Queen of India – Al Khobar

‘Hali ka try natin ang Queen of India.’ That’s what my friend said when he invited me last week to a luncheon. I was shocked talaga and said ‘Di ba furniture shop iyan?’ I really thought that it’s a furniture shop since ‘Bombay’ in Al Subeaei Building (beside Silver Tower) is a furniture shop. I just thought that Queen of India is a furniture shop as well. Yon na nga, I was so wrong ha ha ha ha… It turned out that the Queen of India is a high end restaurant.

I was never a fan of Indian food. How can I be when I haven’t really eaten an honest to goodness Indian dish. I only experience the Indian cuisine by watching ‘FLOYD’s INDIA’, a show in the lifestyle network. The basics of Indian cuisines are curry + turmeric + dozen of spices. Eating all of those spices would make us all Filipino throw up. At ang amoy… grabe nakakasuka talaga. If you’re with an Indian colleague, you’ll know what I mean. Kasi nilalabas nila at nagiging pawis na nila iyong curry na kanilang kinain. Grabe nakakasuka talaga!

Yon na nga! Since it was an invitation to a free lunch ha ha ha ha .. i relented to my friend’s invitation. We were expecting Indian food servers but when we reach the place we were greeted by Kabayans. The kabayan explains that for hygienic reasons, the owner of the place prefers Filipino food servers. The kabayan though assured us that the cooks are from the South of India. Almost all of their guests are Westerners. We were the only Asians there except for the servers of course.

We tried the free samplers which are pickled red onions, mango and the yogurt and mint sauce (very light). We also tried the spicy shrimp na grabe talaga naman sa pagka spicy. We also ordered chicken soup which is surprising because it doesn’t have a curry. As for the main course, we ordered several servings of Chicken Masala and other variants of masalas of India and the plain beryani rice. Surprisingly (ang hilig ko sa surprisingly ano?), the meal wasn’t as spicy as I initially thought. In reality, it’s delicious and I really enjoyed the meal. I couldn’t believe that our meal lasted for 2 hours. I promised myself that I’m going back to the place one of these days.

Ja Jollibee kami, Jo Join Kayo?

Ja Jollibee Kami, Jo Join Kayo? That’s the current buzzword of all kabayan in Al Khobar. Pero knowing me, I’m not really fond of queuing. Sorry sa inyo na lang iyang pilahan na iyan. I would not fall in line just to eat at Jollibee. I’ve had enough Jollibees to last a lifetime!


But seriously, I’m a true blooded Jollibee Kid. It’s not that I hate their food but I just don’t like the taste. The portion size is also very small and yes … there’s no value for money. If you’re in the Pinas, you’ll notice that the chicken they’re using is so malnourished! Hahaahah.. grabe super liit talaga. Promise, If you eat the chicken joy, hindi ka talaga mabubusog kasi hanggang sa liig mo lang ang kinain mo.

I’ve started working part time with Jollibee practically after graduating High School. I’ve worked with several stores and could really say that I’ve imbibed the culture. I could even say with certainty that I wasn’t hired at a Management Trainee by another major food chain if I hadn’t worked with Jollibee.

Yon na nga! Last Wednesday, my friend D called me up at around 10PM and asked me what I want from Jollibee. Ang loko pumila na pala doon. At hindi lang iyon, he’d been there since the store opened! Siguro it took him an hour before he reached our building and he gave me the famous spaghetti and jolly hotdog. I ate the spaghetti right away and I was just disappointed because the sauce could not even coat the pasta. The taste.. ewwwhhhh… mas masarap pa ang niluluto ko! I would normally buy a readymade Italian pasta sauce in Farm 9 and it taste good na. D was so shocked when I told him that I’m putting ketchup in the Jollibee Spaghetti that he gave me. Grabe super sub standard talaga! But I ended up eating the spaghetti since I don’t want to offend my friend D. As for the jolly hotdog naman…well, the hotdog bun is OLD. Alam mo naman siguro kung luma na ang bun ano? Eh suki at fan kaya ako sa hotdog bun ng Farm 9. I can really tell kung luma or hindi ang bun. At sa nasabi ko na nga, I’ve worked with Jollibee for 5 years to know their standards.

I’m giving Jollibee’s pilahan 3-4 months. Hindi iyan magsu sustain kung ganyan lang at hindi maka compete ang kanilang product sa ibang international food chains. They have to change their menu if they really want to last longer.