Steak seems a fitting first topic for this blog, since it was over a totally worthless steak dinner that I finally decided to set pen to paper (finger to keyboard?) and get all my ramblings written down.
There's really nothing to beat a nice, juicy steak. To me, it's one of the basic cornerstones of good eating. So simple yet so subtle. You take a firm cut of meat, marinate it and you either grill it (the preferred manner) or pan-fry it with your choice of condiments and, if all goes well, Nirvana is achieved.
If I have I to explain it further you may as well stop reading. =)
Good steak used to be almost exclusively in the domain of the can-affords. Here are some steak memories when I was a kid -
- Imported Glen Joes from PX stores in Virra Mall
- Those rare trips to Alfredo's Steak house on T. Morato
- Minute Steaks from House of Minis (I never found out why they call it that, really)
Nowadays with the ready availability of Angus and Australian meat, you've got restaurants such as The Steakhouse at Tagaytay Highlands, the very trendy and chic Antonio's and Gulliver's on Makati Avenue.
(Highlands Steakhouse Prime Rib)
Sandy Daza wrote about Gulliver's back in 2003 in his column here.
Now, I'm not an expert like he is but I personally don't consider Prime Rib as being exactly the same as steak. It just isn't. And by the way, the Prime Rib in Gulliver's is excellent. Order more of the Spinach Souffle. Where was that when I was kid?
Going back to steak, I've noticed recently that several small restaurants have opened serving cheap, tender, tasty and, most importantly affordable steaks.
Probably the most famous one is Hot Rocks in Libis, followed by Steak MD on T. Morato. Two other places of note are Everything at Steak on P. Guevarra St. in San Juan and Snackeroo on Jimenez Street (just off Kamuning).
What they all have in common is that they serve char-grilled steaks. We've yet to try Hot Rocks but the last three places I mentioned all serve their steaks at around P120 per serving (sans rice, its a budget place, remember?). All these establishments serve local beef with relatively thin cuts
Snackeroo is basically a carinderia which expanded to offer steaks. My good friend Jerms, who saw it as his culinary duty to check it out when I tipped him onto the place, told me that he actually witnessed customers standing right behind Oliver (the man in charge of the grill. Jerms is nothing if not thorough when it comes to these things.) actually choosing their steak and "making bantay" to make sure it doesn't get served to someone else. The place is that popular.
The steak here is no-nonsense, very flavorful and you can really taste the char-broiled goodness here. No need for much gravy here (ask for gravy on the side whenever you go to a steak joint, some places will try to disguise their attempts at tenderizing a steak by pouring tons of gravy on it), although it can be just a tad chewy. Many people swear by this place but I find that it may be a victim of its own success as the quality suffers slightly when the demand is high. Poor Oliver obviously has a hard time feeding so many hungry carnivores!
(the Snackeroo no-nonsense steak)
(attack!!!)
By the way, my wife swears by their Saba con Hielo and they're not stingy on the corn for their Mais con Hielo.
Steak MD is in a building on Morato just before the creek if you're coming from E. Rodriguez. It's a small place, like Snackeroo it isnt air-conditioned. The main draw of this place are their "rubs". In effect, their steaks come pre-marinated in several flavors. A garlic-based rub (my obvious favorite), a spicy rub, a sweet rub and a "house" rub. The steaks here are a little fattier than in Snackeroo but they are consistently more tender. BTW, they have a monthly "eat-all-you-can" promo every 15th of the month for P500 bucks. If you can finish more than 4 steaks, its worth it.
(Garlic Rub at Steak MD)
Everything at Steak is located in what used to be the convenience store of a Petron gas station on P. Guevarra, near Sky Cable & King Crab. The advantage of this place is that it's air-conditioned, has a full menu aside from steak and they offer decent sidings (mashed potatoes, for one). Their steaks are also a little fatty but they're flavorful and consistent. One caveat though - Their marinade is a little on the sweet side, think pinoy barbecue sauce.
All these places tend to get crowded at dinner times, so choose your timing well or manage your expectations. Steak MD and Everything at Steak have ample parking but Snackeroo has no parking to speak of so you have to park on the street itself.
Eat Hearty!
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