Nolita

Sometimes portmanteaus can be confusing, maybe a bit irritating; with so many local real estate projects, malls and restaurants named after all sorts of abbreviations, I was beginning to think that every marketing idea man believes that a play on words is a cute and lovable thing.  Monique, Kenny, Angela and I were at the Central Square Mall in BGC when we came across Nolita, an Italian inspired snack bar at the second level.  The restaurant name is a play on "North of Little Italy," a district in Manhattan which became famously associated with the Godfather trilogy.  I asked myself, what was so Italian about this dimly lit snack bar?  I walked in and the air-conditioning was barely functioning.  The kids were not eager to eat there; they had some pizza the previous day and were not impressed with the kitchen's display.

We opted to have burgers (which is why the label of this restaurant falls under the burger category).  That was one of the best eating decisions we have done in 2015.  We all agreed that their burger goes to the top of our burger hunt list; meat is tender, but binds well.  Not too salty, the patty lets the beefy goodness shine.  Presentation is on a wooden chopping board, simple yet appetizing.  Comes to your table hot, straight off the grill (or frying payn). We totally forgot about the inadequate air-conditioning, cafeteria style surroundings and the seeming overuse of the English contraction.  We spent something like P300 each per burger, and it was quite divine!