The burger is one American food item that has become a staple in the Philippines. Today, burger styles run the gamut, from the cheap roadside stalls that won’t break the budget, to towering meat monuments topped with the diner’s choice of trimmings.
One of the newest kids on the burger block is Flipside in the Gyud Food burger hub in UP Diliman. However, it is new only in name as the man behind the store, Chef Ed Bugia, has had a long history with burgers.
“I started restaurants in 2008 with the Pino Group and one of our shining brands was The Burger Project which we opened in 2010. The concept behind it was just really to make your own burgers. It was a successful brand running for 10 years until the pandemic hit,” he shared.
Flipside was Chef Ed’s return to his first passion. The store has a lean menu, offering only 3 types of burger and 2 sides, but these 3 burgers were chosen specifically by Chef Ed to showcase the quality of his products.
The highlight of the store is the Oklahoma Style smashed burger. Unlike the traditional burger, the smashed burger sees the patty smashed forcefully on the griddle to create a thin burger with a large surface area. This allows a large crust to form, maximizing the crunch of the patty while developing more complex flavors due to the maillard reaction. The Oklahoma Style is a regional variation where thinly-sliced onions are added to the burger before being flipped. This allows the onion to both steam and fry in the rendered beef fat, adding an additional dimension of flavor to the meat. The burger is then topped with a slice of American cheese, dill pickles, and Flipside’s own special burger sauce.
For those who want to amp up the flavors even further, the Umami Burger takes it up a notch with the addition of a house blend Umami Butter and Sauteed Shiitake Mushrooms. “I used to have another Umami Burger years ago in one of my concepts and this is a more mature version of what I did back then,” Chef Ed said.
Rounding out the 3 burgers is the Breakfast Burger. Unlike the first 2 burgers which use Angus beef patties, the Breakfast Burger has a Filipino twist with the use of Chorizo Hamonado patties. These are then prepared the same way as the Oklahoma Style Smash burger and topped with Flipside’s special burger sauce, American Cheese, and a fried egg.
Unlike most burger joints which offer fries as a side, Flipside instead offers Fried Dill Pickles and Pickles Quail Eggs for its sides. The tang and acidity of these sides do an excellent job of cutting through the richness of the burger, cleansing the palate between every bite.
Flipside is more than just a burger joint. It is also Chef Ed going back to his roots, bringing with him a more mature and refined understanding of food honed by years of working in the restaurant industry. “As you grow older, you become more mature about making your food. I became more selective and just put the minimum ingredients so that the burger patty can shine,” he said.
