Bleh

Initially appeared on doktorko.com on 6/23/2006. 

A few weeks ago my wife and i went to California.  It was mainly to visit family; but, having lived exclusively in WASP country for the past two years, i personally was itching for more color, diversity, and - FILIPINO FOOD!

JOLLIBEE was at the top of my list; CHOWKING was a close second.  As our trip consisted of mostly of staying in San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Sacramento, we needed to find out where the local branches were.  Our hosts happily informed us that a Jollibee had been operational in San Jose for the past few months (dinudumog daw), and that a Chowking had just recently opened.

On our first day in San Jose, we immediately proceeded to Chowking for dinner.  I looked like an idiot having my picture taken underneath the sign, but i didn't care - i was going to be enjoying a little slice of heaven in a few short minutes!

Once we got inside, the initial rush of excitement was immediately doused by perusing the menu.  Pansit, siopao, and around a half-dozen other items.  Unfortunately, my beloved congee (either with goto or century egg) was nowhere in sight.  There was no fried tokwa.  There wasn't even the usual fallback lauriat when i don't know what to order.

Pwe!  I ended up getting the wonton soup, which tasted... bland and generic at best.  This was supplemented by siopao bola-bola, which -in fairness - was actually pretty good (ahh, a taste of home) notwithstanding the exorbitant dollar-based price tag.  The halo-halo though, deserves special mention for being exceptionally terrible (which seems oxymoronic, but that's the only way to describe it).  It consisted of a pre-mixed cup of ingredients (including shaved ice) which they took out of a refrigerator and topped off with a scoop of ice cream and some milk.  How long the cup had been in the refrigerator for is a mystery; all i know is that the shaved ice had turned into a solid frozen block that refused all efforts at being crushed even after 20 minutes of holding the cup in my warm palms.

To heck with that.

The next day, Jollibee.  After the previous day's fiasco, i lowered my expectations.  Still, it was a big let-down.  As with Chowking, it also had a dumbed-down menu: no burger steak, no peach-mango pie.  The Chickenjoy tasted passably authentic (although the skin didn't seem thick enough - not really worth of "laman muna, balat later"), while the Champ - well, there was no Champ per se.  I had to settle for the large "yum" burger with absolutely no hint of the langhap-sarap taste that i know and love.  The meat was different, there was minimal juiciness, and there was no special pink sauce.  It was bland, exactly the sort of food you'd be proud to serve an American.  The only thing i liked about it was that the texture was suspiciously similar to a Tropical Hut hamburger... maybe it was the choice of meat?  Oh well, at least lasang pinoy pa rin.

I should have stuck with my memories - they taste better.

The main theory i have regarding the awfulness of these places we went to has to do with globalization; to wit: Chowking and Jollibee, with dreams of conquering the world, have to streamline and "Americanize" their menus if they want to compete in the American market.  After all, the Filipino taste is not for everyone, as evidenced by this particular blog.

To be fair, we went to only one branch each of these restaurants - in San Jose; maybe the ones in L.A. - where there is a bigger Filipino community - are better?

Bahala na.  I'll find out next year.  Until then, one can hope.