The Burger Project

MANILA, Philippines - The Burger Project (TBP), owned by chef Ed Bugia of Pino Resto Bar and Pipino Vegetarian Food, allows guests to “build” their own burgers and enjoy the quintessential comfort food just the way they like it.

What makes TBP different from other designer burger joints in the city is that the “project” part of the restaurant’s name is taken seriously as diners get to choose all the ingredients that go into their burger.

“The idea behind designing and creating your own burger was born out of my search for ‘the perfect burger,’ which, for me, no establishment has captured yet,” says chef Ed. “Here at The Burger Project we give our diners the power and creativity to design their own perfect burger.”

Diners are given a clipboard with a checklist as a menu. At TBP, the checklist lists everything from types of buns, cheeses, burger sauces, toppings,  and side orders. The checklist will also give you an option to name your burger and to date your creation. If you don’t want to customize your burger, TBP also offers cleverly created designer burgers.

Chef Ed uses Monterey beef for his regular beef burgers.

“Using Monterey meat is something I got from my lola when I was just starting out as a chef. She was lucky enough to visit one of the Monterey plants and she was very impressed by how clean everything was.”

The Burger Project has branches at 122 Maginhawa Street Teacher’s Village Diliman, Quezon City;  ground floor, The Grand Towers, Vito Cruz 760 P. Ocampo Sr. St., Malate, Manila;  and 38 Jupiter St., Bel-Air, Makati City. 

Chef Ed Bugia’s Bacon and Egg burger

Ingredients:

200 g. Monterey beef kalitiran, grounded

½  tsp. white sugar

salt to taste

2 pcs.  bagnet sliced thinly into bacon-like strips

2 tbsps. red onion, jullienned

2 tbsps.  red apple, sliced thinly

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp. Magnolia Gold Butter, unsalted          

1 pc. Brioche bun

Toppings:

1 pc. Emmenthal cheese slice

1 pc. Magnolia brown egg, cooked sunny side-up

1 leaf green lolo Rossa/curly lettuce

2 slices salad tomato

200 g. French fries

Procedure:

Form ground beef into patties and season with salt and sugar. Freeze for a bit to bind the meat together. Grill beef patty to medium doneness. Fry thin slices of bagnet in a pan until crispy to make the bacon. Drain oil on paper towels. Set aside.

In another pan, sauté red onions and apples with butter until translucent then season with salt, pepper and sugar.

Brush the brioche with butter and toast and assemble burger with all the toppings.

Serve with French fries on the side.

Makes one sandwich.