Burby’s Grill, at last
Monday, February 27, 2012 |
| Sinigang na hipon |
When a restaurant is a two-minute walk away from your house, you start believing you’ve actually been there. Visual psychotic repetition is what I’d like to call it.
Wednesday night, we decided to eat out since nobody was up to preparing dinner after the long trip we made to and from Marikina City. My sister and her lovies moved in to their new home, which meant Eeyore had to finally come back home to us. He’s five feet tall and about 180-inch plump around the middle. So you see, he does need his space — and a lot of it. We don’t really have the luxury of space in our home, but a big, big friend has got to come home, doesn’t he?
We’re all happy that Eeyore’s home, but the two-hour trip was a theatrical interpretation of a kilometric car wash where there was an alternate play of rain and heat — a calculated prelude to a migraine. So, the enervated bunch that we were decided to march to the nearest diner so we could be served and fed.
We went to Burby’s Grill, at last. We have been planning to have dinner there since last year, but when a restaurant is a two-minute walk away from your house, you start believing you’ve actually been there. Visual psychotic repetition is what I’d like to call it.
Now, the menu
The dreadlocked husband and I wanted something we’ve never tried in other restaurants. Unfortunately, kare-kare lechon was the only novel thing to us on the menu. It wasn’t entirely new, just the concept of putting both kare-kare (an elaborate Filipino stew, with a complex history, made with peanuts and mixed with different kinds of vegetables) and lechon (roast pig) in one dish. Kare-kare is one of my favorite dishes but I often get disappointed because there are only a few people who can cook the dish the way (I deem) it should be. Most fail in the stew itself, maybe because “getting it right” with peanuts in a stew isn’t nearly a cinch unless maybe you’ve been cooking kare-kare for a long time and have finally perfected it after a hundred tries. I’m happy to say Burby’s did not disappoint. It wasn’t the best kare-kare but the way the subtle taste of peanut blended in the thick curry-like sauce was a treat to the palate. The eggplant could have been a little more tender but clap, clap nonetheless.
The tuna kinilaw (ceviche or seviche) was also a happy experience. Fresh fish and good vinegar are a perfect marriage in the language of food. Burby’s sinigang na hipon was the right kind of sour. Hubby is not entirely a sour soup fan but Cole (my ten-year old) goes crazy over it, and since I haven’t had the time to cook sinigang for him for some time now, it was his call. Sinigang may be a simple dish to make, but it has to be a perfect combination of sour and salty. Most of the sinigang I’ve tasted from carinderias (food stalls commonly found at street sides) did not have the zing because they’re usually too light for the kind of sour we hanker for. What made Burby’s a bit different also was that the soup was thicker than usual. Cole gave it a thumbs up and added, “A few more notches and it will be as delicious as yours.” Loyalty is still on top of everything.
The wrap up
Overall, the dinner was good. I would definitely go back to taste the others on the menu. I just have to say though that the servings did not quite match the price attached to them. A platter that was supposedly good for four really turned out to be good for only two persons. So if you’re planning to dine at Burby’s Grill, you either double your order or go when you think your appetite won’t get bigger than their plate.
Nope, no to-go for us that night.
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| Kare-kare lechon |
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| Tuna kinilaw |
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