7.119

3 (Tue) May 2016

The Fireplace Burger

0.5

at The Fireplace

(New World Manila Bay)

-Malate, Manila-

with RK

Despite the disappointing first visit to The Fireplace (see 5.331 Certified Angus Beef…), I’d been looking forward to going back and trying their eponymous burger, simply because of its ridiculous price of 1,490 pesos (about $32), the most expensive burger that I’ve ever seen on a menu.

EPIC FAIL.  First of all, the thing took 40 minutes to prepare.  Being the only customers in the house, we couldn’t understand the cause of the delay.  As explained by the manager — totally unapologetic — turned out that the patties were kept frozen, so the chef was simply standing around waiting for the meat to thaw.  When the burgers finally arrived, they completely fell apart upon first bite.  Still cold and uncooked on the inside.  Juices bleeding profusely.   We cancelled the entire order.

This degree of inefficiency and ineptitude are quite surprising, given that The Fireplace shares the same kitchen as Li Li right next door, arguably the best restaurant in town (see most recently 7.104 Braised Sea Cucumber…).