A few months ago, I saw announcements from my Facebook feed that Popeyes will reopen in the Philippines. I was thrilled! It eventually subsided when I realized the possibility that its location might be somewhere in BGC, Ayala Avenue or Mall of Asia. Much to my surprise, I learned its first few branches are near the workplace.


The SM Manila served as its third branch when it decided to reopen in Manila. I don't have plans to try because I thought, everything might just be hyped. Me and my friends also agreed that we'll visit after 2 to 3 months. We'll let the crowd subside. But yesterday, the original plans were set aside. We visited the SM Manila branch a few hours before the mall's closing hours. 

Here's a complete menu (open in new tab to better see the prices) Affordable, right? Generally, it's a little expensive than Jollibee and KFC. But overall, I think prices are affordable enough especially during payday. 


We ordered the group meal comprised of creamy crab soup, biscuits with honey, chicken and medium sized softdrinks. We also opted to have mixed flavored chicken, original and spicy.



The most awaited meal, how does the chicken taste? I may not be good with descriptions, but my tastes buds felt it was a combination of KFC and Jollibee's chicken joy. It felt like fusing the recipes of the two fastfood chains. Best about everything, the taste does not only last on the chicken's skin. Even the inner part of the chicken is flavorful.

The creamy crab soup also tasted great. It has the perfect blend of sweetness and saltiness and has bits of crab meat. I also ordered additional Cajun fries and I have no regrets. The fries are crunchy and equally flavorful.

And what makes Popeyes' distinct, the biscuits. The bread is dry and has a unique raw taste. Some might not like it without honey, hazel nut or chocolate syrup. But in my case, I enjoyed it with or without the syrup. As my friend said, it has that "nakaka-relax na lasa" hahaha


Everything was perfect except for the seating system. This is something I hope the management anticipated. I wish they didn't allow seats for customers without food yet. We waited around 30 minutes for our orders to be served. Unfortunately, it took us another 15 minutes to look for a table.

Despite the long lines and hassles of securing a seat, I'll definitely return to Popeyes. It looks like I found a new favorite. Definitely 5 out of 5 stars to Popeyes' comeback. And yes, it's worth the wait. :)