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BRGR: The Burger Project!

I've been working on a Battle Burger project with the Juice.PH team for the past few weeks. We tasted and rated all the best burgers you can think of in Manila, and we are about to release the Battle Burger results in Juice.PH.

As we're about to close our quest for the Best Burger in Manila, we came across an interesting burger joint along the foodie street of Maginhawa -- BRGR: The Burger Project! There, you can customize your burger based on your preference...

CERCHiO's Sisig Pizza at iba pa

The creators of Romulo Cafe have transformed some dilapidated adjacent apartments into a classy, lounge-y hangout that offers Asian-Mediterranean Fusion cuisine. No doubt, Cerchio will be a hit in the Tomas Morato area as the owners continue to show how a modern restaurant should be done. Bravo!

Gayuma ni Maria is Back!

Gayuma (a small resto along Esteban Abada St.) was a cult favorite among Ateneans before it closed shop. Now, the daughter of Gayuma's owner is resurrecting the same "aphrodisiac" restaurant concept near the Maginhawa foodie street in Sikatuna Village. Since Cucina Gayuma along Gilmore closed down already, it is time for Gayuma ni Maria to take the baton and run with this concept.

Chicken Charlie - Manila's "Bonchon" Crispy Chicken?

Chicken Charlie's Crispy Drumstick

Van Marley's Dutchkins

Dutch Poffertjes (popularly known as Dutchkins in Van Marley's) with nutella, praline sauce and ice cream. 

Romulo Cafe - "Cafe Juanita" by Day, "Establishment" by Night.

Finally, Romulo Cafe is THE Filipino restaurant to rave about in the T.Morato / Quezon City area.  The Carlos P. Romulo heritage restaurant concept is unique and refreshing. It is set in a rented house off the T. Morato area where you have to find your way by either passing through Scout Tuason or Scout Dr. Lazcano streets. This restaurant is a brainchild of one of Carlos P. Romulo's grand daughter -- Sandie Squillantini.

It serves Filipino food like Tito Greg's Kare Kare that could rival Cafe Juanita. There are a lot of name dropping in the menu to acknowledge the source of the recipes and most of the Filipino dishes are familiar but served with a pleasant twist. The food is Filipino taken to the next level -- it is not fusion which is a bit baduy concept already in the Foodie circles. It is homey during the day time, but it transforms to "The Establishment" at night where you have to dress-up, drink cocktails first before eating dinner.

Celsius Gastrolounge

We've finally tried Celsius Gastrolounge, which is run by a total of 17 ISCAHM students and chefs of different nationalities. I have great respect for ISCAHM students and chefs because their restaurant, Aubergine in the Fort, is consistently voted as the number #1 restaurant in Manila by European foodies. In the 2009/2010 Miele Guide, it's already in the 18th spot behind Antonio's in Tagaytay.

Celsius is named after the measure of temperature commonly used in the kitchen. It is open for lunch from 11am to 3pm, while the lounge on the 2nd floor opens from 6pm to 3am. The food is very good as expected (coming from an ISCAHM culinary education). I just think that the Asian Fusion concept is passe already, and foodies are tired of anything fusion... (Do you agree?)

 

Wicked Kitchen's Gluttony Dessert

 

My first impression of Wicked Kitchen is that it is a restaurant that specializes in spicy cuisine. Apparently, that was not the case. For them, "wicked" is a slang word for superlatives such as wonderful, awesome, splendid, masterful, cool, impressive, excellent, fine, superb, outstanding, terrific, fantastic, fabulous and brilliant.

It is a two-storey small cafe/ bar hangout at the back of ABS-CBN. You have to be patient with the wicked traffic around the Mother Ignacia area and with the limited parking space. It is a nice place if you are within the area but I would not recommend going all the way from Makati just to eat there.