Tastes from Home

While I was in Las Vegas this past fall, I went on a pilgrimage to a shopping center that catered to Filipinos called Seafood City. It came to my attention while searching for a Jollibee location. It was my first time out west since 2008 and I didn't want to waste an opportunity to get some nostalgic food.

A few weeks ago I found out that two Jollibee locations had opened up in Chicago last year. One was attached to an also-opened Seafood City. I knew I had to make my way there and I needed to do it as soon as possible. That day was today.

I took my mom. Although she had heard about this place a long time ago--probably before it even opened--she wont drive into the city. This was her first time as well and she was excited. The only complaint that I think she had was that the prices were too high in comparisons to the same items that she could find stores closers to home. The advantage of Seafood City was that they carried things that the locals stores didn't.

Balut. For more on this click here.

So much Spam!

Yum. Blood and bile. Yeah, no, I don't eat this.

Where we live, seafood comes frozen and not definitely with the variety that they had here. Open tables of fish, clams, squid, shrimp and more. We were actually confused as to how to properly get these checked out. It was so new to us.

Since I drove my mom out to Chicago, she offered to buy me lunch. Although there were other tempting places to eat, I wanted to feed the nostalgia that I was feeling for Jollibee. Although not as busy as I had heard, the line did stretch to and almost out the door.

I opted to go for the spaghetti. I remembered not liking it when I lived in the Philippines but after watching some YouTube videos of Americans liking it, I wanted to give it another chance. Turned out to be a good decision. I found myself enjoying it. Mom got the palabok. It was okay and I would certainly eat it again if it was put in front of me but it's not my favorite food. The fried chicken was fresh, juicy, crispy. The taste bland and not very noteworthy. I'd try the spicy version next time. However, they do chicken right so I give it my recommendation. Peach Mango Pie---delicious although I swear there should be chunks of fruit in there.

I got my fast food. Mom got her cooler full of fish and exotic vegetables. It was a good day.