Nathan hasn't eaten the whole day two Fridays ago (July 21) so when Ford got home from work, I suggested that we eat at Pinoy's Chicken. Obviously, it specializes in crispy fried chicken. Umay na umay na ako sa pritong manok sa totoo lang (because my son is a #chickenboy) but still, I was excited. Masarap din kumain ng hindi mo luto syempre.
We arrived at Pinoy's Chicken at around 6:15pm. It's located in a commercial complex so parking was not a problem.
I couldn't contain my excitement. I was really hoping na masarap kasi sawa na ako sa fried chicken na luto ko, pati sa KFC at Church's Chicken. I've read some pretty good reviews on Pinoy's Chicken from Yelp so I had high expectations.
They have a $5 lunch and dinner special that I initially wanted to order.
But my husband and son were hungry so we thought a family meal would be better.
We ordered the $23.99 meal -- 9 pieces chicken + medium gravy + medium fries. We added an additional 2 plates of palabok at $6.50 each.
Just like in a fast food restaurant, you have to pay after ordering. Whew, $38.84! Medyo pricey nga.
I realized later that I didn't give a tip, wala kasing tip option sa credit card machine nila. Sabagay, fast food nga ang style sila, walang service ang staff aside from bringing your food.
For dessert, they have halo-halo and mais con yelo. Natakam din ako, pero naisip ko we'll order na lang if there's still space in our tummies after eating our meal.
The staff informed me beforehand that it will take a while for our food to be served because they have many orders for pick-up. No choice naman so I said ok.
The restaurant's dining area is small. I guess most of their parokyanos are those that just picks up the food.
There were two other groups of diners aside from us. Nauna syempreng dumating ang order nila kaya lalo akong ginutom. Nakisilip ako sa pagkain nila tapos may nakita akong rice. I checked on the menu board, walang rice na nakalagay. Actually yun nga ang isang observation ko, how come na walang rice option? I mean, Pinoy chicken ang concept pero walang rice? Dapat pwedeng french fries or rice.
At long last, after 35 minutes, our food has arrived. The chicken and fries came first. I asked the staff how much their rice is. $1.50 daw so gora, the husband went to the counter to pay for two cups.
Then came the palabok. Whoaah, ang laki pala, considering na $6.50 lang ang isang plate. We really thought na pang-solo lang. Namroblema tuloy kami kasi nga nag-order pa kami ng rice.
Anyway, the fried chicken looked really good. Bagong luto kaya super crispy.
Pero unang kagat pa lang namin ni hubby, nagkatinginan na kami. Hindi siya masarap. To be honest, hindi naman mataas ang standards ko sa fried chicken (kumakain nga ako ng pritong manok sa Pinas na tinitinda sa tabi-tabi) pero ito yung fried chicken na hindi ko talaga kakainin kung pwede lang. Kahit yung gravy nila hindi rin ok, parang hindi Pinoy gravy (if you know what I mean). Saka konti pa, bitin na bitin for 9 pieces of chicken.
Ford ate some fries and hindi rin daw masarap (hindi ko kasi tinikman). Parang yung nabibili lang daw sa supermarket na fries eh.
Their palabok tasted bland too. Pahirapan talagang ubusin kahit na ang tagal ko ng nagke-crave nun.
I was full of regrets. Sayang talaga ang $41.84 namin! Sana nag-Korean buffet na lang kami.
But in fairness, the owner nicely approached us after going to another table na kakilala nya ang kumakain, and asked us if we need anything. I am sure that as a business owner, he wanted to hear good feedbacks from us. Pero ngumiti lang kami. We couldn't lie eh.
Kung masarap lang ang chicken na ito, we could easily devour the 9 pieces. Sa lakas ba naman naming kumain. Kaso sapilitan lang talaga haha, syempre me natira.
I don't think we'll be eating there again. So for now, back to Church's Chicken muna uli kami.
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NOTE: As much as possible, I don't want to give any negative feedbacks on Filipino restaurants here in Canada. Syempre gusto ko namang suportahan ang businesses ng mga kababayan natin. But I want to be honest din kasi.
There were several customers who picked up fried chicken that night, so baka nasasarapan sila. Magkakaiba naman ang panlasa ng mga tao. To each her own na lang po.
