on a Thursday evening and ordered my food at 20.11 – EXACTLY two hours later. The shutters to join the queue were closed down at about seven o’clock, but I have heard rumours about people still queuing late into the night and forcing the store to stay open till 2am in the morning. The general consensus seems to be that the crazy queues are only going to die down after 3 – 6 months, and that Sunday (when Singapore’s large Filipino maid community enjoy their day-off) is a definite no-go.
Food Verdict:
Overall, it was a very satisfying experience. There are a few items from the Filipino menu missing from the Singapore menu like the palabok (J: I want palabok too!!!) and the Champ/Aloha burger which may disappoint some fans, and I don’t believe there is currently a breakfast menu. Old favorites like the burger steak and the spaghetti are on the menu but I didn’t really see anybody going for these options as chickenjoy seemed to be the major draw. I would recommend Jollibee as a great alternative to the familiar fast-food faces that already exist in Singapore – just adjust your expectations accordingly for the extremely long queues that currently exist. Take an iPad, a downloaded copy of Candy Crush, and some friends and you’ll be fine.
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