Jollibee Cheesy Bacon Mushroom Champ

October 19, 2013. Saturday.

Jollibee recently launched the Cheesy Bacon Mushroom Champ. This is in line with the soon to release in cinemas Thor 2: Dark World movie. Now, I don't think we've made a post featuring a fast food chain before. But this was just too good not to blog about.

*Again, we apologize for forgetting to take a picture of the signage. But hey, you know Jollibee's logo by heart! :D

I love the regular Champ. It has maintained its quality throughout the years and several price increases, which I can't say about its direct competitors from the other food chains. So how can you improve an already great burger to being with? Put it in a Thor themed packaging? Well that makes for novelty. But it's really simple. Just put melted cheese, bacon and mushroom in it!

Non-veggies would certainly love this incarnation of the Champ, as it maintains the same juicy 1/3 pound patty and replaces the lettuce and tomato with cheese sauce, bacon and mushroom! It's certainly not cheap for a burger from a local joint, as it's priced at 129php ala carte and 165php for a value meal, but who cares! It's a 1/3 pound patty, melted cheese, bacon and mushroom in one awesome package!

And keeping up with the Thor theme, every purchase of the Cheesy Bacon Mushroom Champ (ala carte or value meal) entitles you to buy Thor's Mjolnir for 95php! Mjo- what you say? It's Thor's hammer! It's not the real article, but instead a miniature that houses a 1G USB inside. A 1G USB is kind of obsolete today but for just 95php it's a good deal. And it does work, as my brother already used it to copy files.

I'm not sure if this will be a regular menu item or just a special burger for their Thor promotion. Better not wait and see! Get to the nearest Jollibee and try out the Cheesy Bacon Mushroom Champ for yourself!

'Cue Modern Barbecue

July 20, 2013. Saturday.

It has been awhile since we've been at Cue. We always consider eating there whenever in BGC, but it's always too darn crowded. But this time, since we were a little early for dinner, we found the place almost all to ourselves!

We've loved this place ever since the first time we set foot in it! The interiors are what I would describe as quirky-elegant-geeky. How does that work, you say? Examples: Ice tea in a jar, plant in a can as table top design, leather couches, anatomy of a cow on the wall, etc. See? Quirky, elegant and geeky!

For starters, we ordered the Bone Marrow and Steak Tacos.

Bone Marrow and Steak Tacos. 485php.

We always shy away from this, because it looks a little too rich, even for me! But I'm glad we finally gave it a try. I'm NEVER eating ordinary tacos again. The bone marrow, as expected, gives the tacos a rich and slightly salty flavor which really goes well with the salsa verde and the tender steak. This is best eatean as soon as it is served on the table, as the bone marrow dries up quickly. I still ate it even after it was already cold, but it already felt like eating cholesterol ice cream.

Then we ordered 2 mains from The Chopping Board part of their menu to share, both of which came with a side dish and sauce. The first one we got was the Beef Belly

Beef Belly. 695php.

We already had this before, and liked it so we ordered it again. It's beef belly braised in dark ale, charred with mustard with a whole roasted onion. But unlike the first time, the taste of ale was really overpowering. The beef was still tender, but it was hard to get over the taste of the ale. We had this with whipped potatoes and their house made BBQ sauce.

We also got the Bacon Slabs 'Cue Style.

Bacon Slabs 'Cue Style. 455php.

The description from the menu reads: Slow-baked then fried, house cured, half-pounder. How could you go wrong with something that sounds so sinful? The answer is you just can't! The slabs were really tender from the slow cooking, but it had a nice subtle crispiness to it on the outside. We had this with chimichurri sauce, which is normally for grilled meats but we figured the slight vinegar taste of it would offset the richness of the slabs.

'Cue will probably never be a target restaurant for those who are always high on clean eating (they have their greens, but who goes here for that?!?). It's for those who don't really calorie count and enjoy slobbing over copious amounts of meat and fat! 'Cue Modern Barbecue is a great place to be! The place is cozy, the service is always quick, efficient and courteous, and the food is always great (would've been exceptional, but I can still taste that dark ale).

'Cue Modern Barbecue
Space NELG 105, Lower Ground Floor
Bonifacio High Street Centrale,
Global City, 1201 Fort Bonifacio, Taguig
621-4052
0917-8992283/ 0921-2801389
https://www.facebook.com/CueModernBBQ?ref=br_tf

Slappy Cakes

July 5, 2013

We both love breakfast food, it doesn't matter what time of the day we take it and where we get it from. But it has taken quite some prodding to get Kim to agree to eat at Slappy Cakes. It's not the restaurant and it's not the food she has problems with, but it's the location! Slappy Cakes occupies the space once rented out by Kim's favorite restaurant -- O'sonho. I'm not sure as to why the Portuguese Fusion Restaurant moved out, it might be because of the poor foot traffic in the area it's located at (that was the case before J.Co moved in a couple of doors down), or poor service. I've dined at O'sonho a couple of times and the food was always great. It's just the slow service that was always a big letdown. But I digress.

 

Slappy Cakes is an American import that prides itself in being a breakfast restaurant that offers a fun and different dining experience. How could a breakfast joint be different you say? Well for one, Slappy Cakes menu is not littered with -silog meals. Although they have some -silog in it, it's not more than a handful like most other places. And oh, almost forgot, you get to cook your own pancakes! That's why there's a griddle at the middle of every table!

 

But before you get to cook your own pancakes, you need to choose what kind of pancake batter you want. They have Buttermilk, Whole Grain, Peanut Butter, Vegan, Chocolate. We chose the Peanut Butter to step out from the usual buttermilk batter.

Peanut Butter Batter (260php). Bananas (45php) and Nutella (75php).

Each batter comes in an 8oz. squeeze bottle. While that may not sound a lot, but I guarantee you it is more than enough to feed two people. After selecting your batter, you get to choose some fixins and toppings if you'd like. We went safe with the combination since it was our first time here.

And now that we have our batter, fixins and toppings, let's cook! And trust me, cooking pancakes is so basic no one could ever mess it up.

 

The pancakes themselves were really not that special, but then again that's not the main draw of this restaurant. It's the chance to cook and make funny pancake shapes with friends and families that makes this place different. Takes personalization to a whole new level.

Aside from the pancake, we also ordered  their Classic Breakfast.

Classic Breakfast 280php.

The classic breakfast comes with 2 eggs, breakfast potatoes and bacon or sausage and toast. We had the eggs scrambled, and had the potatoes and bacon. Although I'd prefer hash browns in my breakfast plate, the square cut breakfast potatoes weren't bad at all. Surprisingly, it was the highlight of this plate!

We enjoyed getting the chance to cook our breakfast food together at Slappy Cakes. The staff was also courteous and efficient in their service. You should definitely try Slappy Cakes if you want a different breakfast food experience!

Slappy Cakes
Unit 1880-5, Ground Floor,
New Eastwood Mall, Quezon City
http://www.slappycakes.com.ph/
https://www.facebook.com/SlappyCakesPH

Zark's Burgers

January 27, 2012. Sunday.

Special Note: For this blog entry, KiMiguel are joined by Migs' friends Brent, Joseph, Jeti, Francis, Alex, Felix and Hannah. No in- depth reviews will be given to all orders as everyone had a "putok- batok" moment, rendering any chance at a coherent thought process lost.

Being a huge burger fan and carnivore, I've always wanted to eat at Zark's ever since I first saw images of its big- ass burgers back in 2011. As a QC kid, making the trek to Taft seemed too arduous just for a burger. But the stars aligned and the heavens opened (haha!), and I found myself in Taft on a lazy Sunday! I just had to try this little burger joint that has gained a following over the past couple of years.

Zark's started out as a little hole in the wall that has since then grown into a full blown eatery after news of its greasy and diet- busting menu gained steam on social media sites. Before we get to the food, let's talk about the place first. I'm not sure as to the school allegiance of the owner, but the walls are adorned with images of past and present DLSU men's basketball stars. It makes sense since it is located in a building called Archer's Nook and is smack dab in the middle of Archer land. It doesn't have the best interiors (biased!) nor the comfiest seats, but that doesn't matter since you came here to get your carnivore on, right?

On to our orders, starting from the smallest to the biggest and greasiest.

Zark's Ultimate Burger.

Zark's Ultimate Burger. 130php.

The Zark's Ultimate Burger consists of a single quarter pound patty on some fresh veggies, topped with mushrooms, bacon and a heaping cheese sauce. Yes, you read that right, cheese sauce! It is served with a side of thick hand- cut fries and a glass of iced tea. I know it's not an original concept since other burger chains have their own variations of the bacon mushroom melt. But do you know any place that prices their melt this low? I didn't think so. Just for the price alone, this trumps all other bacon mushroom melts out there.

Jackhammer.

Jackhammer. 180php.

Ever head of a Juicy Lucy? This is Zark's version of that beloved Minnesotan favorite and Discovery TLC feature. It's basically a half pound cheeseburger.. with the mozzarella and cheddar inside the patty! You probably have experienced a regular cheesburger served hot of the grill, with the cheese slice melted on top of the patty. Yum, looks delicious.. but then the cheese starts to form and thicken on you. A Juicy Lucy/ Jackhammer makes sure that doesn't happen, or at least tries to prolong the inevitable. This was Kim's order, and she enjoyed that the cheese was oozing from the core of the patty. Again, this is served with a side of fries and a glass of iced tea.

Deep Fried Burger.

Deep Fried Burger. 185php for half pound patty.

All great burgers are grilled, or at the very least fried on a flat stove. But never deep fried. Disregard any conventional thinking and rational thought, Zark's deep fries a whole burger -- bun and all! I'm not sure as to how they make this, but I'm thinking they first assemble the mushroom cheeseburger the traditional way then lose their minds and dip the whole thing in batter and deep fry it! I didn't get to try this, but this looked like the greasiest thing I have ever seen! Deep Fried I have my eyes set on you!

Jawbreaker.

Jawbreaker. 250php.

This, for me, is the pièce de résistance of the whole Zark's menu. There might be a bigger and greasier Tombstone compared to this, but the Jawbreaker has Spam, bacon and cheese! How would you not want that?!? Oh, and did I mention it has three, count 'em three! Three patties in it! Okay, let me calm myself down, and enumerate what is in this burger. First you have three patties fried into greasy perfection, then there's Spam and bacon on top, then there's also cheese in between the patties! Before I forget, it sits on a bed of fresh lettuce, but then again you don't care about that.

I attacked this barehanded, no utensils style as all self respecting burger aficionados should. At one point in my grueling battle with it, my nose was getting greasy from making contact with Spam, bacon and patty! The Jawbreaker is also prone to the patty slip -- y'know the scenario with all big burgers that the patty tends to slip from the bun and you don't notice at first, but then you are left with more patty than bun. Yup, that happened to me but it's all good. At one point, I was missing the whole top bun and still had a portion of Spam, bacon and all three patties in my hand! This is just pure burger heaven. Hands down, value for money- wise nothing can top this. Well, maybe an egg topped Jawbreaker. Hmmm. And if you are brave (for your health) and crazy enough, finish this bad boy in 5 minutes and it's free! Plus you get your name and picture on their wall.

Despite it being a little far out of our comfort zone, we'll surely be back try more of the grease- filled menu!

Zark's Burgers

2nd Floor Archer's Nook Bldg, Taft
In front of DLSU Taft
0923 7372517
(02) 392 1211
http://www.zarksburgers.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zarks-Burgers/125052717215?fref=ts