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