Well, we’re in the middle of #NationalHamburgerMonth. So, we’re continuing our annual Burger Month celebration over here. Now, you may not know how I pick the places to go to for Burger Month. I actually do a good amount of scouting and planning for this. If I come across a place that serves burgers, I take a mental note of it for Burger Month in the future. I also look online for possible candidates as well.

This week, well, I hit a little snag. I did my research and I was all set to eat a burger at a specific restaurant along East Capitol Drive in Pasig. Locally, the area is known as Kapitolyo, a neighborhood filled with bars and restaurants. That little factoid kind of saved me this week because the location I scouted was closed as someone reserved the entire place for some kind of function. As I couldn’t follow my original plan, I decided to walk around Kapitolyo and see if there was any burger place. Oh, since I was in the area, I was also tasked by my family to take home some food. So, I opted to find a place where I can kill two birds with one stone: find a decent burger in Kapitolyo as well as order some take out.

This is when I stumbled across Barbarians Cheesesteak. It was kind of a miracle I saw it as the place was nestled in between a laundry shop and a car wash. Luckily, the sign declaring they had cheesesteaks called to me, metaphorically speaking. Remember, I was going to take home some food and I thought some cheesesteak sandwiches would be one of the simplest things to carry out. Well, it so happened that Barbarians Cheesesteak not only serves cheesesteak sandwiches. They also serve burgers! So, I dipped in to Barbarians Cheesesteak, happy how lucky I was to find a quick substitute to my original plans.

Now, I will say Barbarians Cheesesteak is a pretty humble location. It doesn’t have a lot of floorspace as all you have is the counter where you sit at and, behind said counter, is where they prepare all the food. This isn’t really a casual dining spot and, honestly, I do like the no frills feel. Well, as long as the food is good, anyway. So, I perused the menu and I opted to get the burger they call The Smasher, which is a burger that consists of two smashed burger patties, a sunny side egg, caramelized onions and something they call “barbarian sauce.” More on that last bit later. They didn’t have fries on the side to go with the burger. So, I got their Crazy Chompers, which are fries and a couple of smashed burger patties, chopped onions, more “barbarian sauce” and cheese.

I will say the service here was pretty quick. Perhaps that was because I was the only one there. But still, I did get my The Smasher burger and Crazy Chompers fries quick. Now, I’m not totally sure about this but, when it comes to the “barbarian sauce,” I think they essentially mean “cheese sauce.” Why do I say that? Because both The Smasher burger and Crazy Chompers were coated with cheese sauce!

Here’s the thing, though. In the Philippines, “cheese sauce” is usually some kind of processed cheese you squeeze out of a bottle. Not with Barbarians Cheesesteak! I mentioned you sit at the counter in front of where they prepare the food, right? Well, I clearly saw the cook have a pot of melted cheese on the side and, after both The Smasher burger and Crazy Chompers were done, he would dip a ladle into that pot, scoop out a healthy portion of melted cheese and pour it on top of both of them! Can it be? Can Barbarians Cheesesteak actually be using a mix of real melted cheese? I think so and that’s definitely a rarity here in the Philippines!

Anyway, let’s talk about The Smasher burger. While Barbarians Cheesesteak proudly declares they are a cheesesteak sandwich, I have to say The Smasher burger, without a hint of hyperbole or exaggeration, is one of the best burgers I’ve had in a long time. I honestly thought, with The Smasher burger swimming in barbarian/cheese sauce, the only thing I would taste was cheese. No, against all reason, the flavor of the burger patties still rang through. I could taste the nice char from the smashed burger patties and they both still had some juiciness to them. And it was glorious!

The barbarian/cheese sauce never felt overwhelming. It wasn’t exactly mellow but it came off as trying to assist in making the burger flavor more prominent. The insides of the bun were also nicely toasted and managed to hold together despite all of the mingling liquid smushed inside. Honestly, the only real bad thing I could say that was lacking was the egg as it didn’t really add to the experience. It was just there. I guess another couple of “bad” things about The Smasher is it is a really heavy burger and it’s kind of a mess to eat. Then again, these could also be a front-handed insult as I personally like super filling burgers and a messy burger adds to the eating experience in my book.

There was one problem with The Smasher burger being super filling, though. It was so heavy that I couldn’t really enjoy the Crazy Chompers fries! Normally, I would be able to crush fries as I could eat an entire McDonald’s Big Mac and BFF Fries in one sitting without breaking a sweat. After eating Barbarians Cheesesteak’s The Smasher burger, I was only able to eat half of the Crazy Chompers fries and one of the burger patties! Honestly, I was kind of disappointed with myself. But that’s more of a testament to how filling The Smasher is.

From the half that I did eat, I will say the Crazy Chompers is also a pretty good deal. The fries were nicely cooked. They were crisp on the outside and still fluffy inside. The burger patties do feel like overkill and also feel out of place, however. I mean, fries are generally a finger food so I can’t really say a burger patty coated with cheese sauce is something you just eat with your hands, right? Yes, they do give you gloves but it’s still weird. Still, the burger patties on the Crazy Chompers were just as good as the ones in The Smasher burger and, once again, the barbarian/cheese sauce never overpowered what’s underneath.

I do have to talk about how much The Smasher and the Crazy Chompers cost. They weren’t exactly super affordable but I do think they were adequately priced. The Smasher comes to around P290 Philippine pesos while the Crazy Chompers was at P260 Philippine pesos. That’s around $5 each, give or take. That’s not exactly cheap but, considering how stuffed I was from The Smasher burger alone, that’s a fantastic deal in my book! And, once again, I do have to repeat that this was one of the best burgers I’ve had in a while. So, yeah. It’s definitely worth the price.

Oh, remember when I said I had to order food to go. Well, I ordered several of the cheesesteak sandwiches. As this isn’t a celebration of #NationalCheesesteakDay, I won’t go into a full-blown talk about how they were. I will say they were also really, really good. ‘Nuff said.

So, yeah. I’m really glad that place I was supposed to go to was closed for the day. If I didn’t, I’m not sure I wouldn’t have found Barbarians Cheesesteak and had myself a incredibly good burger this day. Serendipity rules!

What’s the best burger you’ve ever had in a restaurant that doesn’t necessarily specializes in burgers? Let me know in the comments section below!