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.