‘Tis the season to be Jolli!
FRIED CHICKEN FANS MAKE A BEELINE FOR NEW FAST FOOD RESTAURANT
FANS queued for hours to get their hands on “a taste of home” as Jollibee mania hit Nottingham.
Opening day for the fast food restaurant specialising in fried chicken saw crazy scenes as fans buzzed with excitement and danced with the Jollibee mascot.
The chain, which originated in the Philippines in 1978, opened its ninth UK restaurant in Nottingham on the corner of Clumber Street and Upper Parliament Street opposite Victoria Centre.
Not since Doughnotts opened its doors in King Street in 2019 have there been such scenes.
A lengthy queue of around 150 people - many of them Filipino - trailed back along the main road ready for Thursday’s grand opening at 10am proving that it’s never too early in the morning to eat Chickenjoy and Jolly Spaghetti, two of the company’s best selling products, and the newly launched spicy chicken.
First in the queue was Ezekiel Chester, 33, of Hucknall, who arrived at 6.20am.
The PGCE student said: “I lived in the Philippines for nine months, working for a charity that built houses for children rescued from sex trafficking.
“It’s an honour for me to be first in the queue. It reminds me of the Philippines and being back in a place that feels like my second home. It’s a great memory and like a taste of home for me. The staff are always amazing.”
Ezekiel, whose go-to order is chicken with rice and gravy, got to hold a sign, saying “First in Nottingham” for publicity shots as excited fans posed for selfies clutching giant cardboard cutouts of chicken and spaghetti and danced in the street with the Jollibee mascot.
Second in the queue was Esmeralda Olivar, 51, from Cinderhill, who was born in the Philippines but has lived in the UK for 21 years.
The Nottingham City Hospital nurse said: “It’s so famous for fried chicken, which is crispy on the outside and juicy inside.
“I was so excited when I heard it was opening in Nottingham. It feels like home. The last time I had it in the Philippines was in 2019. When I go home the first thing I do is go to Jollibee.
“Today I’m going to have a bucket of Chickenjoy, Jolly Spaghetti and a Jolly Hot Dog.”
One woman in the crowd couldn’t contain her happiness, as she shouted out: “Jollibee, it’s tasty and crispy and spicy - yummy.”
Nottinghamshire Youtuber Lee Davey, who goes by the name of The Macmaster, was filming the opening day for his vlog.
“I have never heard of Jollibee before and was a little apprehensive when I read to expect massive queues. However, upon arrival the queues were around the block with people shouting Jollibee! Jollibee!
“I ordered the Chickenjoy which was crispy pieces of chicken much like KFC, a Yumburger which is along the lines of a cheeseburger and an Asian Chicken rice bowl. I have to say honestly the Chickenjoy was very tasty, crispy on the outside and very succulent on the inside.
“I’d definitely return for their chicken. I think Nottingham has a winner on its hands here.”
The 140-seater restaurant, set over two floors, is open daily from 10am to 10pm.
Adam Parkinson, business head of Jollibee Europe, who was at the ribbon cutting ceremony to open the store, said: “The Spicy Chickenjoy has been flying out of the kitchen as many Nottingham locals turned up to discover Jollibee’s amazing menu and our incredible customer service.”
ONE plant which becomes more visible as trees shed their leaves is mistletoe. When trees are in full leaf it is not easy to spot this plant.
Over the last five to 10 years, it has become an increasingly familiar sight around Nottinghamshire, but it still would not be classed as common.
It can be easily seen in the trees along the main road between Burton Joyce and Bulcote, as well in some trees alongside the canal on Radcliffe Road in West Bridgford.
It grows as a green bunched shrub on the branches of trees such as hawthorn, poplar, and lime although in the UK the most common hosts are cultivated apple trees. It produces small yellow flowers which develop into the well-known white sticky berries.
Most people associate mistletoe with the tradition of a Christmas festive kiss but it has a long association with ancient mid-winter pagan customs around the winter solstice, which coincides with Christmas.
It is still considered a “pagan” plant by some parts of the Christian Church and is banned by some churches from being included in church decorations.
There are no definitive explanations for the kissing tradition, but one view is that it was seen as an ancient fertility symbol as mistletoe remains green at a time when its host tree appears “dead” and dormant and as such it came to symbolise vitality and fertility in winter.
There are a number of other mistletoes around the world; our UK species is technically known as European White-berried Mistletoe, Viscum album. It is often referred to as a parasitic plant but more correctly it is a “hemi-parasitic” plant as it does carry out photosynthesis for the first part of its life cycle when it is not totally dependent on its host.
The growing plant is independent from its host for around 12 months but once its roots reach the host’s conductive tissue it then begins to rely on the host for its needs.
Mistletoe is generally sparsely distributed in Britain but is most abundant in the south-west and midlands of the UK, initially being linked to the abundance of apple orchards in these areas.
However, there are many orchard areas elsewhere that don’t have mistletoe and studies have indicated that its distribution is related to climatic preferences.
While it takes its sustenance from host trees and can sometimes overwhelm them if not managed, it has recently gained recognition as a species of ecological importance. It supports six insects, including the exceedingly rare mistletoe marble moth (Celypha woodiana), some sap-sucking bugs and the affectionately named “kiss-meslow weevil” (Ixapion variegatum) which is only 3mm long.
The mistletoe marble moth is totally dependent on mistletoe to complete its life cycle where the larvae burrows into a leaf and overwinters in a “mine” within the leaf and in spring continues to feed as it extends the “mine”. It is a Priority Species in UK Biodiversity Action Plan, and has not been recorded in Nottinghamshire.
Many birds such as mistle thrushes and flocks of overwintering thrushes such as redwings and fieldfares eat its sticky white berries. After eating the berries birds will discard the seed by wiping their beaks on the branches of other trees. The birds have learnt to do this quickly as the seeds are coated in a material called viscin which sets hard following a short exposure to air – thus securely anchoring the seed to its potential host. It is thought that the increasing number of overwintering Blackcaps in the UK, which are particularly efficient at spreading mistletoe seed, has contributed to the increase in the plant in areas where previously the colonies were relatively static.