Cebu Secret Chows: Buddies - Home of the Ultimate Burger Challenge

           It's rare for me to visit a resto twice in a week but this one was a pleasant surprise. Actually, it's a funny story I wanna tell you; one of my biggest blogging bloopers to date. So it's epic. Sit tight and enjoy the ride. :))

FIRST VISIT:
           One of my foodie family friend couple whom I meet in church every week invited me to this new resto for lunch one Sunday. They're just such a nice couple -- Tito Nic and Tita Rachel -- who support my blog by reading it or occasionally treating me meals out and telling me about new places they found through other blogs as well. Tita Rachel was the one who led me to Surfin Ribs with her resto update one time. 

           This new resto, BUDDIES, was a bright, neat place that has a diner setting. What's special about it is it's the only legit resto with a burger eating challenge like the ones you hear about or watch on TLC, more popularly on Man Vs. Food with Adam Richman. They have a wall of fame for victors and give out free shirts to the worthy. It seats around 40 people. 

              Like most fastfood diners, self-service is the system here. It's still convenient though. They have condiments and what else you need on a tray at the end of the counter.

           The ultimate burger challenge is to finish their quadruple burger in 5 mins and you get a souvenir shirt and your photo on their wall of fame. It's the real thing! :D 

the wall of fame

burger slayers

These huge posters on the wall make me drool!

It's a great way of enticing customers and recommending the best dishes of the resto. 

           Since they have a burger eating challenge, I went for the basic Buddy burger to know the taste in case I join the challenge someday. ;)

         Who knows, I did join Dong Juan's burger challenge last year. Would be nice to see a girl on that wall of fame. :D

Buddy Burger - 89 php

              I was excited to taste their burger but after the first bite, I found the patty too soft for my preference. I like my burger patties charred crisp and juicy on the inside. It wasn't bad though. 

           Tita Rachel made the orders and she asked for the philly cheesesteak sandwich, chilidog and steak burrito. We all cut up the orders and shared it to get a taste of everything.

Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich - 150 php

           This was a pretty thing. I loved the steak and the bun. It wasn't just an ordinary bun, it was a hoagi bun; much like a baguette, crisp exterior and chewy interior though a little softer than a baguette. The steak was flavorful and juicy. 

           I missed to take photos of the chilidog and the steak burrito but anyway, the chilidog was nothing extraordinary. The hotdog used was a good quality but I think it was quite pricey for a sandwich. The steak burrito, I loved. They got the distinct Mexican flavor just right and the tortilla wrapper was also good. That's something to go back for. I noticed they're steak products are pretty good. 

What we had:

Buddy burger - 89 php

Philly Cheesesteak sandwich - 150 php

Buddies Chilidog - 130 php

Steak Burrito - 135 php

SECOND VISIT:

     

             Now for the funny one... I had received a text from an unkown number inviting me to Buddies for a feature. He said he was JP. I know two JP's and I thought this was one of them -- JP Fernandez, a close friend of Doyzkie of iluvcebu.com, since he'd be the one most likely to invite me to features. We agreed to meet on Wednesday. 

           I was wondering why he was the one who invited me when Doyzkie could've asked me himself. And when I asked him if Doyzkie was coming, he said he wasn't but that I could invite him. And I wondered even more, why he'd tell me to invite him when they're the closer friends. (you must be as confused as I was by now) 

           So, when I arrived at Buddies with my food blogger classmate, JM of Big Food, I saw a man wave at me and I figured he'd be the owner so I just waved back. Then, he approached me and introduced himself as JP. WOW. Mind blown. This wasn't the JP I was expecting to meet. He had some friends as well and introduced me to them. I was just so stunned, I was speechless. I still didn't know his family name so I wasn't sure if he was familiar or not.

            He welcomed me warmly into the resto and when we settled down, he ordered his recommendations for me. I then explained myself, why my text messages were unusally casual and how I mistook him to be just one of my friends. I was just really so embarrassed I couldn't stop laughing at myself. (Yes, I laugh at my own bloopers.I'm silly like that.)

             Anyway, so, laid before us were steak tacos, nachos, a Buddy burger and sizzling burger steak silog. 

steak tacos - 120 php

        I think most of us would usually picture out the hard shell tacos at the mention of the dish but Buddies offers the soft shell type which I think I prefer more than the hard shell type. 

nachos - 85 php

         This, I loved! Well, I've always been a fan of nachos but the carne asada's flavor pleased my palette well and I just couldn't stop popping this in my mouth despite being stuffed with the rest of the dishes before us. This serves two but if you want a medium heavy snack or an appetizer, have this. 

sizzling burger steak - 85 php

         This is one of my favorites in the menu. I liked the consistency and flavor of the gravy and it went really well with the burger patty. Buddies isn't just about the buns and the burgers. This is a rice meal you'll be coming back for once you've had a taste. :D

JM (Big Food) with her Buddy burger - 89 php (not inclusive of JM. hihi.)

Big Food, Babe for Food, Bethany's Luis

            I needed these foodie friends to help me finish all the food! We were so stuffed. Happy bellies! :D

the Babe and the Buddies (from left) JP Chongbian and Nino Bascon with their friends Miguel and Rany :D

             So, I found out JP's complete name -- JP Chongbian, and that's when things started clicking in my head. He's actually the owner of Vudu and Formo. Oh well, funny encounter with this guy but he sure can be a 'buddy'. He explained that the resto was named Buddies because it is owned and managed by 3 high school buddies, JP Chongbian, Blake Go (not in the photo) and Nino Bascon. 

             It was definitely a pleasure meeting these buddies. I'm glad that another decent resto is finally added to Talamban (nearby my residence), where it isn't as resto-endowed as Banilad. Haha. Now, residents of Talamban and Cabancalan can hover at Buddies for a decent quick fix for quality fastfood cravings. 

Buddies
Piazza Elesia, Talamban, Cebu City 6000

Operating Hours:
Mon - Thurs     11 AM - 2:30 PM, 5 PM - 10 PM
Fri - Sun          11 AM - 2:30 PM, 5 PM - 11 PM

Like them on Facebook - facebook.com/BuddiesBurgers


To know Cebu, eat Cebu! :D

oink oink,

Babe for Food

 - your BFF in Cebu dining! :)