Baby Lucy just had her first visit to her pedia, and it’s a happy coincidence that her doctor’s clinic is just beside the fairly new Bob’s Restaurant in Paseo de Magallanes. The resto is a sentimental favorite for my friends from Bacolod, and having been to Cafe Bob’s in the City of Smiles, I don’t have to wonder why. Bob’s serves down-home comfort food, mostly American favorites like barbecue, baby back ribs and burgers.
The only thing about Bob’s lone branch (so far) in Manila is the location. This pitstop in Paseo de Magallanes is quite secluded. Let’s hope visibility will improve when they open their second outlet in Legaspi Village, Makati soon. Besides, why not in the malls too? Am sure there are lots of people who will like and patronize their food.
At the Magallanes branch, the walls are filled with printed murals about Bob’s history, the owners Dr. & Mrs. Sicangco as well as the menu way back in the 1940s when burgers cost only three pesos 😀
Without hesitation, I ordered their bestseller Sate Babe or pork barbecue with peanut sauce (P145, for two sticks). Mmm, yummy, and the pairing with their perfectly cooked java rice was superb. This one could give Aristocrat a run for their money. It easily assuaged my hunger pangs because I was eating lunch at 4 p.m…. phew!
Their Big Boy Cheeseburger (P170) was big indeed. Two well-seasoned beef burger patties sandwiched between buns, with lettuce and thousand island dressing. American hubby liked this one, which says a lot considering how fastidious he is with his burgers 😉
The twins had their ample plates of spaghetti bolognese (P135) which is their favorite dish. One thing about Bob’s: their prices are reasonable, considering that their servings are quite generous. And to think that prices in Bob’s Manila menu are way higher than in Bacolod, obviously because of the high rental rates here.
Don’t try to leave the resto without tasting their desserts. The latticed apple pie was good, and the blueberry cheesecake was dense, but quite dry. ’twas my first time to have a cuppa coffee (with a dessert) after giving birth, so I made sure to take my own sweet time.
Am actually excited to go back again to try their other treats!
Bob’s Restaurant
Tritan Plaza
Paseo de Magallanes, Makati City
Tel. No. 851-0463
Nice article; it was linked on Yahoo’s Philippine page. I’m going to visit this place next week.
That said, PhP3 in the 1940’s was expensive when you consider inflation. I remember my grandfather telling me that for less than a peso in the 40’s, you could feed yourself for an entire day. So PhP3 was a big sum for that era.
Plus, this was the 1940’s — the USD-PHP exchange rate was 2 to 1, so you’re talking about a USD1.50 burger in an era when Sloppy Joes cost 50 cents.
In fact, PhP170 today is cheaper on an inflation-adjusted basis; PhP3 in 1940 is equivalent to PhP341 today when adjusted for inflation. This sum is not especially outrageous when you consider that Brothers Burger charges around that much for their Wagyu burger. Of course, I doubt that the burger they served back in 1940 was a Wagyu burger.
Oddly enough, because of the compounding effect of inflation, if Bob’s had maintained its PhP3 price-point in 1950, it would be equivalent to just around PhP173 in today’s Pesos — or roughly what they’d charge you today for their Big Boy Cheeseburger. So basically, paying PhP170 for a burger in 2010 is essentially the same as paying PhP3 for one back in 1950.
@jpbl, thanks for your insight and lesson on the economics of inflation 😉
nakaka miss ang sate babe ng bob’s! sama ka sa amin sa masskara sa october? ahaha
Hi Eric. Oo, baka pwede na ako sa October. Basta walang typhoon & turbulence, hehe
this is my take on Bobs
http://gourmandtales.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/bobs-paseo-de-magallanes-pasay-city/
food looks yummy. I wanna try Bob’s din!