Situated in the heart of Quezon City near the Banawe food area, the newly opened second branch of Monster Bites is located at 75B N. Roxas Street and is home to the first black burger in the Philippines.
Monster Bites prides themselves with having the first black burger in the country. Their first branch located in Tondo is open from 2PM to 2AM in the morning, while the Banawe branch is open from 2PM to 12AM only. If you are around the Manila area, don’t hesitate to visit their first branch there. While if you are going across the Banawe area, do drop by their N.Roxas branch. Both branches are situated in areas that are easily accessible so you will not have a hard time trying to find both branches. Ample parking is also provided.
Menu
Monster Bites has an extensive array of food products you will love; the peso equivalent though is a bit pricey. If it is your first time to visit Monster Bites, go ahead and check out their Monster Kong at 180Php and go pair it up with an awesome Cheezy Cheese Cake milk shake that would set you of for only 250Php. If if you eyeing on a nice rice meal, I suggest to check out their 2 piece burger steak on Java rice. For this case, we ordered a Monster Kong with Mango Graham as our milk shake. It set us back for 250Php as well, but it was worth it.
Monster Kong and Mango Graham Milk Shake
The burger waas heavenly delicious. Each bite to this burger goodness was filled with tasty burger bun, full flavored meat patty and the luscious creamy cheese. Unlike other burgers where one specific ingredient over powers the whole taste, Monster Bites’ Monster Kong has a different twist to it. The complimenting flavor and texture of the bun, together with a not-so-strong cheese and a patty gave it a very nice taste. If you have the chance to taste this burger, you may find the cheese , although overflowing; is not that cheesy. It does add that salty taste but not to a point where you could not taste the meat patty.
The bun on the other hand did not fail us too. I could taste the flavor it has compared to ordinary buns. Although you would not be able to discern the taste, it said to have squid ink to make it look black. Other than that, you may find it a tad bit different than the ordinary bread taste with your burger. Meanwhile, the meat patty is robust in taste. I hear myself trying to get hold of the burger griller outside at gun point just to given a chance to take home a few of the patties being cooked. To describe the flavor, RICH. While some burger hand it to their special sauces, this burger patty is a stand alone meat goodness. Just a hint of that creamy cheese is all you need to compliment the meat patty.
Topped with sliced veggies and caramelized onions, this burger tops the charts with immense great taste. I was hoping that it would be topped with bacon strips or even bits to even improve its taste, but even without it it still a winner in my books. The Monster Kong gives is one of the best burger I’ve tasted so far is far one of the most unique burger I’ve eaten.
The milk shake on the other hand was thick and rich just how I like it. Topped with mango and the crushed graham, the milk shake I ordered was surprisingly good especially with the summer heat. Do also try their cheese flavored shakes as it greatly compliments eating their burgers.
Service, Ambience and Food Quality
I visited the Banawe branch; this particular branch is fairly new so service-wise I was quite considerate. The burger joint has ample staff for a 3-4 customers at a time, when the number exceeds, they are already having a hard time serving everyone. In our case, my burger came and it took them at least 15 minutes just to serve my shake. With my burger served with plastic spoon and fork, I was a bit surprised on how I will be eating this huge ball of goodness; I then asked the server for a knife, they did gave me a knife but it was dirty as a dirty toilet. Cheese was still stained on the knife, and you could find thumb marks all over the cutting point. Disgusting. The seem-to-be the owners were there I asked them kindly that the utensils were dirty, and they apologized sincerely returning the utensils in the kitchen. Other than that, we found the experience eating there was a blast.
The place is not that big, considering the whole resto is split into two restaurants, one being their sister Ramen resto.
Conclusion
Definitely a restaurant worth a visit. Their food is amazing, the milk shakes are good, while the burgers are great. A bit pricey at first glance, but once you have seen the size of the thing then you might want to share your burger with a significant someone. You may find a a black burger surprising as well, but it is a different twist that you might want to experience, nothing much that I could say for black buns; though it adds a tad bit of taste, no more no less. If you need an alternative from the regular Monster Kong burger, check out the burger steak or the cheeseSTEAK sandwich. For more information on Monster Bites, you may check their facebook page.
