You can’t separate man from his meat. That’s a fact. When it comes to burgers, I am finicky. I seldom order a burger from the regular fast food joints because they have a gazillion variants and they all taste the freakin same! Except for the Wendy’s Baconator, I forgo the Champ, Big Mac and the Whopper and choose their chicken sandwich counterpart.

The Crave burger is a different story, this burger joint first hit Iloilo by storm. Slowly, it has branched out here in Metro Manila and has been satiating the hunger of thousands of Manila’s hungry populace.

My verdict over the burger? Well I like the no nonsense approach of Crave’s burgers. They don’t brag about the special sauce and the sesame seed bun. The main strength of its burger is its patty, Crave Burgers are beefy and tender the lesser burger will be blown away(so to that certain clown and insect, be scared, be very scared). Pricing? The price seems reasonable I think the Baconator is way more expensive. What about the fries? Hmmm Its passable a bit dry to my liking. But… But… Is it filling?? Hell Yeah!! I could have taken many pictures of the actual burgers I have eaten but I was too preoccupied with the idea of eating the darn burger all the time.

Crave Burgers described in one word is AWESOME! I have tasted many a burger and Crave is one of my top choices(don’t be jealous TGIFridays Burger). I know my life will be short and I will probably die of a stroke someday but at least I have tasted a Crave Burger.

Disclaimer: Aside from the fact that the writer of this article wants to open his own Crave Burger branch, He is in no way connected to the establishment( if you don’t count the Ultimate Burger digesting in his stomach).

Crave Facebook fan page

I was picking up my big brother from the hospital but his hospital bill wasn’t ready yet. I was freaking hungry that’s why I went out and left him in his room. I was looking for something to eat in a convenience store when I saw this unassuming place called  Manong Pepe’s I heard rumors that it belonged to Jolibee. Since I was so hungry, I decided to try this food joint.

The place was spotless! The food was displayed cafeteria style and the food server was wearing a face shield (now not even the most expensive cafeteria Ihave tried have food servers like that). I decided to have lechon paksiw and laing to go. Service was fast and the crew were courteous. How much for the my meal? 80 pesos! yeah I couldn’t believe it myself. Long story short I wolfed it down fast because I was famished.

Here is my verdict on Manong Pepe’s. The place was  clean and spotless and has that Jolibee air to it. Servers looked clean. The price was cheap and the food was decent enough(I wouldn’t expect anything spectacular for 80 pesos). Manong Pepe’s is a better alternative for a carinderia because it is clean, cheap and tastes good.

The bacon explosion is the latest thing in the world of greasy cuisine. The artery congesting concoction consists of 2 pounds thick cut bacon and 2 pounds Italian sausage. Lipitor and Nitroglycerin not included. Warning: Bacon Explosion Is REALLY dangerous to your health. (recipe will be posted soon!)

If you are going North of Luzon you wont fail to notice Isdaan, the restaurant filled with tons of Asian inspired and freakishly large statues. It has become somewhat of a tourist spot not because of their food but because of certain attractions within their restaurants like the Tacsiyapo Wall which invites you to throw dishes into a wall which really makes you release some tension.
(Full Story After The Break!)

The food, the food was great, because the owners of the restaurant are the same people behind Barrio Fiesta, World Topps and a whole lot more string of successful Filipino restaurant. Employees are pleasant and really accommodating.

We Ordered two more dishes, grilled squid and fried vegetables but I was so busy eating I forgot to take pictures.

A few of Isdaan’s attractions:

Over all the dining experience was great. The food was good enough to satiate a balikbayan’s hunger for authentic filipino food experience.

How to get there? Its in Mc Arthur Highway Gerona, Tarlac you will have to be blind to miss it.