I spotted this one recently because they have sandwich boards set-up in a couple of key spots in the neighborhood advertising being the "Kobe Burger House". Thought I'd give it a shot. Once solo, for a burger, once with a friend, for a more mixed lunch. Like the space, it's cute. They could do without the television set playing an endless loop of some barista making flowers out of steamed milk in a cup of coffee over the bar, and two televisions over the opposite wall, side by side repeatedly playing some El Gourmet channel clip - I mean, this is a 20 or so seat restaurant, with three TVs going, with nothing on them but repetition of the same clips, over and over (and they're not muted, they're all playing at low level volume). Service is friendly, bordering on chipper, and the waitstaff all seem to speak at least some English for those who need it.
They offer four different burgers - well, in a sense eight - a plain cheeseburger, a cheeseburger with ham, a cheeseburger with bacon and egg, and a four-cheese burger. All available in your choice of Angus or Kobe beef, hence the doubling of options. Priced from 170 to 230 pesos. I admit to not having asked for rare to medium rare as I usually do, but this was way into well done territory. And whoever grinds their meat needs to be careful, I found a couple of pieces of cartilage (this is the Kobe, and the one with bacon and egg and some sun-dried tomato). Too much lettuce. They broke the yolk on the egg (sad face). The bun is sturdy, perhaps too sturdy, almost dry. The fries are a sodden pile of oily potato, more or less stuck together. The aioli doesn't taste of garlic. This is not auspicious for the already planned second visit with a friend a few of days later.
So on a second visit, my friend ordered up the signature entrecot steak, cooked rare. She wanted to know if she could have it with a salad instead of potatoes, the waiter said it came with salad already (which the menu also says), and a choice of papas rustics (steak fries) or a cheese filled baked potato. Apparently, it doesn't come with salad already, even though it's on the menu, unless you want to count the sprig of rosemary as the "green leaves". The fries, the same as above. The steak, properly cooked - it was slightly uneven, with a portion of it bordering on "blue" rather than just rare, but over all, pretty good. A little too much of a fat cap left on it, probably close to 25% of that steak was fat. The waiter's comment, "the fat is the best, I eat that and it's just dreamy". 290 pesos for the Angus beef steak - other options, a Jack Daniels laced dry aged Angus steak (390) or Kobe beef (599).
I went with another sandwich, one that intrigued me. I like my offal, and the idea of a sweetbread sandwich was too much to resist. Pluses? Nicely seasoned, the caramelized onions and the brie were a good combo (could have melted the brie over it, that would have been even better. The bun here was what the bun on the burger should have been - both big enough, and soft. Maybe the one I had with the burger was a day or two old. I got salad as one of my choices for garnish. Minuses? The cilantro aioli had no discernible cilantro, nor garlic. The sweetbreads were cut into little tiny pieces and then battered and fried (rather than the promised breadcrumbed and fried), and so they could have literally been anything. I didn't need the ramekin of mayo for dipping the fries in, given that I ordered a salad. 210 pesos.
I like the space, the service is charming. I hate the TVs, both distracting and because of the repetition, a bit mesmerizing. The food, based on these three dishes, is only okay. I wish it were better, as it's got so much potential and is only a couple of blocks from home. read more