Breakfast at Si Christina, San Pablo City

Si Christina, located near the plaza in the center of San Pablo City, is one of our favorite breakfast places. They normally open at 7 in the morning, but for the Christmas season, they open at 8am so they can close at a later time in the evening. We like it there because of their numerous breakfast options that are both good and remarkably inexpensive.

The breakfast option I chose was their "Chicken Longganisa" (P89), which includes 2 pieces of chicken longganisa (the long light colored sausage in the photo above), 1 egg, fried rice and a choice between brewed coffee and iced tea. At 89 pesos that's crazy cheap.

You have the option to order other sausages as extras. I ordered 2 pieces of "Spiced Sausage" (P16 per piece), 1 pc "Sweet Longganisa" (P20 per piece) and an order of "Breakfast Sausage" (2 pieces for P45).

My total for everything was P189. I really liked the taste of all the sausages. The first time I tried the breakfast sausage (round patty shaped) I didn't like it too much because it seemed too dry, but this time around it was rather juicy. I really liked it because it comes close to the taste of a Lucban Longganisa. Ilyn didn't like it too much, but I did.

As a restaurant, Si Christina is one of our go to places here in San Pablo. When we have out of town guests, this is one of the places we choose to bring them. However, I do have to say that although their menu selection is quite numerous (menu not available online), most of them are just OK for me. Their burgers are just OK, their burritos are just OK, their pasta dishes are just OK. But they do have a few items that are pretty good including their bbq ribs (just incredibly good). I also really like their Pepperoni Pizza, which goes well with a bottle of Stella Artois (not on their menu but they have it if you ask). A recent favorite is their trio of American, UK and Japanese sliders.

Their true specialty are their cakes and sans rival, which are simply some of the best I've ever tasted. Try any of their cheesecakes (my favorite is the Speculoos Cheescake) and I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Their Chocolate Truffle cake is also quite amazing. I also love their brownies which they serve warm, which makes the chocolate bits in them slightly melted.

The wait staff is friendly and attentive and the place itself is quite cozy because of the decor and lighting. It's just a really nice place to hang out.

Recommended! Try them out if you're in town.

Really, REALLY Good Burgers at Hungry Gorilla, San Pablo City

I'm very particular and picky when it comes to burgers. INCREDIBLY picky. I've tasted lots of them from all over, and I've had very few favorites. In Manila, my favorite go-to fast food burger is Tropical Hut's Classic Burger, and probably my all time favorite is the house Hamburger from Dayrit's. I've had a few really memorable ones from Borough at the Podium, as well as really spectacular Angus burger at Highlands Prime Steakhouse at MOA. I like simple burgers, and generally shy away from the more elaborate, monster burgers a lot of people seem to like.

Since I'm based in San Pablo City, I really don't want to go to Manila every time I wanted a really good burger. So I pretty much try anything that pops up locally. I'm looking for the thing I really like in a burger.... unobtrusive bun, really beefy taste (without extenders), juicy, and not a whole lot of things added in that distract from the flavor of the beef.

When I saw this new place that offered burgers along Mabini St., I decided to try it! Now the venue is a little unusual. It's beside the San Pablo District Jail, along Mabini St. There's a ramp and stairs going up to a long hallway. At the end of a hallway is a gym, and facing the gym is Hungry Gorilla. It was a bit noisy because of a Zumba going on in a gym on the second floor, and a Taekwondo studio on the third, both of which overlook the dining area.

I ordered the "Classic Kong" while Ilyn ordered the "Gorillets". At any new burger place, the first thing  I always try is their simplest, most basic burger. This is the one that gives the least distraction to the taste of the beef patty. If I like it, I will try their other, more elaborate burgers the next time I visit. But first their house fries called "Conggo Fries (p49)".

Their fries are pretty standard stuff, but better than the ones from Jollibee or Mcdonald's. The fries are firm, almost crunchy and lightly seasoned. The dip is pretty good though. I can't determine what it is, except to say that it's mayo based with herbs, spices and it's slightly sweet. I wanted to keep eating the fries just so I can dunk them into this dip. But I didn't want to ruin my appetite, so on to the burger.

Their "Classic Kong" (P59) is described on the menu as: "100% Beef with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, white onion, topped with mayo and ketchup." When it arrived, I was a bit surprised because it was quite bigger than I thought it would be. At P59 pesos I assumed it would be much smaller with a patty that would be a bit thin, but I'm glad I assumed wrong.

One bite into it and I was like, WOW. Just WOW. I couldn't believe what I was tasting. It was soft, juicy, perfectly seasoned with a strong beefy taste. The bun was appropriately soft and  didn't take attention away from the patty. The patty itself was surprisingly thick and substantial. The tomatoes, onion and lettuce complimented it perfectly. Yes, there's no cheese, but this burger didn't need it. Besides, I always thought cheese, having a rather strong taste, would distract from the taste of the beef.  Even as I continued to bite into it, my mind was going holy crap THIS.IS.AWESOME.

You know, I've pretty much tasted most local burgers up for offer here in San Pablo. I've tried Brand X Burger, All-Star Burger, Angry Burger, RC Burger, the house burger of places like Si Christina, and Simple Treats. I even tried burgers from places like Ramzi and of course from franchises like Jollibee and Mcdonald's.

I'm declaring right now that the burgers from Hungry Gorilla is the best I've tasted so far. And you have no idea how happy that makes me because now I don't have to go to Manila for an awesome piece of burger. And at that price!! It's amazingly cheap compared to most other burgers I've had. The burger at Highlands was like P600!! For that you get TEN Classic Kong Burgers and yeah I'll say it, they taste even better.

"Gorillets" (P109) are six sliders or mini burgers. They don't have the veg of the "Classic Kong", but they do have caramelized onion and cheese. I wasn't able to taste it because my burger left me full, but Ilyn said she loved it. And coming from her, it's something else, because she's even more picky about burgers than me. In fact, she doesn't like eating meat that often, but she's really glad she tried it.

The Gorillets were so substantial that Ilyn was able to finish only two and that was enough for her to feel full. We took  home the other four and I'm now really just waiting to be hungry again so I can eat them!

I was so happy with my meal that I just had to tell the dude behind the counter (who both took our order and cooked the burgers) that their burgers tasted really really good. The smile on the dude's face, so awesome. And he deserves it too. Did I say that these burgers were incredible? Yes, I DID! I told the dude that we'll be back. And we definitely will be.

Highly, absolutely, recommended! If you're in San Pablo and would like to have just one the most awesome burgers you'll ever have, check out this place. It's just beside the San Pablo District Jail (don't let that bother you, haha), along Mabini St.

8:00am to 9:00pm from Monday to Saturday, 4:00pm to 9:00pm on Sunday.

Jollibee's Ultimate Burger Steak And Why I No Longer Want It. (UPDATED)

UPDATE (December 2014): Hey, what do you know? They now include mashed potatoes with their Ultimate Burger Steak! YEAH! Now I like it again. I recently tried it and I loved it, although it still included fries, and the mashed potatoes just wasn't enough. I wanted more! Hopefully, I can order extra next time!

Yes! I'm back from a bit of a hiatus on this blog, and I'm back with a RANT! Yes, a RANT. You know I kinda like Jollibee's burgers, and this Ultimate Burger steak is no exception. I really like it, apart from the damned soggy fries.

Whoever thought it would be nice to put the burger steak on top of fries and drown it in gravy must have confused "fries" with "mashed potatoes", which is well, NOT THE SAME THING.

Drown mashed potatoes in gravy YES. That's AWESOME. More gravy, please!

Drown fries in gravy? Well, that's just STUPID. Who wants to eat soggy, limp fries? I don't know. Certainly not me!

I solved my problem by asking the clerks at the counter to separate the fries when the prepare it for me. That really shouldn't be a problem, right? Well, yes, for the most part. The couple times I was able to request this I came away really happy.

Well, a while ago, I went back to Jollibee (this is the branch here in San Pablo City next to the SPC Medical Center), ordered Ultimate Burger Steak and requested the same thing. Please separate the fries.

The manager downright said "NO". And then offered to separate the gravy instead. Huh? WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? I don't get the logic. I don't understand what sense that makes. Are they saving on paper (the paper bag that comes with separating fries)? But then they are using an extra plastic cup if they wish to separate the gravy. Again, I don't understand.

We told the manager we were able to ask to separate the fries before and then the manager went off and angrily scolded his staff for separating the fries. "WE DON'T SEPARATE FRIES!!"  wtf. I mean, wtf.

Jollibee SPC Medical has just earned its special place in Bizarro world.

I complained about this online to Jollibee's customer service, but not having received any reply, I'm posting this here for everyone to read.

I'm not buying any more Ultimate Burger Steaks in that branch. Or maybe not at any branch anymore.

You know, I can be asked the same thing. What's the difference if Jollibee wants to separate the gravy instead? Well, genius...it's the fact that they refuse to grant a customer's request, which is in my opinion, not really unreasonable. I can pay for the God damned extra paper bag if they want because that's HOW I WANT IT. I eat my food how *I* want it, and not how *they* want it.

Maybe I'll just stick to the CHAMP. Sorry Jollibee. Your twisted sense of logic has lost you an Ultimate Burger Steak customer.

KFC's ZINGER VS McDonald's McSPICY

Ok, having recently noticed the McSpicy's uncanny resemblance to KFC's Zinger, I decided to try both sandwiches one after the other just to see who exactly wins.

I got my Zinger sandwich from the recently opened KFC branch at the San Pablo City town proper, while I got my McSpicy from a new branch of McDonald's just a couple of blocks up Rizal Avenue from KFC.

The results, may I say, were surprising.

Zinger had been my favorite for such a long time. For for one reason or another, they don't seem to put as much care into making them as they once did. The recent sandwich I got didn't seem as fresh as I would like. It was a bit dry and parts of it were quite tough. Yes TOUGH.

The McSpicy however, was soft and juicy all around, much more consistent in that regard. And it seemed newly cooked. It also had lots of lettuce. Much more greens than the Zinger usually has.

So yeah, I guess as of today, McSpicy wins it. I feel kind of bad because I liked Zinger for such a long time, but I guess that's just sentiment talking. I'm not giving up on it completely though. I will still try it from to time. I hope KFC doesn't disappoint me or else, I'm switching completely!

McDonald's McSpicy Burger Taste Test!

Ok, sorry, I wasn't able to take a photo of the burger myself. It was an unexpected thing, walking into McDonald's one day and I saw this new burger. I asked the counter person if it was chicken and she said YES.

So yeah! I just had to order one. Like I said, I wasn't able to take a picture, but the one I got actually generally looked like that photo, except of course mine wasn't THAT thick. It was thick, but not that thick.

I had given up  the standard McChicken Sandwich after KFC came out with their Zinger sandwich which I reviewed here. Up to this point my favorite chicken fast food burger was the Zinger. Now it was time to see if I'll have a new favorite.

What did I think?

I thought the McSpicy was just awesome. Well, as awesome as KFC's Zinger sandwich is. In fact, it tastes very much like a Zinger with that crunchy breading on a chicken fillet with just the right amount of heat that I can tolerate and still enjoy. The only real difference is that the McSpicy came with lots more lettuce. So is the McSpicy my new favorite burger?

Let me just call it a tie. I love them both. I'll eat them both if I can. If I'm in McDonald's I'll eat this one. If I'm in KFC, I'll eat the Zinger. That's pretty much it!

Serendipity Tea Bar, San Pablo City

I finally got around to checking out Serendipity Tea Bar here in San Pablo City. I've been passing this place regularly and always wanted to try them out. If you're looking for it, it's right next to that big Indian temple that's being constructed near the corner of the San Pablo Diversion road and Maharlika Highway, walking distance from SPC Medical, 7-11, and Liempo Republic.

The first thing I immediately noticed was how young the clientele was. Practically every customer in there was clearly 20-25 years younger than me. I guess it's safe to say it's a hit with the young adults because the place is almost always full with them. Irrationally, I felt kind of out of place for a brief moment. But I guess that's just silly.

True to it's name, it's a TEA bar, not a cafe. So there's no coffee in here. Their specialty is their milk tea, which I hear is very good. I say "hear" because there's probably not a chance that I'll ever check it out for myself, being lactose intolerant.

Ilyn ordered Yakult Peach with Nata De Coco. She said it was very good although she came away with the feeling that it was spiked with something because half an hour later her adrenalin shot up and was pretty much bouncing off the walls for the next hour. I don't mean "spiked" in a bad way of course. Perhaps it had caffeine? Whatever it was, Ilyn was kind of a little too excited and talkative for a while.

As for the food, I ordered Seafood Pasta:

It had shrimp and squid and as a whole it tasted quite nice. It's not something I would lose my head over, but it was good enough for me to want to come back and try what else was there.

Ilyn had Seafood Pesto Pasta:

She said that it was OK, not overwhelmingly awesome, but was simply all right. I tasted a bit of it, and it tasted like pesto. Like I expected anything more.

Now I almost didn't want to write this review because I already had a feeling I wasn't going to rave about it, but I thought well, I can't just rave about things on this blog. I really have to be honest.

And so yes, here are some of the not so nice things I experienced here.

The staff was friendly and helpful enough, so I had no problem with that. The first problem is probably the fault of my own expectations. You see, Ilyn had written down the menu on her notebook the first time she ate here some weeks ago so she can show it to me.

What I immediately noticed was they had a "Garden Fresh" burger. I assumed it was a vegetarian burger because other dishes from other restaurants with the "Garden Fresh" tag was vegetarian. Like Greenwich's Garden Fresh Pizza for instance.

So I looked forward to ordering that, along with their onion rings, which Ilyn said was very nice.

Imagine my disappointment when it turned out the Garden Fresh Burger had a beef patty, but just had a lot of greens and other vegetable stuff in it. No fault to them, of course.

However, they also told me that their onion rings was unavailable. Ouch. You see when reviewing restaurants, I have a scale that goes from 1-10, 10 being excellent. As soon as I enter any restaurant, they have an automatic 10. Points would be subtracted every time I was disappointed.  When they don't have an item available that's listed on the menu, that's a major disappointment for me. So I subtract one point.

I thought OK, I'll just have a pasta. I chose Pasta Bolognese. Also not available. OUCH. Subtract another point. This wasn't looking promising.

So I settled on the Seafood Pasta. I also ordered Chef's Salad, but I didn't like the dressing too much. In fact, I wasn't able to finish it.  Subtract half a point. At least I was able to finish the pasta, which I actually liked. It's not something I want to try again though, but it was pleasant enough for me to try other things on their menu.

One last thing. They didn't have a change for my money. I don't know, maybe it was just me, but I swear I could hear the dude in the kitchen in kind of a pissed off voice saying that they couldn't possibly have change for my money. I didn't want to make an issue of it, so I let it pass. Subtract 2 points.

In fairness the dude who served us was very nice, and very friendly. In fact, he remembered Ilyn from the last time she visited.

All in all, I wouldn't say it was a completely awesome experience. But it was an OK experience, and like I said, I wouldn't mind trying it again. I just hope that I no longer hear "not available" anymore. That's actually one of the big no-nos a restaurant can commit. And yes, always have change. I hope they can fix that.

Chicken Burger at RC Burger, San Pablo City

Everytime I take a walk up Paseo De Escudero past Jollibee Plaza, I would notice this new Burger place beside Toto's Bacolod Chicken called RC BURGER. For some reason, I just knew in my gut (which often has the right insticts) that it wasn't just another run of the mill sidewalk burger that's everywhere in San Pablo City. I tried one of those sidewalk burgers once, and holy crap they were horrible. The patty was flat as paper and all it seems you were eating was a ketchup sandwich. Ugh.

But like I said, I had a different feeling with RC Burger. It's by no means a sidewalk burger as it actually has a nice spot with tables and seats. Today I asked someone to take out a Chicken Burger for me. I wanted to see if it would actually be available. Often times, many food places would have chicken alternatives on their menu but it won't actually be available. Shawarma stalls in San Pablo are primarily guilty of this.

Much to my glee, the Chicken Burger was in fact available. And it came in wrapped in aluminum foil. It looks promising already. It's been my experience that burgers wrapped in aluminum foil are usually awesome. So how was it?

Opening the foil, I discovered how fully loaded this burger was. There were tomatoes, onions, cucumber and a really nice thick patty. The chicken was thick and newly cooked because it was still hot and crispy. Best of all, it tasted great! I tasted the just the patty itself and it was very very nicely seasoned. As a whole package it's one of the best chicken bugers I've had. I'm not kidding.

Looks like my instict was right all along! For 55 pesos, this was more than worth it. Ilyn walked in the room while I was eating it and commented how nice it smelled! So this is us, setting a date to eat some RC Burgers together sometime very soon.

I will try to eat some of their beef burgers next time just so see if it's even better than their chicken burgers.

So yeah, highly recommended from me!

Yep, they even have a Facebook Page here!
http://www.facebook.com/RCBurgerCo?fref=ts

Jollibee's Amazing Aloha! What Did I Think?

I couldn't believe the day would come, but it did! Jollibee's Amazing Aloha is back! And today, May 15, 2013 was the big day it was reintroduced to Jollibee's menu. Of course, me and Ilyn went on an Amazing Aloha date to mark this occasion!

OK! So what did I think?

Well, the first thing I noticed was that here in San Pablo, the Aloha didn't come in the Amazing Aloha box which it comes in when served in Manila. I saw a few friends post photos of it, and theirs came in a box. This is, strictly speaking, not really that important. But still, when burgers come in a box, they strangely feel more special, am I right? So right off the bat, this burger was already off by a couple of special points.

OK opening the paper wrapper I get....

OK.... well... it doesn't look anything like their Jollibee's promo pics. I mean, check this out:

Well, I'm nitpicking here as I know for a fact promo pics are never really representative of the actual product, and Jollibee is far from the only restaurant guilty of this. Pretty much all of them are. But I just want to jab them with this just for kicks.

The important thing is, The Amazing Aloha is back, whatever form it comes in. And more important than that... how does it taste?

Oh wow. I gotta say, well, I just love Jollibee burgers, to be honest. They're by no means the absolute best burgers that one can buy in the Philippines, but if I get a hankering for a burger, a Jollibee burger is usually what I want. They have a certain taste and texture that's agreeable with my taste buds.  The Yumburger seems too small for me and The Champ seems a little too huge (and messy) to eat. But I just absolutely love their Champ, it's my favorite Jollibee burger, if I have the appetite to finish an entire one.

For a long time I settled on their Double Yum with Cheese, which is a Yumburger with double patties and cheese. It seemed to be the best midway between the Yumburger and Champ. The problem is, Jollibee phased out Double Yum with Cheese almost at the same time they phased out Amazing Aloha. When they did that, I remember I was really quite bummed!

And now, having the prodigal Aloha again in my hands, I seem to have found both the Double Yum and the Amazing Aloha in one burger! And I think that's great! What I'm saying is, the Aloha is smaller now than what it once was. I remember it being as huge as the Champ. Now, it's basically a Double Yum Burger with pineapple, cheese, lettuce, and bacon. Now that may disappoint some long time Aloha fans, but I don't mind it being smaller.  My appetite is now smaller and after having finished one, I already felt very full. So it's really just the perfect size for me.

I do have to say that I really didn't notice or taste any of the bacon or the lettuce, but what I like about the Aloha is the sweetness and slight sourness that the pineapple adds to the taste of their patties. I don't know why, but that combination is really just perfect for me.

I have no problem in saying it's now my favorite Jollibee burger!  What's this I hear about it being available only for a limited time though? That's kind a weird. I hope they keep this on their menu permanently!

Jollibee's Amazing Aloha Burger is BACK!

Not a hoax! Not a dream! Jollibee's Amazing Aloha burger is back! This photo was taken TODAY, May 12, 2013 in front of SM San Pablo City. Looks like it's official guys!

I first heard rumblings about the burger being back from a friend of mine who tweeted last night saying she got stuck in traffic in front of SM on the way home and she saw this tarp. The following day I resolved to find this tarp and take a photo of it, come rain or shine.

And what do you know? My friend wasn't dreaming as she first thought she was. Looks like the burger is officially back!

After taking this photo I went to the Jollibee branch in front of SM and showed one of the employees there this photo, and asked when the burger will be available. The girl actually laughed in surprise (or probably amusement). She said she wasn't sure when exactly the burger will be available except to say it will probably come anytime this coming week.

I read from posts on Twitter that it's actually going to be May 15. That's unverified since I'm not sure of the source, but the important thing is, this is now a reality, and it's going to be soon! (Updated: May 15 confirmed by Jollibee employee with this tweet.)

I'm pretty sure Anthony Bourdain had a lot to do with this, so from me to you, Anthony... Thank you very much! And thanks to Jollibee for bringing it back!

Hey Jollibee! Bring Back the Amazing Aloha Burger!

Graphics aside, The Amazing Aloha is not really back... at least NOT YET! Quite a few blogs are popping up clamoring for the return of this Jollibee burger that I thought I'd throw my own two centavos in.

A few people know that Anthony Bourdain recently ate this burger on his TV show after he visited a Jollibee branch in the US.

Now that freaked out a few Filipinos like me collectively going, "It's available in Jollibee US?! Why isn't it available in Jollibee's hometown?!" COME ON!

Even before that Anthony Bourdain's bit on TV, I was already sending emails to Jollibee asking for the return of The Amazing Aloha. This has been their reply:

************
Sir Gerry,

Thank you for your patronage of Jollibee. Your feedback is highly appreciated and Jollibee will definitely be looking into this so we can further improve our service for our customers. Store support teams will be looking into the overall effect of the suggestion to the business.

Again thank you very much and we hope that you’ll visit Jollibee again soon.Sincerely yours,

Lerma Icapin-AquinoCustomer Care

************

Looks like we could have a say in it! So if you want to do your part to bring The Amazing Aloha back, send Jollibee an email:  feedback at jollibee dot com dot ph

My wife doesn't really like burgers, but this is the only she really likes eating. So that's really saying something.

And while Jollibee is at it, why not bring back Double Yum with Cheese as well? Sometimes I want  a middle ground between the small Yum w/Cheese and the huge Champ. Double Yum w/Cheese usually fit the bill. I don't know why they phased that out as well.