TV host and best-selling author Anthony Bourdain made good his promise of coming back to the Philippines for the Season 7 premiere of his hit CNN food and travel documentary show Parts Unknown. Like most Filipinos who have lived long enough abroad, he made sure that his return included a visit to a Jollibee store.
Bourdain first came across Jollibee in 2013 when the Filipino fast food giant was featured in season one of Parts Unknown. In that episode, Bourdain visited a Jollibee branch in Los Angeles, California where he sampled, among other meals, the Amazing Aloha Burger which he referred to as “a very tasty burger” that has “a nice char.”
Bourdain and Jollibee would again cross paths for the season opener that was shot in Manila last December at Jollibee Blue Bay in Pasay City.
He started his review by saying, “I sneer at fast food, revile it at every opportunity but I am also a hypocrite because to me, Filipino chain Jollibee is the wackiest, jolliest place on Earth.”
Bourdain was then shown casually lining up at the counter of the Jollibee store and ordering Chickenjoy with rice, “Jolly Spaghetti with the hotdogs on it” and a Yum with cheese.
“Oh yeah, chicken and spaghetti!” exclaimed Bourdain, “and not just any spaghetti. I think it’s like sweet, banana, ketchup-y stuff with hotdogs,” he added. “That spaghetti is deranged, yet strangely alluring.”
He also called the gravy of Jollibee’s bestselling Chickenjoy ‘awesome’, referring to it as a sinister brown sauce before he grabbed his second piece of chicken.
As part of the documentary, Bourdain’s team was given a tour of the outlet’s kitchen which showed the crew preparing its trademark langhap-sarap burgers, spaghetti and Jolly crispy fries.
“We are honored that Anthony Bourdain chose to visit our store in Manila and has made it a point to share this globally with viewers of his widely-popular culinary adventure show on CNN. We hope he will come back and visit our other Jollibee locations worldwide,” said Francis Flores, Jollibee Global Brand chief marketing officer.
