Johnny Rockets

   

Johnny Rockets

Eastwood Branch

Ground Floor Eastwood Mall Veranda Libis,

Quezon City

I tagged along with a friend to look around B-side in Makati with my little tyke and we just found ourselves inside a cab bound to Libis at around 6 pm.

Johnny Rockets is quite famous in the United States already and we decided on visiting its first branch here in the Philippines since it's our first time to dine in the place.

(Photos courtesy of Kaye Hernandez)

The moment you step inside the place you will be like transported back to time, I feel like I am in that movie "Pleasantville" because of the 50's feel of the place. The very much Diner look definitely would make you pause and admire the place once you get in, it's not very comfy but it just transcends this wonderful feeling. Plus, when we came in, the waiters and waitresses were dancing to the tune of old 50's music as well (e.g. Buttercup), little did we know it would go all night, like every 20 to 30 minutes of our stay there.

There's this device in every table, we already figured it was some sort of a jukebox but we never found out if it worked. Of course we did gave it a try and wasted a handful of 1 peso coins in the process. We got the process correctly and soon gave up and called the waitress to assist us.

We were supposed to key in our choice first before we put the 1 peso coin. Voila! Well amost but it just worked for a few moments coz as I have already said the restaurant's crew is busy dancing most of the time so they would need to own the music inside. It's worth a try anyway.

They have doileys! I think it's awesome everytime I see a restaurant or a house who have doileys, and they are cute too. The waiters would also go out of their way to make smiley shaped ketchup for you. I think it's just too cute. I am fond of them, although I didn't try to make one myself, too risky, there's the probable ketchup stain involved in the process.

One of the reasons we decided to check out this place is because of the FOUNTAIN. It doesn't seem to have anything special on it really, as you would notice in this photo. The one on the left is my Strawberry Banana Fountain and the one on the right is Chocolate Peanut Butter (P275.00). Rip off? I so DARE you to try it. See that metal glass beside it? that is the refill that comes with an order of a fountain. It is super creamy. I have never even imagine a milkshake making me give up eating until I got to try this one.

 

Johnny Rockets boasts of their burgers here's a rundown of what we tried:



Rocket Single (P345.00)

1/3 pound pure beef patty with cheddar cheese, fresh lettuce, ripe tomato, onion slices and their own special sauce. The special sauce is indeed special. I love how creamy it is and how it moistens the burger just right without adding additional fatty feel on it. I can really say I enjoy this burger so much, while slowly licking my chops after the juices accidentally oozed out of my burger. I felt really childish while at it.

 Original (P 285.00)

1/3 pound pure beef patty fresh lettuce, ripe tomato, chopped onions, relish pickle and mustard mayo. Yeah you heard the combination right, mustard mayo. Same oozing glory goodness, the tenderness of the beef, what stood out was the relish I love the sweetness it brings to the palate and evens out every flavor.

Streamliner aka Soy Burger (P 465.00)

Meatless burger (because it's made of soy) with grilled onions, lettuce, ripe tomato, pickle and mustard. I personally am not a fan of this one, there's a mild peppery taste to what we had and it made it a bit spicy (which I don't like much). But if you are dining with someone you know is a vegetarian or wants to taste something different you are free to try this one.

  

Route 66 (P 465.00)

1/3 pound pure beef patty with Swiss Cheese, grilled mushrooms and grilled onions and a generous serving of mayo. I love the idea of grilled mushrooms with my burger, it's make the meat more fun to chew at (I don't know how to describe the fun, but it is). This one maybe a bit expensive but I would definitely get this instead of the Streamliner. I am never a fan of onions in any way, I have it removed in any burger I eat, but for some reason it works well in this one and my palate doesn't seem to find the strength to disagree.

I enjoyed dining in Johnny Rockets, it's definitely something to try, the overall look of the place, the way the crew dances and the thingamajigs in every table. Even the glasses and the doileys tell you that you are not in anyway in the new millennium, it's just fun to sit back eat and reminisce to the tune of the classics. I didn't grew up in that era but the appreciation was instilled in me by my Mom who loved to play those sort of music on sunday mornings.

Although as a caution if you have toddlers, you might want to consider another place because they don't have enough high chairs for the kids and since it has the diner feel, it's not very childproof, but my kid had fun with the dancing part plus they gave us a balloon to keep his naughtiness at bay. AWESOME!

Oh and before I forget.

At Johnny Rockets, it's FRIES ALL YOU WANT with every purchase of a burger! How awesome is that right?!

Even the ketchup smiley thought so! They have amazing fries by the way, but don't get carried away coz there might not be so much room for the burger for you to enjoy it. Good thing we can always take the rest of it home.

Charlie's Grind and Grill

Charlie's Grind and Grill
16 East Capitol Drive, Brgy. Kapitolyo, Pasig City, Metro Manila

My first food post, it's got to be something really good.

We've set the date to taste the delectable treats at this hidden resto inside a car wash, after much built up of anticipation it finally happened.

I had my son with me so we have to get something appealing to his tastebuds as well and as soon as I got this cleared with the person behind the counter she offered us their specialties.

Everybody is buzzing about the Black Angus Burger  so even if I already ordered a plate of Pasta Marinara (made sweeter) I got this as well. I just forgot to tell them to hold the onions and the pickle, (onions are really huge, if I may say so massive! LOL).

The serving is huge enough for me and my kid to munch on, coupled with the "fresh" fries which by the way are also huge, I think everything in this resto is like a double order for me and I should've tried to look at them first before ordering a few plates for the two of us.

The black angus patty is really mouth watering, it's not dry and it has this unique flavor that would make you say it IS really beef and not to mention so soft in the palate, that my 2 year old also likes it.

I had such a delight eating this, but the other fun part about this resto is they have dressings available like your typical catsup and mayo, plus mustard and aoli and I didn't check all of what they had coz I had my claws on the aoli already.

The Cheese fries.

My friend ordered this one and when it was placed on our table, it quickly got my attention, with all those melted cheese covering the home cooked fries. It was REAL cheesy, but I would recommend that you get this to be shared with your group, coz if you don't get to finish it while it's hot it loses it's essence, like most food.

One good thing about this store too is that they have this "Shroom Burger". It is a no meat burger, might be good if you are dining with a vegetarian or you can try it for yourself too. I like mushrooms and to have it crusted with cheese is definitely a really REALLY good idea!

Everytime I go to a resto I definitely look for pasta and if there are interesting drinks/desserts that would tickle my fancy. There was only one type of pasta they offer and that is the Spaghetti Marinara, at first I thought there was nothing special with it although it says "five pieces meatballs" underneath, until I GOT served.

"It pays not to underestimate the advertisement next time," was all that I could say to myself coz I think the meatballs are almost the size of my fist. AND there are 5 right smack in my overloaded with cheese "marinara". I asked the waitress to make it sweeter since my kid is going to share it with me to which they responded dutifully, which was real nice. I was able to finish the burger and got this whole thing to go for Mom.

They also have milkshakes which was real perfect! mmhmm *lip smacking motions*

I had the strawberry overflowing with cream and topped with a cherry which gave way to not making me want anything for the rest of the day. It was not as sweet as I have expected it to be, just right to cap off the meal, but is not very recommended if you are not a big eater, coz I can feel my stomach close to bursting after trying to finish this beauty.

But I won't really recommend it for people who has little kids, coz they don't have high chairs and they have a really small room so if your little tyke is being a handful, it might cause trouble to other diners as well. And although it was a bit difficult to find this place at first but it was worth it, we'll surely come back for more of their specialties.

(Photos taken by Ingrid Samson and Kaye Hernandez)