Jollibee brings Joy to Paya Lebar Square

Jollibee: Business Hours as at 10 April 2020

Jollibee: Delivery Hours as at 10 April 2020

Jollibee, the largest fast food chain in the Philippines, opens a new branch at Paya Lebar Square. If the first few days of its operations are any indication, Jollibee has a big following in Singapore and is bringing much joy to many.

Jollibee opened its first Singapore store in Lucky Plaza in 2013 and then added new outlets in Square 2 Novena and Changi City Point last year. It is thus a little surprising that there was still much excitement when the new Jollibee Paya Lebar Square opened last Sunday. In the days following its opening, the lunch time queue seemed to grow by the day.

Jollibee Paya Lebar Square’s decor is fairly typical of a fast food restaurant. It is bright and cheery. It has various seating configurations to accommodate dining parties of different sizes.

On its menu is of course the famed Chickenjoy as well as burgers, spaghetti and side dishes like minced chicken rice. It also has breakfast items like chicken tocino, a Filipino breakfast made of cured meat, and beef hotdog. Here are a few photos of Jolibbee’s menu board and Jollibee Singapore Menu we saw.

I decided to join the Jollibee queue after regular lunch hours; but even after 2 pm, the queue was quite long. However, the service staff were very efficient to ensure that the queue was fast moving. I could place my order after standing in line for less than 10 minutes. The staff would also inform customers of the items that were readily available and those which involved waiting and the estimated time of wait. I ordered order a Chickenjoy Meal ($7.10) with mashed potatoes which I could collect immediately after payment at the counter. The more popular combination was apparent chicken with rice. Fries were also available.

Jollibee’s Chickenjoy Meal included 2 pieces of chicken. The chicken was served piping hot. The 2 decent sized pieces of chicken looked like any other fried chicken. However, I noticed that they were not oily. They were very crispy on the outside and the inside was tender. The chicken was well seasoned and quite tasty. The Jollibee’s special brown gravy added to the enjoyment of the chicken. Whether Jollibee’s fried chicken is the best you can find in Singapore is debatable but there were delicious enough.

I saw lots of people having the Jolly Spaghetti, which was Jollibee’s special sausage spaghetti with a sweet banana ketchup sauce. They looked yummy.

The visit to Jollibee Paya Lebar Square left me with a good impression, notwithstanding the queue. The staff were nice and efficient and they had a system to deal with the large number of patrons. The food was served hot and the fried chicken was indeed nice and tasty – jolly good!