The past few years, we’ve seen the rise of the burger from fastfood outlet obscurity — playing second fiddle to the omnipresent bestseller, fried chicken — to being a star of its own. For how can you explain the sprouting of burger joints locally, each one trying to outdo the others by tweaking with the burger variables — the beef, the serving size, the fillings, even the bun. We like to call them gourmet burgers and like everything that’s referred to as such, they also carry a hefty price tag.
We’ve tried several of these gourmet burgers in the recent past so an invite to try Teddy’s Bigger Burgers was something we couldn’t ignore. In the “burger wars” being waged, how will this Hawaiian import stack up to its beefy competition? Was the “burger buzz” generated by its coming (and the hefty price) mere fluff or does it live up to the hype?
Lagal[og] says: I held off ordering the largest of ’em all, worried that I wouldn’t be able to finish it so I had the medium monster double, the 14 oz with all the works. But finish it I did and it’s all good, really beefy goodness complemented by the quite unusual texture and flavor of the potato bun it came with. Protein and carbo-loading to the extreme is all I can say but I think that’s the trend here at Teddy’s Bigger Burgers — even the milk shakes are kinda radical with 90% ice cream and 10% milk so much so that it’s better to call them ice cream shakes. I had a rather safe choice — strawberry — and wished I could’ve made a peanut butter and strawberry combo instead (not that it wasn’t good but I had a sip of the former and boy, it is very good). My only complaint was that I had to forego eating merienda and dinner (too full) the rest of the day.
Ironwulf says: I like the surfer-culture vibe of the restaurant interior – casual and relaxed place. Just from making an order, it doesn’t feel like a typical burger joint. Choose a size from the regularly offered 5 oz, 7 oz and 9 oz, then the type of burger – from the regular, cheese, teri and monster double, how well it is done and the additional toppings. I chose to be on a slightly safer side, ordering a 7oz, cheese burger with Cajun toppings in a potato bun. I like that the potato bun feels firm and solid, holding the burger patties and the toppings together. Just the right softness but it does feel a little heavy. It does go well with the really savory and smokey charbroiled burger patty. I had it done medium rare so it has the right tenderness and juiciness that I really like in a burger.
The sidings are an added delight, while the Teddy’s Crispy Fries come complete with potato skin, deeply fried and bite sized cuts are good by itself, I had to say that their Flavored Fries was an all out favorite siding, particularly the spicy flavor which builds up in goodness and heat the more we ate them. The Tater Tots is also worth an order, especially if one enjoys hash browns as this one is like a cheesy nugget version.
And oh! Those milkshakes are just a true creamy delight. I just ordered a small Peanut Butter milkshake and wished I ordered a bigger one. It wasn’t sweet but really pure peanut butter goodness in every sip.
Teddy’s Bigger Burgers
Level 3, Greenbelt 3, Makati
Facebook: /TeddysBurgersPH
