Project 365: Day 82 - Food! Charlie's Grind and Grill

I thought I liked burgers. I thought like any carnivore, that there was nothing better than a good burger. Thinking about that a bit more made me realize how this wasn't very true for me. The countless times that I've headed out to eat, I find myself not ordering many burgers. Nor do I go out specifically to hunt down a good burger.

I guess it's because:
1. Fastfood joints are prolific and my eat-outs are supposed to be respites from that
2. Most places don't really offer good burgers (Brothers), are overpriced (Army Navy/ That place in Serendra...600 for wagyu burgers? really?) or God forbid, both! (Johnny Rockets)
3. Most places that would offer good burgers would offer something better.

I thought that a good burger would forever be just a bit out of reach and a good burger joint would be a distant thought.

I've hard about Charlie's from Joyce and I've been meaning to visit. My bro-in-law brought home a cold specimen from the place in a brown paper bag. At first i didnt know where it came from and I ignored the damp fries in the bag. I chowed down on the burger and for a cold sandwich i thought it was pretty decent.

I told Roxane about it and one night after work we decided to get some grub. We first thought about  going to Uncle Moe's for their cheese filled meatballs but decided we would hunt Charlie's down.

Charlie's Grind and Grill - East Capitol Road, Kapitolyo, Pasig City. Open till 2am

Awesomely enough Charlie's is just a stone's throw away from Moe's. The place is right beside a carwash which is genius really. Get your grub on while your car gets detailed.

Menu is written in chalk and I get the feeling that the whole menu may not be up there. Some interesting names for food and condiments like "Punyeta Sauce"

  Roxane and I have a tendency to get distracted by the menu and miss out on house specials. this time though we pledged to try out the house bestseller before anything else.

The house specialty is the Black Angus Beef Burger. Charlie's angle here is that their beef is never frozen and ground on site. I cant really tell ya if the beef used is really Black Angus as I'm no beef expert. I had my doubts because the burger is just at 190 bucks. That's less than my favorite Steakhouse Burger from Burger King. They say though that the proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the patty.

We ordered one burger each and added their "Fresh Fries" (30?),smoked bacon (30) and some sodas.

The lettuce was really THAT green.

Wow.

Take that picture in for a minute. Fresh veggies, big steakfries and thick cut bacon on melted cheese.

I didn't expect the fries to be a winner here. I love french fries but they tend to be the same frozen ones and if we did get house-cut fries they werent really anything extraordinary. Charlie's "Fresh fries" were fried and baked as far as I can tell and they are so good it took me a while to remember I had a burger to deal with. They're that good. Crunchy without being dry and the starch solid without being starchy. I loved the ones with the skin on and I wonder if I can request all my fries to have the skins on.

The bacon on the burger was another revelation. I added it on a whim and almost didnt. The bacon is not your breakfast bacon thinly cut and soaked in grease. These things are thick sticks of pork awesome. My heart stopped a second after i bit into the bacon as I KNOW these things aren't good for me. They have a mild smokey flavor and aren't over-cured. They remind me of the old style homemade bacon i used to have back when I was a kid.

Mr. Demille, I'm ready for my closeup!

With such an awesome supporting cast, you'd be worried that the star of the show won't be able to match up. Charlie's baby didn't disappoint. It's a good sized burger as you can see from the pic. the bread is a soft black sesame seed bun. The bread might be something that you'd not notice most of the time but I appreciated how much it held everything together. Sometimes good sandwiches would be let down by wimpy bread.

The patty is a juicy piece of moo. You know it's a good burger when the juice runs down your arm. you can tell that the meat is house ground and fresh as it still has that meaty earthy taste that I love. Right now I can't tell if its Angus since it's ground but what I can tell ya is that its a tasty, good quality beef.

Total damage, 250 for the burger and the fixins, and add another 45 for the soda. Not too shabby in the cost department either.

Now, I'm not gonna say that the place doesn't have its downsides though. The indoor dining area is a bit cramped and the smells from the kitchen kinda carry over with the AC. The place gets packed during the night and people do smoke in the outdoor dining area. The service is generally prompt and we got our burger faster than i would expect but if it's busy the service does take a dive. The manager was chewing out one of the cooks when we were there. Roxane ordered a rootbeer float and got a frosty glass of icecream and a can of Mug. Overall though, those don't really take a lot out of the exprience.

I guess I found my burger joint :)