Serial Tripper

Home of the Offbeat Krispy Kreme Burger

First seen wowing visitors of Mercato Centrale, the Offbeat Burger (basically a burger with Krispy Kreme doughnuts as buns instead of plain, old, boring bread) has found a home at The Collective – that artsy complex along Malugay Street in Makati City. We chanced upon the restaurant when I decided to escape the traffic of Makati’s Central Business District and drove around its outskirts aimlessly. When I hit one of Pasong Tamo’s many intersections, I remembered that there are a few restaurants hiding at The Collective, and decided that there’s some discovering to do there. I was also resigned to the hungry truth that I must devour something within the hour or else I’d die of ulcer (or something), and it so happened that The Collective was just around the corner.

As with the other restaurants located at The Collective, there doesn’t exist a very spacious dining space, but the design is as eclectic and interesting as everyone else. Red-orange walls, tables, and chairs on a black-and-white checkered floor compose a fun, “meaty” vibe, which suits it well as the highlight of the dishes they serve is the meat, which we encountered in the forms of meatballs, meat sauce, and burgers.

They also have this weird/artsy collection of photos and artworks featuring mushrooms, inclined planes to mouths, rocket ships, and other things I can’t even explain. It’s also normal. After all, we were at The Collective.

We began our long dinner with an order of Offbeat’s Chili Cheese Logs (Php 140): deep-friend cheese sticks with chili and meat sauce, and well, more cheese. One thing we liked about it was that it they didn’t go easy on the cheese at all: it was very cheesy both on the inside and outside; the chili and meat balanced the flavor for a heavier-than-usual appetizer.

Jen went for Uncle Joe’s Sloppy Balls (Php 160). That sounded disgusting, but the reality of this dish with a funny name is that it’s not your regular sandwich (in a good way): four big meatballs are stuffed into a long hotdog bun (again, that didn’t sound right) for a ten-inch meatball submarine sandwich. Offbeat’s Sloppy Joe sauce and grated cheese top the meatballs, and handful of fries complete the order. Like the Chili Cheese Logs, it’s actually heavier than it looks, and you can ask the cook to slice it into two parts if you’re with someone.

The Offbeat experience wouldn’t be complete, of course, without trying out the Mercato hit Offbeat Burger (Php 190). Two glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts sandwich a thick all-beef patty, bacon, a fried egg, and melted cheese. It’s as if you’re eating a bacon burger, only the bread’s sweet: KK-glazed sweet.

I was also resigned to the hungry truth that I must devour something within the hour or else I’d die of ulcer (or something).

They have other (weird-sounding) offerings at Offbeat: Sumo Subo (Php 175, tempura crabsticks with mango aioli sauce), Chili Willie Dog (Php 170, fish sausage with Offbeat’s special chili and cheese sauce), and Myron’s BBQ Pork Sandwich (Php 170, barbecued pork loin and an English muffin) are some crew-recommended dishes.

I don’t know what the hell they mean by “Wieneke Kitchen” but what I can say as far as our experience at Offbeat is concerned is that for the artsy crowd of The Collective, they fit in well with interesting and unusual meaty fare.

Offbeat: The Wieneke Kitchen
G/F The Collective, Malugay Street
Makati City, Philippines