Charlie's Grind and Grill; 9/10

Charlie's Grind & Grill has been on my hitlist for a number of months now. A lot of friends have been telling me that they have the best burgers in Metro Manila. That kinda sucked because the first thing I ordered there was the Fish and Chips because I was with a vegetarian friend. Which now makes me reconsider our friendship.

Upon seeing Charlie's again it was weird that it hadn't changed. See, Charlie's, is a hole in the wall kinda place. Actually, if there was a hole in the wall; ;Charlie's would be the hole inside the hole in the wall. It's situated at Capitolyo and it's literally beside a car wash. And by beside I don't mean a carwash beside it. I mean it's the restaurant OF a carwash.

 

 Their menu was written on quaint blackboards. Very original and somehow suits the location well. From the menu and prices alone I was either in for a great meal or I was being scammed. I was seriously hoping it wouldn't be the latter. I mean, come on, who eats a black angus burger in a carwash, right? They have more than burgers, as you can see in the menus. I'm definitely coming back here to try the other stuff.

 

 So the food we ordered were the Chili Cheese Fries, the Black Angus with Shrooms, and the Double Black Angus Burger.

The patties of my Double Black Angus Burger were good, maybe even great. In my opinion they could've used a bit more flavor and a bit more seasoning. They would've been better grilled. The kitchen is seen from the counter when you're ordering and I knew I was in for a bit of disappointment when I saw them cooking the patties on a griddle and not on a grill. Waste of angus beef patties, if you ask me. Surprisingly, they were good enough. A bit more salt and maybe some choice flavors and they'd be mind-blowing.

The Chili Cheese Fries were amazing. A bunch of fries smothered in a spicy marinara sauce and topped with cheese? My mouth is watering just typing the description. Take a look at the picture. We couldn't even control ourselves. We must've polished off half before we took the picture. When all the fries were done, we had to go back to our normal, mortal french fries. We tried swabbing them in what was left of the sauce but it wasn't the same. I seriously wanted to lick the sauce off the paper. If the girl at the next table wasn't such a hottie I probably would have.

And lastly, the Black Angus and Shrooms. It's the picture in the middle. It's deep fried. Yes, deep effing fried. Screw all your health issues. You're eating at a freaking carwash. Go all the way! It's an angus beef patty and portobello mushrooms dredged in bread crumbs and fried to amazingness. This is a must try. Who would've thought you could order angus beef and portobello mushrooms on the same plate and spend only 340 pesos? Yes, the ingredients leave the dish prone to hype, but this burger is worthy of the hype. One bite of this and it's a freaking foodgasm in your mouth. I am not joking, it is that good. You have to go and try it for yourself. I'm planning on going back here to try a myriad of other dishes, but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have this one as well.

Charlie's Grind and Grill is located along East Kapitolyo Drive in Pasig. I've heard there are branches in Greenhills as well as Ortigas but I have yet to see them.

 

Army Navy's Bully Boy Burger; 7/10

I'll give Army Navy credit, they are not ones for false advertising. Check out their website's picture of the Bully Boy Burger here and see for yourself. It looks exactly like what I was served.

The burger seemed like it was all beef and nice and juicy. All pretty good signs. The black sesame seeds were a good touch. Contrast of color without deviating from a traditional burger bun.

The burger could've been a lot better if it were seasoned better.It needed a fairly good amount of salt. At first I thought I just got a bad burger. Maybe the kitchen cook assigned to my burger had a light hand in sprinkling salt. Maybe he was having an off day. Maybe the salt fairies decided not to grace my burger with their presence that fine evening. But after tasting my friends' orders of burritos, fries, and onion rings I found those bland as well. So Army Navy's standard recipes lack a huge amount of salt or they just don't season it as much as they need to. Salt and pepper shakers are placed on the tables (Which is something I like in restaurants), but I season food when I'm in the kitchen. I want food to be seasoned for me when I'm a diner.

The place is pretty great. They have all these wall graffiti, decor, and ambiance that can keep you entertained. Some of them are even pretty funny. I love the menu the most. I'm a sucker for Philly Cheese Steaks and I'm definitely coming back here to try it out.

Do I recommend this for you? So long as you don't mind seasoning your food with salt and pepper then I do recommend Army Navy. It might just be a personal preference for me; I hate having to add salt and pepper when I'm the one who ordered it. But their food was good enough to earn a seven from me, it should be a 10 with proper seasoning. So as long as you don't mind putting salt and pepper on your food then I'm sure you'll love this place. And let me know how that Philly Cheese Steak turns out.

Army Navy has several branches located at Glorietta 5, along Emerald Avenue in Ortigas, Tomas Morato, President's Ave in BF, and along Dela Rosa street in Makati to name a few.

Army Navy Website

Garage88; 8/10

 There is no sugarcoating this. I'll go straight to the point. This burger was NOT an all-beef burger. There was extenders on it. I have been an anti-extender burger connoisseur my whole life. I hated extenders. So when the waitress walked off without asking me if I wanted it medium rare or well done... That was a bad sign.

When the burger came it was the thickness that struck me most. That's what she said. It was so soft that I didn't have to use my knife. My fork alone could separate the meat from the patty. Which confirmed my worst fear. Extenders. What's the point of having this huge piece of meat if it isn't even all-beef? Cruel kitchen.

But once I tasted it. Wow. This was no ordinary extender burger. McDonalds and Jollibee have nothing on this burger. Extenders, yes. But it was not disgusting. It tasted pretty good. Even better than some of the all-beef burgers I'd had. The kitchen knew how to balance the void left by not enough beef. It was seasoned and spiced up to damn near perfection.



The sauce. The sauce was fucking amazing. It was a perfect blend between chili con carne and barbecue sauce. Sweetness and tanginess. My only complaint is that there wasn't enough! I wanted more!

Like I mentioned earlier, the knife was totally unnecessary. While that may be a bad sign for a burger, I loved it for the bun. The bun was equally as soft and could be split with just the fork. That way when you put it in your mouth, the bun doesn't distract from the burger.

The one thing I loved is that the waitress knew her products. She informed me about the toppings on the burger. Now, I'm not a fan of raw onions. She offered to have them caramelized before putting it on the burger... which I, of course, accepted. They also advertise that they have the sloppiest burgers in town. And being a burger fan, sloppier IS better. And as seen in the picture above.. it came through. That's what she said.

Garage88 also has a 12-inch burger challenge that is good for sharing. If you and a buddy can finish it under 12 minutes, it's free. I have yet to take this challenge so I'm not sure if it's exactly like the burger I ordered except bigger; or if it has totally different flavors. However, with beer that comes at P38 a bottle, P188 a bucket,  and beer-all-you-can for less than P300? I'm definitely coming back.

Garage 88 is located at the 2nd floor of the Karport building, 32nd street, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig.

Big Better Burgers; 7/10

After loads of people recommended Big Better Burgers, I decided to give it a try. I ordered the Three Cheese Burger while my friend ordered the Bacon Barbecue Burger.

The burgers were good, the bun was exceptional, and the choices seemed excellent. Seriously, whoever designed the menu knew what he was doing. He knows what his market wants and he capitalizes.



The burgers, however, were not great. After all the buildup from several different people, I have to say I was a little disappointed. The name itself is, for lack of a better term, a sham. The burgers were not big. Better? Than what? If they say they're better than certain burgers, then yes. If by better, they mean better than the rest? Then that is a definite hell no. They were good. They weren't the best. I can name several other establishments that serve better. And the patties were advertised as 1/3 pound. I have to disagree. They were definitely not. Far from it.

Now that the bad points are out of the way, the burgers were good. They were good and they left me wanting one more. Which should be a good thing. They were good enough to merit a second serving. However at 150 pesos up, I decided against it. I wasn't gonna pay an extra amount that large for that little. But if your appetite is smaller than mine, maybe this is the burger for you.

While the burger wasn't the best I've tasted, their toppings are possibly the best I've seen in a while. They also have several burgers with their own "secret sauce". And after tasting the sauce, it definitely was a secret. Having a culinary background I'm usually good at at least guessing what the base of the sauce was. This one, however remained a mystery to me.

And the burgers themselves were properly seasoned. There was enough salt and pepper to put the necessary flavor into it. And they were juicy. What is a burger if not juicy as hell, right?

Overall, I might even go back here again. I don't expect to get full. But I expect a satisfactory burger. And they will provide. It may not be as good as people say, it may not have lived up to all the hype, and it didn't even come close... but that is a burger that I wouldn't mind having again.

Big Better Burgers branches are found at University Mall (Beside DLSU), Sucat, SM Cubao, SM North Edsa, and Alabang.

S&R Burger; 5/10

S&R is a wholesale supermarket people can buy volume groceries from. It's a membership based establishment but people can buy even without the membership. Non-members, however need to pay an extra 10%. Aside from the groceries, S&R also has a restaurant of sorts that sells New York style pizzas, calzones, churros, hotdogs, cheeseburgers, blue bunny ice creams, clam chowder, rotisserie chicken & rice and even coffee.

The pizzas are heavenly as are the calzones. But I'm here to blog about burgers.

The burger got a measly five on a ten scale. It initially got a six but I had to factor in that you have to be a member to get it. First of all, the bread was tough. I was using a knife that could cut through a calzone with no problem and yet the burger bun proved a challenge. The burger itself lacked flavor. It tasted like those cheap burgers you could get at the frozen meat section of your everyday supermarket. The kind of burger that goes with pan de sal. But then again, with bread like this, I shouldn't have had high expectations. It was completely underseasoned as well. I can't stand burgers that need an overdose of ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, or hot sauce just to make it worth eating. And that's what this burger needed. I had to drown it in ketchup and mayo just to get any substantial flavor.

As for the other components of the burger, the lettuce was clearly wilted. You can see it in the picture. It wasn't crunchy. It wasn't fresh. I wouldn't be surprised if a worm was crawling on the lettuce leaf. And yes, I said leaf. That's another thing. One lousy lettuce leaf? It's bad enough that world standards have gotten us eating vegetables with out meat... and even that is being penny pinched?

The cheese was maybe the best part of the burger. But cheese alone does not a burger make.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it was bad. It just didn't meet my standards. I'm your burger guru and my standards are pretty high. I don't want you tasting this burger and saying that I wasted your time. If it were bad, I'd give it a one. This is a five because that's what it was. It was a half-hearted, average, and forgettable burger. I've had better, but then again, I've had worse.

Would I go back for this burger? No. Do I recommend it? Hell no! If you find yourself in S&R, do not, under any circumstances, order the burger. No matter how thick and juicy it looks, do not order the burger. The pizza and calzones are a must to try. I would go back for them. And I recommend that you try them as well. But as for the burger? Pretend it doesn't exist when you look up at those pictures.

S&R Branches are located at Fort Bonifacio, Baclaran (Beside DTI), Congressional, and Alabang.