2:10 PM
Flavors of Manila
Burgoo is supposedly an American restaurant though I find this extremely puzzling since, whenever I look at Burgoo’s menu, I see a lot of food items on the list, which I do not think are American at all. For instance, since when did Pizza become an American food? I feel as if Burgoo does not have any distinguishable identity at all and just tags itself as American, even if they serve the Mexican Guacamole as a side dish.
AMBIANCE AND ENVIRONMENT
I ate by myself when I went to Burgoo on this occasion and, yes, I have visited Burgoo plenty of times before. This is probably going to be the fourth time I've eaten in this restaurant (I never did learn). Though I might have reservations about the restaurant and some bias, especially with their food, I must say that the establishment is really clean.
However, I believe Burgoo’s interior design is a bit confused. There are lanterns hanging on the ceiling with a printed design I can’t comprehend, there are paintings all over the place, which I think are mostly misplaced, and there are hanging lamps which look like glow lamps to me. I do not know if this design is at all American but if it is, then I believe it is safe to assume that most American bistros look like a kid’s bedroom.
If there is at least one thing interesting in this restaurant, it would probably be the fact that they use a white sheet of paper (Cartolina) as table cloth. They also provide a small jar filled with crayons and customers are allowed to doodle or scribble anything on the sheet paper while they’re waiting for their orders to be served.
However, I believe that using a sheet of paper in place of a table cloth is really weird as I’ve never been to a restaurant that uses a roll of Cartolina to cover their tables. Nonetheless, I drew my anime self in the sheet of paper while waiting to be served.
FOOD AND DRINKS
Overall, I thought that the food in Burgoo was really bad. I have eaten here a lot of times already and I never really learned. In fact, the first time I ate here, I literally puked. It was a traumatic experience.
Grilled Pork Chops (P 325.00)
I ordered the regular-sized Grilled Pork Chops, which according to the menu is a piece of pork chop grilled to perfection and seasoned with Italian herbs (and I thought they were American). It comes with two side dishes and because I am an obligate ricevore (an organism required to eat rice all the time), I ordered their rice pilaf and had potato wedges as well.
The pork chop was actually below average and far from the “grilled-to-perfection” quality they are claiming. Mine was overcooked and burnt on the sides, giving it a bitter flavor (although the sauce compensated for the overall taste of the dish).
This pork chop was very tough and almost inedible. It was very dry and you can tell by the picture above that some sides were overdone. The chop was also very thin and did not allow me to savor the flavor of the meat as I needed to stuff in a lot of the pork chop into my mouth just to get a taste of what I’m eating. Our pork chops at home are definitely leaner and meatier than this! It was at best an economized version of the grilled pork chop!
Rice Pilaf
I feel the need to say though that the rice pilaf was a wonderful change from java, yang chow, garlic, and plain rice. I felt as if this rice dish was redeeming enough and worth the return visit. If there’s a possibility for me to just order rice pilaf from Burgoo and eat nothing else, that’d be wonderful!
Potato Wedges
The potato wedges were just okay. They were fresh and were still hot when served. It’s a good starter, I guess, but eating too much of this can really make you feel nauseous (at least for me). Still, I felt that there’s nothing special about this side dish. It was at best satisfactory.
Fudge Brownie ala Mode (P 195.00)
This dessert was a nightmare! The brownie was really hard and I mean hard! I can’t even slice it with a spoon and, when I ate it, it was absolutely horrid. It was too sweet even for someone with a sweet tooth, like me. The sweetness gave me an instant headache.
I don’t know if the creamy thing on top was supposed to be ice cream, sorbet, or gelato but I felt as if it’s not too creamy and there were frozen ice crystals on it, which gave it a rough texture. The flavor was okay but the texture of the frozen topping was not in any way enjoyable because I felt like I was biting some bits of ice candy or shaved ice while eating it.
The walnuts made up for the overall appeal of this dish. However, there were only a few and I can literally count the walnuts on top. If they added a bit more of the nuts, I would’ve been a little satisfied but it wasn’t even generous! I wouldn’t recommend this dessert to anyone at all!
SERVICE AND OVERALL SATISFACTION
I think that the service in Burgoo was excellent. I didn’t even ask for a glass of water, they served it right away. The waiter who attended to me was also very attentive to my order. He got everything right the first time. The food was also served after around 20 minutes, which I find reasonable.
By the way, the name of my waiter is Jim. I remembered that because he wrote it on the Cartolina sheet and introduced himself politely before he took my order.
VALUE FOR MONEY
The food here is too expensive for the quality. It is cheaper than some other restaurants but there is definitely no value for money here. I can’t take the fact that I had to pay more than P 300 for an overdone pork chop and P 200 for the dessert, which to me is just a piece of brownie from the “Brownies” pastry stand with some substandard ice cream on top. It was simply unacceptable!
FINAL SCORES
Ambiance - 4/5
Food - 2/5
Service - 4/5
Value - 1/5
TOTAL - 2.75/5
(02) 913-6112
2/F Gateway Mall, Aurora Blvd., Araneta Center, CubaoQuezon City, Metro Manila
Posted in: american,bad pick,burgoo,cubao,restaurant,restaurant review,reviews
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