So Burgood!

So, how did we like the food at Burgoo (we went to its branch at The Podium, Ortigas Center)?

I can only say with a hearty burp: It’s so Burgood!

But don’t take my word for it. Rather, take the word of Manila’s discriminating diners who named Burgoo as the Citibank Cardholders’ Choice at awards rites held in November last year.

Now, that’s Burgood news!

“We were so excited, we didn’t expect it as a lot of our competitors are equally good,” says the self-effacing Albert Alavera, managing director of Specialty Restaurants Group which owns Burgoo, along with Gumbo, and Eat & Go.

THE MOST POPULAR RESTO IN THE CITI

Rib it up: Burgoo’s shrimps and ribs platter is a must-try. The shrimps are done Cajun style while the ribs, which come from France, are grilled and basted with Oklahoma sauce, P645.

Alma Gruenberg, vice president, Citibank Cards Business Group, points out, “It was an online voting through our Powered by Citi Facebook Fan Page and we requested our Cardholders to vote for their favorite restaurant. Burgoo came out as our Cardholders’ popular choice.”

“The awards are inspired by the book Manila’s Best-Kept Restaurant Secrets that we wrote,” relates Elian Habayeb of the MBKRS Awards. “It’s a personal journey through Manila’s dining scene featuring 60 different restaurants that are the most loved in our opinion in the city. We looked at the Oscars, which is a very successful time-tested awards system, and we basically patterned our resto awards after it. There were about 120 judges including editors of food and lifestyle magazines, food writers, experts. Citibank was the major sponsor of the whole event held at the Enderun College. We had 30 different categories, 13 were cuisine-based and nine were resto specialty-based like the best burger joint, the best wine list, the best newcomer, the best cake, dessert, and ice cream shop.”

Probably not so popularly known is the fact that Burgoo is taken from the name of an American stew, which is very popular in the midwest part of North America. Burgoo has a burger called Hamburgoo. “It’s a stew with chicken, beef, and pork,” Albert notes. “We came up with a patty that’s made of all-lean chicken, beef, and pork.”

Licensed to grill: Citi cardholders get a free grilled chicken Alfredo worth P325 for a minimum order of another entrée of the same or higher value.

And what are the Citi cardholders’ popular choices at Burgoo?

They’re nothing short of supreme, like the Extra Supreme Nachos. Get more than your fair share of that humongous platter of crispy corn chips topped with taco beef, pico de gallo (fresh salsa made of chopped tomato, onion, and chilis), jalapeño slices, grilled chicken breast, and black olives. If you think that’s nacho filling, order more crispy chips served with melted cheese, fresh salsa, and jalapeños.

If you want it all, try the Supreme Sampler, where you find Buffalo wings, Sta. Fe spring rolls, mozzarella sticks, and onion rings in one hefty plate.

FRIED AND TESTED

What’s new and worth trying are the cheddar cheese fries, mashed potato Mexicano, and boneless Buffalo chicken seasoned with herbs and spices, and tossed with spicy Buffalo sauce.

Mad about pies: Burgoo’s Mississippi Mud Pie is better eaten than spelled, P175.

Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. Indeed, Burgoo has laid out a feast fit for an emperor, starting with, yes, the new shrimp popcorn Caesar that’s got crisp lettuce tossed in Burgoo’s own Caesar dressing, seasoned shrimp popcorn, and crunchy croutons. As for me, I’ll take Manhattan — Manhattan’s Best, that is! New on the Burgoo menu, this salad combines crisp lettuce with red apples, pineapple bits, croutons, and honeyed walnuts in Burgoo’s homemade dressing.

You get a pizza of everything at this American dining place that’s got an Italian accent. Yes, let there be pizza on earth!

“Our pizzas are very good, they’re stone- baked, with the stone piping hot at 500°F,” Albert elaborates. “We do everything from scratch. We make our own sauces.”

A pizza of friendly advice: Try the new pizza sampler that puts together in one delectable package four different pizza flavors of your choice. Or the Fisherman’s Delight, a truly delightful combination of chunky tuna, black olives, onions, pineapple, and anchovies.

If there’s pizza, can pasta be far behind?

Worth every strip of pasta is the new Chicken Diane — tender, juicy grilled chicken fillet served with garlic spaghetti pasta and garnished with green onions. So hot and so new is the Szechuan steak linguini — tender beef strips sautéed in olive oil and garlic, and cooked in a special light sauce and sesame oil, Szechuan style.

GRILLED TO THRILL

And grilled to thrill is the Grilled Chicken Alfredo — spaghetti pasta in creamy Alfredo sauce and served with grilled chicken breast and oven-baked tomatoes.

Don’t chicken out just yet because here comes the new Chicken Cacciatore — oven-baked chicken with herbs and spices, and cooked with mushroom, carrots, onions, and bell pepper in Cacciatore sauce. Then there’s the new Steak Cacciatore — 6 oz. juicy, tender USDA beefsteak seasoned and grilled to your liking, and served with the flavorful Cacciatore sauce.

Shrimply delicious are the new shrimp fajitas — fresh shrimps sautéed with herbs, spices, green and red bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms, and served with tortilla wraps. You can add guacamole if you like.

A new all-American meat treat at Burgoo is the Oklahoma pulled baby back — barbecued all-meat baby back with oven-baked red onions, served with pickles and coleslaw.

Want anything else? Like something that’s not on the Burgoo menu? True to its slogan “Anything goes,” diners can order anything at Burgoo, even if it’s not on the menu.

“If you want sinigang na sugpo, we can do it for you if ingredients are available,” Albert vows. “If cooking will take long, because we have to buy the ingredients from the market, we ask the customers if they’re willing to wait.”

MORE BURGOOD NEWS

Fresh, delicious look: Burgoo at The Podium has undergone a series of refreshing renovations.

Here’s more Burgood news: Citibank has tied up with Burgoo for its highly popular Citi Dining Privileges. “Burgoo is one of the restaurants our cardholders frequent so we asked them to be part of the program where we give the best dining deals for our customers, such that if our cardholders go to a resto and they find a better offer, we will reimburse them for the difference,” Alma shares. In fact, the offer of Burgoo for our customers is quite good: grilled chicken Alfredo (worth P325) for a minimum order of another entrée of the same or higher value. So, it’s like a buy one, take one offer. Our cardholders enjoy this all year round. And then there are the special offers for a limited period of time — January 21-23, 28-29, and February 4-6 — where our cardholders get a 25-percent off with no minimum purchase requirement. Or the alternative is a free shrimps and ribs platter, a Burgoo best-seller that’s worth P645, for a minimum purchase of P1,500.”

Surely, this place is so Burgood it can turn your heart to a patty!

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Want more Burgood news? Burgoo has branches at Tomas Morato, Quezon City (call 927-7396, 927-7424); Rockwell Center, Makati City (898-1815 to 17); The Podium, Ortigas Center (687-5254); Promenade, Greenhills (726-4663, 726-3243); Gateway Mall, Araneta Center (913-6112, 913-7234); SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City (556-0091); Robinsons Galleria, Quezon City (633-6256); The Block, SM City North Edsa (442-0115); SM City Marikina (477-1932).