Teddy's Bigger Burgers at Greenbelt Makati

I really love burgers, aside from a burger being a relatively cost effective protein source (I work out a lot you see), there is something about a package of everything you love all at once in a form that is so efficient.  There are times I eat burgers 5 times a week.

I never feel any compulsion to try the latest restaurant to open, heck, I never heard of Teddy's before last week.  My sister and mother happened to eat there after a shopping trip and were harping on me to all go there.  They really enjoyed it.  So off we went last Sunday to beat the throngs of shoppers arising to attack the malls.

As my first time I decided to order the plain burger to see what makes Teddy's tick.  I find that "everything on it" detracts from the essence, too many distractions.  I want to taste the meat and not a gazillion flavors having a wild rave party in my mouth.  I went for the medium size or 7oz burger - to my regret, its not much of a difference to go to the largest 9 oz which is really what you should be doing.  Heck if you don't eat much have one 9 oz and share it or bring the other half home.  I'm not the biggest guy so most people can easily handle the 9 oz.  The burgers are cooked upon order so expect about a ten minute wait, no lightning two minutes Ronald Mc Donald style service folks!  However, just like Mickey D, its best to get a combo, for about a hundred bucks on top of the price of your burger you get a large drink and fries.  My meal came to P445.  My mom got the low carb version which is lettuce instead of a bun - yeesh.

I have to say this, the meat is extremely tender.  Each burger is cooked medium well by default which to me is the only way to have it since it cooks the exterior and locks in the juices.  From what I understrand the meat is US Black Angus chuck with 20% fat and 80% lean meat.  You cannot go leaner than that and have a moist burger.  The bun I had an issue with though, I found it overly large, I prefer a thinner bun so it doesn't absorb all the juices and gives me the right meat to carb ratio of flavor.  I also found the bun a bit too firm.  The fries were good.

The Teddy's Burger Meal P445

I did like the burger but I wouldn't be back soon.  PhP445 for the entry level burger is a tad too pricey for me though I completely understand the economics of it.  Fresh, imported Black Angus Beef, likely flood of tears Ayala mall pricing, pricy raw ingredients and more will make you have to price your burger this way. 

But let me tell you, my mom and sister are strong fans and the fact that this place is always full says something about Filipino's loving "Hawaii's best burger".  Try it!

The Bowery, Short Rib Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Sandwich perfection itself

This is going to be a very short post.  Finding myself hungry and in the Fort, I trudged over to the Bowery which touts itself for its American comfort food.   Its in the Forbeswood building, where Basilio's used to be, next to Barcino's Fort.  I can eat pancakes all day and figured I would find something interesting.

The menu is varied and indeed had my pancakes, sausages and eggs but something really intrigued me, the Short Rib Grilled Cheese Sandwich.  I found out only after that the Bowery Short Rib Grilled Cheese Sandwich is a hit and a best seller of theirs but yesterday I almost overlooked it in favor of their burger (glad I didn't).

I love grilled cheese and I love beef short ribs so the Short Rib Grilled Cheese Sandwich was a sure winner for me, what I wasn't prepared for was just how good it is.  So good that after one bite I declared that I was taking my family there.  Yup this sandwich was so good that I am compelled to share the experience of this newfound sandwich nirvana.

How can you lose?  You have thicker than the usual potato chips with a honey mustard sauce and my gosh the sandwich itself.  Tender beef, cheddar cheese and mozzarella, caramelized onion on sourdough bread. The serving is generous, the bread feels like and has the right amount of crispiness with zero sog, the beef is flavorful and everything just feels like a cheese taste explosion that is very addictive.

 They usually serve the sandwich using Monterey Jack but had run out and gave me the option of either Gouda or Mozzarella, fearing Gouda might be too sharp I opted for the Mozzarella and am glad I did, although now I am wondering what the original combination tastes like.  I will be back for sure, for another Grilled Cheese and to try everything else.

My suggestion though is if you are just getting drinks, opt for the cocktails instead of beer (P100).  Of course pair your alcohol with your food accordingly.  The place does get packed and I can see why.  Really great food and I am basing this on the one thing I ordered.  I came in with no expectations and came out raving.

The Bowery: Forbeswood Heights, Rizal Drive cor. Burgos Circle, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

Project Pie, Artisan Pizza at Makati

I mistakenly thought that Project Pie was a home grown pizza concept ala Yellow Cab.  Rather it is another American franchise that creates self proclaimed "artisan" pizza amidst all the commercial pizza (Shakey's, Pizza Hut, Dominos and recently Papa Johns").  Artisan pizza is not a new term for me, artisan is an artist and so Artisan Pizza is pizza made by an artist, though I did not see it.

My friends all recommend Project Pie as worth trying and they all recommended having an entire pizza to myself.  Being used to the above mentioned commercial pizza fare ie Shakey's, Pizza Hut, Dominos and recently Papa Johns, I could not fathom eating a whole pizza myself, partially because I never order the personal pizza meals and when I see personal pizzas in malls they are usually buy one take one so I always eat two. 

Pizza bites

The pizzas are small, think thin crust personal pizzas for P285.  Except the cheese, that was P245.  You can either order by number or build your own which really doesn't appeal to me, building your own for me means getting a base pizza and adding extra toppings.  

This was our order by number order with descriptions copied and pasted from their site (hence the caps).

1- Classic Cheese Pizza - This was ordered by mistake, my sister wanted to build a pizza so ordered this plus extra cheese and peperroni

2 - PEPPERONI, ITALIAN SAUSAGE, CRUMBLED MEATBALLS, MOZZARELLA, OUR SIGNATURE RED SAUCE, GARLIC

5- MOZZARELLA, RICOTTA, GORGONZOLA, PARMESAN, CRACKED BLACK PEPPER, OLIVE OIL, GARLIC, FRESH CHOPPED BASIL (WHITE PIZZA)

PARMESAN GARLIC - PIZZA SHAPED BREAD STICKS

My verdict?  Get 2 and 5, quite tasty, especially 5.  Thin crust crunchiness which accentuates the ingredients since they are not very generous and therefore more crust would overpower them.  1 meh, the parmesan (top right) please don't, waste of money and ab breaking calories.

Project Pie Cute touches

Selfie station, very popular with children.  I didn't see any adults take a single pic.  The other interesting touch is the "quotes" section, featuring well, different food and what not quotes to help pass the brief waiting period.

The pizza at Project Pie is quite good, there is minimal oiliness, the crust is very crunchy, the ingredients are good and fresh.  Pricey if compared to the run of the mill pizza places.  Overall a great merienda place, the pizzas are light.  Oh and drinks are bottomless, a big bonus for me.

Fuel Burger, Be a Burger Engineer at SM Shoemart Makati

It was a dark, rainy and windy evening when I had to rush to Shoemart Makati when I noticed something was not right.  The supermarket was now gone from the ground floor because the entire basement was remodelled.  The large food court was now gone and instead we now have a very chic' restaurant lane of, this looks very upscale and something similar to the supermarkets and their food courts I have seen in any in unique concept restaurants across the new supermarkets in a dark colored and brick motiff.  I was confused other Asian countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong but what possessed those in lofty places in the SM hierarchy to do this?  Gone was my beloved food court full of turo turo and now we have well as small lane of restaurants and none of the old food court crowd.  Thats right, no more lechon places, generic Filipino turo turo stalls and gone are the franchises like Jollibee and Chowking.  Really strange mood, I would have decided otherwise as SM Makati is the gateway to the MRT and bus stops in Makati.  

So where to eat?  Glorietta although a short, interconnected walk away has nothing but mostly franchises and the more unique concepts were beyond my budget for the day.  So I went to the new SM Makati food court to see what they had.

It is one long lane of restaurants now, restaurants that look like one offs, no more franchises or chains.  There are Korean joints, there is the Jamaican Beef Patty (only concession to the franchise gods), Chinese place and there is Fuel Burger.  A hamburger is a safe choice when you cannot decide what to eat.

The new SM food court now has a SM cashier to whom you pay for your order, I guess the former tenants must have had a lot of monkey business with reporting so SM booted them all out and instituted this system.  I saw a long line in front of Fuel Burger so I thought that it must be good, there are so many patrons.  I was mistaken, this was the queue for a block of restaurants the cashier was handling.  Nontheless......

                                                        

185 Pesos gets you a double quarter pound beef patties, french fries and a drink!  Not bad as this is your typical big burger meal price which are walking distance away and exactly who Fuel Burger has to compete with.

Fuel Burger bring the Burger Barn, Burger Bar model of choosing your toppings, bread and side or basically allowing you to customize your burger but at half the price!  Though this is confusing to people including myself which I imagine leads to waiting time when you order, the chef was there and was patient enough to explain each topping.  He even allowed me to put in extra.

I had Jalapeno Cheddar cheese, mushrooms, fresh onions and green peppers with fries.  That coupled with their tomato sauce led to a very "pizza" tasting burger which can or will not float your boat.  Not bad indeed and this is the price of a basic burger at Brother's Burger which has no fries and drink.

Definitely good value and it is a lot of meat, the Fuel Burger "Jack Burger" comes out to half a pound of beef total.  Not a bad way to get your protein fix in Sm Makati.  I think I will pursue some further Burger Engineering at Fuel Burger sometime soon.

 

I have an anecdote to share about the old SM Makati foodcourt.  I approached a stall that had a dummy food display as most do, a plastic assortment of meat and rice that looked far too generous to be true and so I asked "ganyan ba talaga ka dami ang serving ninyo?" to which they replied "oo".  Having called my challenge I then proceeded to order and to my surprise I was given a plate full of meat and rice that was perhaps even more generous than their model dish.  I was stuffed to high heavens.  It was this experience of my customer delight that made me seek out the food court once more.  I am disappointed by SM deciding to grow up and not be the people place it used to be.

Jozu Kin and The Glass Door Fort

 I am in total shock that I have not written about Jozu Kin in Burgos Circle at the Fort yet.  I have eaten here quite a few times and it is one of my happy places.  I highly recommend it, everything is good and priced well.  This is what I had on my last visit.

Spicy Tuna Rolls

Tuna Carpacchio

Shrimp Gyoza

Spicy Tuna Sashimi

I am so distraught I haven't written before that this post is a preview until I find all my other pictures and make a mega article.  For now please read this blog to see what I mean.

Next story

The Glass Doorhttp://www.theglassdoor.ph is a very swanky looking bar in the Fort, where the former Chef Laudico Bistro Filipino used to be.  I was walking from Jozukin to the Strip' when I saw it.  They redid the interior and exterior and have very interesting Drink all you can promo posters outside.  Men drink for PhP900 and ladies for PhP700.  I didn't take the promo, I am the type to pig out on buffets to get more than my money's worth so imagine seeing me drink like a fish at any drink all you can and there was work the next day so I opted for their cocktails.

The cocktails are well priced, 200 for an old fashioned and around 300 for the more complicated ones.  Ask them to put less sugar as the first cocktail I tried ran very sweet, they use decent bitters which should provide enough sweetness on their own.

I didn't get to try the food but you can read about an experience here.

The Glass Door is very pretty.  It seems to be relatively undiscovered and you can find the place to yourself on a weeknight making it a great place for a first date.