verging_on_random

Filipino fast food

$1A = 38 pesos.

All meals served with plenty of rice (there might be a shortage but not in any of the places I visited). I had the stuffed squid … mmmmm.

Unfortunately places like this are becoming rarer, their places taken by McDonald’s and Pizza hut and the local fast food chain, Jollibee. Why i don’t know; Filipinos don’t usually suffer from the Western world’s chronic obsession with doing things quickly so they can go do something else. Maybe it’s just a mild national inferiority complex that thinks anything ‘imported’ is better (although there’s nothing imported about Jollibee, so that theory’s not very persuasive). At least the Pinoys insist on getting a serve of rice with their Big Macs.

The best of the chains is Chow King, which has meals that are not only really tasty but also quite healthy. I wish some enterprising entrepreneur would open a franchise near here - I’d be a regular customer. The corn and beans in the halo halo might be an acquired taste but I think Australians would love it.

My favourite fast food outlet however is Goldilocks, which serves traditional Filipino food (somewhat typically, the Filipino link isn’t working ATM - ‘not available’ is something you soon get used to hearing in the Philippines, along with ‘no stock’). Enjoy it if you get a chance … McDonald’s or KFC will probably buy it out in a year or two.