Dining Snippets: Raging Bull Burgers x Your Local x Boa Kitchen

A couple of years ago, I gushed about how Raging Bull Burgers smashed all of my preconceptions on hotel food as it offered honest-to-goodness burgers in their raw, messy, glorious selves; without the fancy air and steep price tag that usually come served with hotel food.

RAGING BULL BURGERS’ KICKASS BURGER (P255)

I first encountered Raging Bull in Shangrila The Fort, which was why I was pleasantly surprised to find it on Foodpanda while searching for restos near my office in Ortigas. Delivered from EDSA Shangri-la Hotel, my hefty Kickass Burger boasted of immensely juicy Angus beef and loads of crunchy lettuce which made for a towering bite (It honestly was quite a struggle, given that I had a history of TMJ)! Pickles and tomatoes help give that extra kick of sweet tanginess to break through each meaty bite. Dine with a pack of tissues as you’d find its Bull sauce dripping from your mouth after each bite.

Raging Bull Burgers

Date of Delivery: October 20, 2020 via Foodpanda

YOUR LOCAL

One of the things I miss about working at the BPI Head Office would be my random lunch out’s with friends. One common lunch haunt of mine would be Your Local. There’s nothing a hefty bowl of their famed Torched Salmon Donburi can’t cure. Interestingly, Your Local has expanded its signature dish by adding steak and mackerel variants; but since it’s been a long while since I last helped myself to a Salmon Donburi; I just had to get it (but I'm definitely queuing the other variants in my list of next food items to order)!

TORCHED SALMON DONBURI (P695)

Thanks to the genius that is Grabfood Long Distance Delivery, it was fuss-free having Your Local delivered to my Ortigas office. It may not be plated as nicely as they would have done so when dining in; but each spoonful still tasted as heavenly. From the medium-cooked salmon slices which were lightly paired with a refreshing teriyaki sauce, and the mountain of ebiko and scallions which provide a beautiful contrast in color against its black rice base; the complexity in flavor, texture, and color in this dish still makes it one of the most well-thought out dishes I’ve ever tried.

Your Local

Date of Delivery: October 22, 2020 via Grabfood

BOA KITCHEN

After being bombarded with targeted ads about Boa Kitchen’s ‘perfected’ Pad Thai on Facebook, I ended up giving in to see if it can really back up its claim. What’s interesting is that its menu also includes different rice and noodle favorites in Southeast Asia (Thai, Filipino, Indonesian and Malay/Singaporean dishes are represented) as well as the odd insertion of Korean Fried Chicken.

SHRIMP PAD THAI + 2 MILK TEAS + WONTON NACHOS + MANGO STICKY RICE (P999), GANGYEOM + CHEESE DIP COMBO (P260) + NASI GORENG (P360)

I decided to get one of their bundled set meals for their Pad Thai. I opted for the one which came with 2 Thai Milk Teas, Wonton Nachos and Mango Sticky Rice. Unfortunately, instead of 2 Thai Milk Teas, one was replaced by Bandung (Rose Milk Tea) and they completely missed out on delivering the Wanton Chips. However, as I was caught up in a work meeting, I didn’t really had the time to complain about the delivery mixup.

It did help though that their Pad Thai was indeed one of the best I’ve had in Manila. Not only did it come in a generous serving, the noodles were wonderfully firm and coated with their flavorful and fragrant sauce. It’s definitely tasty enough to back up its claim of having perfected Pad Thai.

Its Thai Milk Tea isn’t the best I’ve had, but is pretty comparable to what is served in other Thai restos in the Metro. As I'm not a fan of anything rose-flavored, so I can’t give a proper feedback on their Bandung.

Steer clear of its Mango Sticky Rice though. To be fair, my taste buds may have been spoiled by Mango Tree Bistro’s (as I had it only a few days before this), but its use of artificial-tasting mango syrup was enough to spoil the fun for me.

Good Indonesian cuisine is still quite elusive so I every time I see Nasi Goreng on a menu, I do try to get it right away. Ultimately, Boa Kitchen’s Nasi Goreng is a good take on fried rice; but it’s a bit of a stretch to call it Nasi Goreng. I'd most likely won't order this again though.

I was most surprised at its Gangyeom. I only ordered this as filler/side dish, and I didn’t expect to really enjoy it. However, coming from a restaurant which focuses on Pad Thai, it oddly knows how to serve really good Korean Fried Chicken. It boasts of perfectly crunchy twice-fried well-marinated chicken which are coated in a perfectly spicy glaze. We initially intended to pair it with a cheese dip; but I highly recommend skipping out on this!

Boa Kitchen

Date of Delivery: November 5, 2020 via https://boakitchen.com/