Monday, March 12, 2007

new in town: LONG JOHN SILVER's and DUNKIN DONUTS

I haven't had a chance to visit either yet, but there are two new American franchises in town. The question is-- can they bring the "standard" flavors of what we grew up with, or do they tweak and change it too much to accomodate local tastes?

I remember going to eat the crispy battered fish and hush puppies and coleslaw at the pirate themed Long John's Silver as a kid (which is almost extinct since it's not even that popular in the states anymore) and getting a dozen donuts from Dunkin Donuts for the office on Fridays and some donut hole Munchkins for myself.

Of course, I'm hoping that they can retain what we like, but I've heard rumblings that the opposite is true. I've seen Dunkin Donuts (and 31 Baskin Robbins) all over Korea- and their donuts taste pretty decent. KFC and McDonalds have had successfully transferred as well as added to their menus (although I wish they'd bring over the mashed potato and coleslaw for KFC).

Have you been? What did you think?

LONG JOHN SILVERS
No. 218, NanJing E Rd, Sec 3
080-903-6688
longjohnsilvers.com.tw (Chinese only)

DUNKIN' DONUTS
No. 208, NanJing E Rd, Sec 2
(02)2503-7377
Hours: 7 am - 10 pm

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm looking forward to visting both when I visit Taiwan in 3 months. I hope hey're still in business. :-)

Long John Silvers in the US was purchased by Yum several years ago. Yum are the people who bring you KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut and they are far from extinct these days. There was a time when they were in decline, but they give the appearance, at least, of turning that around.

New ones, usually combined with Taco Bell, are opening on a regular basis.

A said...

LJS's and Dunkin' Donuts?

FUNNY, Hungry Girl! Glad too see you are keeping tabs on the American joints...

:)

Ron Wu said...

I have been to LJS twice,they are OK. See my blog
http://docwu.blogspot.com/2006/12/long-john-silver.html
http://docwu.blogspot.com/2007/02/ljs-revisited.html

Chubbypanda said...

Long John Silvers surprises me. I wonder if they're trying to cash in on the success KFC had in China.

Ron Wu said...

I am sure they are trying but I suspect that they are not doing as well as they expected. So far there is only one restaurant opened in northern Taiwan - Taipei. In their website, showing three regions but only northern has a live link. Nice website thou.
http://www.longjohnsilvers.com.tw/

lovelines said...

Hi Hungry Girl! Just discovered your blog, and I love your entries! They make me miss Taiwan food! =( Good thing I'm in LA right now, and you can find a lot of it here. But it's not the same...

Lisa Wang said...

I got Dunkin Donuts the other day and they definitely changed the recipe. It totally tastes like Mister Donut now (they even have a few donuts in Mister Donut's signature shape). Since I like Mister Donut better I'm not that upset. They do have some that taste like good ol American Dunkin Donuts. I think the glazed twisty one is the old recipe. The munchkins are also good, they have one that is glazed sprinkled with cappucino powder that is yummy. Man, now i want a donut.

Anonymous said...

I thought the regular glazed crueller at Dunkin was fab. The chewy round mochi rings didn't excite as much. They weren't as sweet as I thought they'd be. If you're going for donuts who's counting calories?!

Now, who's going to open up a Krispy Kreme here in Taipei next?

joanh said...

gridman: It's quite amazing to see the proliferation of these stores around the world. I wish they'd bring taco bell to Taipei!

tony: yup, have to keep tabs on them!

ron: thanks for sharing your experiences!

chubbypanda: makes sense i think.. fish/seafood.. my uncle really likes LJS and would eat there everytime he came to LA

lovelines: yeah, not the same, but there is a lot of good chinese food in LA! thanks for visiting my blog.

ffc: personally, i think if you are going to have a US franchise, then you should retain the original tastes/qualities that made it popular.. sure, cater a few donuts to the local tastes, but not all of them! otherwise, why else would mcD and Starbucks be so successful??

mei: seriously! i think krispy kreme would be awesome

shannon: yeah.. i like the donut holes myself.. i'll try it the next time i'm craving them

Anonymous said...

I was disappointed with the Dunkin Donuts here--it's not as good as America's, and it seems like a lame attempt to copy Mister Donut (which is definitely better).

I love food and I love your blog! I'll definitely keep reading. :)

joanh said...

j'adore: thanks for the comment! yeah, i wish they could retain the original and ADD rather than replace the local tastes.

Anonymous said...

I visited both today and was generally pleased with the product.

The LJS was virtually undistinguishable from back in the States, with the exception of the meat being slightly "fisher" flavor than normally associated with cod.

Dunkin' Donuts had all the right types of doughnuts for me, which are glazed and chocolate frosted. Both were close to the originals, although the chocolate frosting was less sweet.

My one experience with Mr. Donut was unsatisfactory, at best, specifically regarding their chocolate frosted doughnut, so I'd have to give the nod to Dunkin' At about 1:00PM, the doughnuts were a bit old.

My reviews,
LJS: http://lonelocust.com/2007/06/16/729/
Dunkin': http://lonelocust.com/2007/06/16/730/

joanh said...

gridman: Thanks for the reviews! It DOES look like original LSJ! I will have to give it try except it sounds discouraging that it was fishier... I like the non-fishiness of cod. Too bad you missed Tony Roma's though!

Anonymous said...

I'm with you on preferring the non-fishier cod flavor, but it really wasn't bad.

Sad about the Tony Roma's but I've had some pretty good food so far this trip, so I'm not complaining too much.

Had a really good "French Pastrami" sandwich at the FlavorField bakery in Sogo Fuxing today. It wasn't really pastrami, but it was a good sandwich.

joanh said...

new address for Long John Silver's:

No. 7, Heping E. Rd, Sec. 3

Anonymous said...

LJS is commonly seen here in Singapore :)

xoxo,
pamela

:)