The BURGER BAR in Greenbelt 2, Makati City

June 12, 2013 - We celebrated this Father's Day by first hearing a mass in Sto. Nino de La Paza Community Greenbelt Chapel, followed by a mini feast in Burger Bar (Greenbelt 2) to fill up some hungry bellies.

Since Burger Bar is relatively new, I got excited to share this up and blog right away! To provide you an outline, I'll be covering in this post the place itself, the dishes we had, my overall dining experience and, of course personal recommendations!

Burger Bar in G/F of Greenbelt 2, Makati

The Place

Burger Bar is not your typical burger joint because it has a fancy concept and unique burger names. You will definitely love how paradoxical the place appears. It has some hints of being retro yet shows elements of being modern at the same time. As mentioned in Spot.ph, Burger Bar may remind you of Pop Tate's Chock'lit Shoppe of Archie comics. Yes, perfect for you and your friends (or family) to hang out in.

You will know you are there when you see Namnam - Filipino Restaurant because Buger Bar is located just above it (like a mezzanine). How edgy, right? 

Burger Bar: burgers ready to be served

Once you go in, you will see something like the photo below. Unfortunately, since Burger Bar occupies only the upper half of the ground floor, there isn't much free space. Also, the tables and chairs appear to be somehow cramped especially when they are occupied. You will need to battle your way through you seats. We didn't bother because we treated it as part of the theme or fun.

Inside Burger Bar: People feasting over the burgers!

The orders took a while to arrive, so I managed to take a few more snapshots of the kitchen. Here's my best shot among those I took:

The awesome chefs preparing the amazing burgers, pastas and other dishes!

Photo of my family waiting eagerly (yet patiently) for the dishes to arrive. Wait, let me take this opportunity to publicly tell my dad how much I love him. "Happy Father's Day and I love you so much!"

The Food

It's time for the thing we all love - food! Let's start with the appetizers, Onion Rings (P80):

The flavorful Onion Rings of Burger Bar

The onion fries was flavorful, but somehow seemed to be artificially flavored (i.e. barbecue powder). Nonetheless, it was definitely a great starter. Try it even without any ketchup or mayo, you will still find the taste ticklish as far as your taste buds are concerned.

Not forgetting to be somehow healthy, we ordered The Holiday Salad (P245):

Grilled Chicken strips on a bed of crisp romaine, basil, feta cheese, almond sticks, strawberry vinaigrette

The incredible Holiday Salad of Burger Bar

The Holiday Salad showcases fresh collection of greens, fruits and nuts! You will absolutely go crazy by how magnificent this dish is! I particularly enjoyed this salad because of the special strawberry vinaigrette. It was my first time to taste something that new and fresh! Two-thumbs up for this delectable salad!

Note: If you want to Douple Up just add P115 (totaling P360). However, the single serving is already good enough to share between 2-4 people.


Proceeding with the burgers, I had this 4Cheese Chuck (single patty) at P245:

Parmesan-crusted double patty Beef Bomb Blend of chuck & short rib, yellow cheddar, aged gruyere, mozzarella, arugula, garlic aioli all on a Sesame Seed Bun

Recommended for Cheese lovers: The 4Cheese Chuck

For the four cheese, was it really four? Well, I wasn't able to notice. The overall taste was relatively bland (except for the latter part). I got confused with this burger because the flavor wasn't uniform. Some parts lacked flavor, while some were too salty. The only thing I loved about my burger was the texture of the meat. It was fantastic!

I wonder what I did wrong because based on other reviews I found, the bloggers/writers' dining experience was either great or fantastic. Well, I think I have the answer below:

Tip: Cut or bite the burger in smaller pieces to savor the moment. I think that was my mistake. Based on my experience, when you bite smaller pieces you will be able to taste the variety of flavors of your burger just like the last 2 bites of my burger. Too bad, it was too late when I realized this. (This may explain why I thought it was bland.)

The next one that came up was the Creamy Shrimp & Tomato Alfredo Pasta (P265):

Creamy Shrimp & Tomato Alfredo Pasta

Living up to its name, this dish was really creamy and flavorful! I love how the creaminess jived with the taste of seafood and tomato sauce. In fact, this was up to par with my favorite pasta dishes! However, the only negative I can say about this dish was the serving. It was less than expected.

My mom had this Happy Fried Chicken and Zesty Spaghetti and Meatballs (P299):

Happy Fried Chicken and Zesty Spaghetti and Meatballs

The Happy Fried Chicken should have been named Salty Fried Chicken, practically because of the strong saltiness of it. It didn't made us happy because there wasn't special about the chicken.

As for the Spaghetti and Meatballs, it featured an intense flavor of herbs that made it taste more like an Indian pasta dish. Some of you may like it that way, while some don't. My mom and I belong more on the latter. Sure, I was able to appreciate it, but that was because I just had a spoonful. A little more than that might eventually ruin the rest of my appetite.

Let's proceed with some more burgers. The next one up was The Piggy (single patty) at P245 with an add-on of fried egg (P25):

Double patty Beef Bomb Blend of chuck and short rib, mozzarella, fried bacon strips, house-made bacon jam, lollo rossa greens, garlic aioli all on a Sesame Seed Bun

Dressed up Piggy: The Piggy Burger w/ Egg

I can't say much about this burger because my younger brother ate it all up fast! Yeah, that was how good he thought this burger was. Unsurprisingly, he was the most satisfied among us.

Time for the next burger, The Bar Burger (double patty) at P395:

A double patty Big Game Blend of hanger & brisket, smoked scamorza & gorgonzola cheeses, fresh prosciutto, watercress, caramelized onions spiked with sriracha aioli, crowned with crispy onion rings all on a Brioche Bun

The Bar Burger Double Patty

That was quite a mouthful for a definition right? Sadly, it didn't tasted that way. For me, it was just like "double patties with fried onions showered by a special sauce". This does not mean, however, that I didn't enjoy it. Maybe I was just expecting too much of this burger, since it was named after the store, but again, I didn't find it special. My brother also just said "It was okay" when he could have said "It was super awesome!" Never mind, I don't see my brother saying that to me. *hardy har har*

As a tradition, we also ordered some Skinny Fries (P45) to go along with our burgers.

Skinny Fries of Burger Bar

I don't want to dwell much on this. All I can say is that this Skinny Fries was just an expensive McDo fries in disguise - nothing so magnificent about it.

Observations

In general, the amount of serving was a disappointment. Due to this, the value for money diminished which means that the premium paid for these burgers weren't much felt. In fact, I can already settle for the burgers of Burger Project. 

Also, I've noticed that my dining experience was somehow similar with that of in Charbroiled Burgers of BF Homes Parañaque. The only difference (aside from the ambiance and place) was the price, Burger project being the more expensive.

Wrapping Up

Basically, the observations above serve as my blog post ender, and since we got slightly disappointed with the outcome of this dining experience, my mom decided to have the desserts elsewhere. Eventually, we ended up in Classic Confections (check my blog one's in a while for this post). Share to us what you think of the place! Have your tried dining here already?

Recommendations

Do I recommend the place? Still yes because I don't discount the fact that I may be wrong with the things I've written. Plus I should also consider how our preferences and taste differ. Anyway, if you don't know what to order, maybe you can check out which among the dishes we ordered are the winner/s or loser/s. 

Losers

Happy Fried Chicken with Zesty Spaghetti and Meatballs
Skinny Fries

Winners

Onion rings
Creamy Shrimp Tomato Alfredo Pasta
The Piggy (based on my brother's reaction)

Those not mentioned are neither great nor bad (i.e. somewhere in between)

RATING OVERVIEW
Place:  ★★★★
Taste: ★★★
Service: ★★★★
Price:  ★★★

Note about the rating: These scores are based on this experience alone, as well as the food that I had during this time. 

Check out these images for the menu:
  

BURGER BAR
G/F Greenbelt 2
Esperanza St cor Greenbelt Dr Ayala Center
Makati City, Metro Manila
Service Charge: 10% before VAT or 8.93% of the price

Contact No.: (02) 625-2792

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