The Not A Burger Persons Best Burger List

The title says it all, I am not a burger person.  I have always associated burger with fast food and not being a fast food person either I can count the number of times, using both hands, I have eaten a burger at McDonalds (be it big Mac, the 49 pesos one or the quarter pounder), Burger King, Jollibee, or Wendys.  So when I finally got to overcome my fear of fastfood burgers, I got to appreciate this slab of meat wedged between two buns - before it starts to sound like food porn - topped with whatever you want.

The first time I tried an upscalish, you may refer to it as gourmet compared to McDonalds, burger was in Hotshots near ABS-CBN. That was college. At least 6 years ago.  Now more pounds and as much burgers as I can count I think I can now confidently come up with my five must try burger places.

The Top Choice: Malcolm's Place Wagyu Burger
Tucked between the road from Forbes to Global City is little gem of wagyu fiefdom.  If you think all beef burger is a-ma-zing wait till you try an all beef wagyu burger.  Succulent, fatty without the greasy feel, and satisfying.  Slightly toasted on the outside and pinkish on the inside.  You can opt to add mushroom, caramelized onions, blue cheese (my favorite!), or just plain ketchup and mustard sauce.  You'll never go wrong.  The price is a bit hefty but for all the goodness you're gonna get, it's definitely worth a try.

A wagyu burger costs Php400 ala carte. However, they also have set meals at Php499 which includes a nice pumpkin soup and ended with a scoop of ice cream and vittoria coffee.  I would recommend going for the set meal. More value for money.

wagyu burger
from www.monstercomments.com

.
1st Runner Up: Murray and D'Vine's Big Ass One-Pound Burger
This burger is colossal! It is not for the faint hearted and definitely not for first date moments.  Eating the huge-ass serving - in Murray's signature heart shaped patty - would surely get your hands dirty.  Murray uses very good beef and you have a choice whether you want your patty cooked medium, rare, or well done.  We always go for medium.  Even though it was cooked medium, however; the thickness of the patty made it almost slightly rare.  We're not complaining though as all the juicy goodness that the beef has to offer is locked in -- within that (did I say this before) 1 pound of pure lovin goodness.  It may seem heavy on the wallet at Php550 but once you see and finish the whole burger, you can definitely say it is well worth it.

If you don't feel much like committing, with flair and fervor, gluttony though you can also opt for their other burgers.  The regular beef burger, the ostrich, and turkey burgers are also must tries.  Their burgers also come in minis called sliders, in case you want to maintain more grace while eating burgers.  Another must-try is their Mojitos, they're the best ones I've tried in Manila.

the murray facade
will update when I get a photo

2nd Runner Up: Monster Burger at Salcedo and Legaspi Market
The good thing about this burgers is that it's half a pound of good beef.  The better thing is that it is only Php130 pesos!  Unfortunately, this is only sold at Salcedo and Legaspi weekend markets.  Nonetheless, if you're in the area and is heading for a hodgepodge of gustatory adventure this Monster Burger is not one to miss.

Half Pound Patty
from www.bacontunamelt.com

3rd Runner Up: Chelsea Market Cafe Burger
Burger at Chelsea?! Seriously? Yes! Although Chelsea is probably more popular for their pizza and pasta their burger is also well worth a try.  Since their menu didn't explicitly say how big their patty is I'm guessing it is a little over 1/2 pound since it seems more filling than Murray.  I still prefer the slightly crispy on the outside way that Murray cooks their burgers.  Nonetheless, Chelsea's 100% angus burger suffices to satisfy that huge burger craving.  Surely, choosing Chelsea for 3rd runner up sure is a hard decision.

Since Chelsea and Murray is located very near each other at the Serendra piazza, if you have burger on the menu alone I suggest you head to Murray instead especially since their burger, at Php595 is more expensive than the big-ass burger.

Chelsea @ Serendra
photo from Anton of Our Awesome Planer (AOP)

Fourth Runner Up: Hotshots
Hotshots was the restaurant that launch the tipping point to my burger cravings.  The primary reason I chose hotshot over Brother's Burger though is their twister fries! I know it is not burger related but well, the best thing to have with burger is french fries...for that american greasy food coma in all it's finest.  It's been ages since I've had hotshots but their prices range about Php150.00 before.

from shootfirsteatlater.com

Other places I wanna try would be theburgerproject at Maginhawa St. in UP Village, and the burgers at Banchetto.

Chicken Breast with Parma Ham

When a fellow blogger cooked this, I had the best fried chicken ever! Not that I wanted to replicate it, i'm scared of fying, just wanted to post here in case people want to try it.

Bon Appetit.

Chicken with Parma Ham
Ingriedients:
Chicken Breast, as much as you want
enough Parma Ham
Thyme
A few shaves of Pecorino cheese, parmesan or any hard cheese may work too
olive oil
chili, we used labuyo
pepper
herbed salt from Santi's

To Cook:
This recipe is so easy yet it would sure put your fried chicken one notch up. For the chicken and parma ham, remove the chicken skin and just replace it with parma ham.  This would be a 1:1 ratio i.e. with one chicken breast being covered top half (see photo) with Parma Ham.  Wedged between the parma ham is a sprig of thyme leaves - for that fragrant smell - and a few shaving of Pecorino cheese. Once the chicken with parma ham is prepared, heat the oil for frying.  Once hot, add the chilies before frying the chicken and fry as you would fry any other fried chicken.

Chicken with Parma Ham

  We paired this with pesto pasta that we made from scratch. Will post recipe of that soon.

Cantinetta is Open in Global City

Cantinetta just opened their third branch at Global City. Since someone is craving for good wine we headed there. The original plan was to walk from high street but alas, the rain poured, and poured and poured...

Drenched, cold and hungry we just went to Cantinetta by car.  Burgos Circle is unimpressive, but immediately seeing the restaurants around will make you want to park as fast as you can.

We didn't call to reserve, but the restaurant wasn't full so we were immediately accommodated.  As we weren't too hungry, we just ordered the Cantinetta Insalata, Mushroom Soup, Veal Osso Bucco, and Panna Cotta for desert.

Cantinetta Insalatta

Appetizer would be the Cantinetta Insalatta. I forgot how much it is exactly, but if i'm not mistaken it should be about Php280.  Since we like grilled vegetables, this serving is a hit.  The vegetable layers of zucchini, eggplant, and carrot were grilled just fine -- just enough to wilt it and bring out the flavours without making it soggy and mushy.  The layers of grilled vegetables was topped by two slices of fresh mozarella de buffala.  I really like how they have the authentic fresh mozarella, and not those cheapass types that's more runny than cheesy.  The 'creation' was drizzled with just enough balsamic vinegar sauce.

Crema di Fungi

I was disappointed that Cantinetta didn't have pumpkin soup, I have this habit of craving for pumpkin soap when it's raining, I opted to order the crema di funghi, instead.  The crema di fungi (Php 230) is not astounding or anything, neither good nor particularly bad.  The serving has enough mushroom to it, but not enough texture.  The serving was not runny either but one thing that really stands out with the soup is how salty it is!  It's such a shame since the saltiness detracts you from appreciating the taste.

Veal Osso Bucco

The Osso Bucco, at Php920, was really good! The veal is tender and cooked just fine.  The vegetable sidings was good too just steamed enough, retaining its crispy vegetable texture.  I particularly like the sidings for the fact that it was simple -- no butter, or anything. It was a bit disappointing that no waiter came offering some pepper, which I realised just now, would make it better.  The only falling grace of this dish was the risotto.  It's too creamy and a bit tasteless.  Other than that, this meal is particularly satisfying.  My best veal was still at L'incontro, before Chef Gino left it, but this one doesn't fail.

panna cotta

I like their panna cotta.  I have very sensitive sweet tastebuds, so I really don't like my dessert sweet.  This one is not sweet at all and just enough creaminess.  I particularly like how consistent and firm the texture is.  It is a bit heavy so if you don't have a particularly sweet tooth, I would suggest that this be shared.

Sharing is caring. :)

Full menu at munchpunch.

One really irritating thing though is the parking.  Parking at the roadside would cost you a flatrate of Php50.00. They don't do any validation, so it wouldn't make any difference if you ate at the area. Worse Megaworld, who owns the buildings, doesn't even issue an OR for the parking. ><

Potatoes and Mas(h) Potatoes

Cornier than corn joke for the day

Me: What's better than potatoes?
Ferdi: What?
Me: Mas(h) potato.
Ferdi: That's the most stupid thing i've heard today!


So last night we had mash potatoes and kielbasa sausages.  Being the most skillful cook that I am, sarcasm sarcasm, I was delegated to peel the potatoes instead. If there is something as cruel and unusual kitchen punishment this would be it, as I was made to peel a sackful of potatoes enough to feed an army forced to starve for 10 days.

So with my newly bought peeler from the Cook's Exchange at Powerplant Mall, I proceeded to sit in front of the tv with 3 containers in front -- one for the to-be-peeled potatoes, another for the peels, and the last one for already peeled.  After almost an hour of peeling I am finally done!

stainless steel peeler from Cook's Exchange

Next task is to cut the potatoes in quarters, or in six, keeping in mind uniformity in size to make sure they all cook well. Being the slightly obsessive compulsive that I am, 20 minutes later I have one truck load of evenly sliced potatoes.

peels go to the right and peeled ones on top

Now next task is boiling. There is no specific time limit in doing the boiling, but just make sure that the potatoes are tender enough to be mashed, but solid enough that you wouldn't end up eating mush potato instead of mashed potato.

While waiting for it to boil, I did the spinach which is - not to be cooked - added into the mush of potatoes. Since spinach is high in iron and other vitamins, adding this would make your mashed potatoes healthier! Once the mashing is done, you can add some horseradish, and a bit of milk. I hate numbers so my measurement is more qualitative than quantitative. Hence, if you think it's enough it must be enough.

Try not to get too carried away when mashing, like I did, and be sure to serve while it's hot. And there goes my contribution for dinner last night.

Bon Appetit. :)

Degustations at The Goose Station

Saturday has always been a long day for me. A 1:00-4:00pm class with every other week legal aid classroom component, not to mention the occasional downpour that visits the UP area almost every afternoon makes me tired to the bones come nightfall.

Tired and sometimes drained, I look forward to Saturday dinners and this time it was particularly more so.  My friend Paola suggested this restaurant called The Goose Station. The original plan was to go there Friday night, but alas they don't have any seats left. The restaurant opens only in the evening and one must always make sure to call for reservation.  It's located at the outskirts of Global City, i say outskirts because it's not anywhere around Serendra, High Street, or Burgos Circle, at the W building.

The Goose Station is the brainchild of husband and wife team Chef Rob and Sunshine Pecson.  The name the Goose Station is of course, if you haven't guessed it yet, a play on the word degustation, it also serves to forewarn you that their specialty is (ta-dan!) foie gras.  So for all those with high blood pressure, a prior dose of simvastatin wouldn't hurt, and for those with squirmishes on the plight of the poor goose, this might not be the restaurant for you.  Nonetheless, the other food items i.e. not involving foie gras is still worth the visit.

choices for their 5-course menu

Ordering at the goose station is easy. Although they have ala carte menu, it's better to opt for the course menus.  They have the express 5-course menu (at Php1600 exclusive of Vat and SC) and their signature 9-course menu at Php2500 plus Vat and SC.  Since we weren't so hungry that night we all opted for the 5-course menu.

THE foie cone

Their menu is composed of at least two items to choose from. For snacks we had the foie gras cone.  Unlike the other items, for snacks this is the only choice, and for very good reasons.  A visit to The Goose Station wouldn't be complete unless you try this. It simply is an explosion of flavors from the filo pastry - not a cone - to the foie gras and the complimentary hazelnut topping gives you that perfect theater ending -- satiated but still wanting to have more.  Next on the snacks is the trio of potato glass, truffle puff and savory macaroon. Paola had to check four square and dished out the advice that this trio must be eaten from right to left. We heeded the advise and had the potato glass first, next the truffle puff and finished off with the savory macaroon. The advise was perfect! Eating it in that order allows the tastes to merge starting off with the salty potato glass, the tangy truffle puff and finishing with the mildly sweet savory macaroon.  These snack items surely does it's job of getting the taste buds more excited for the next degustations.

remember to eat from right to left