Foodie Alert: Morganfield's 5th Year Anniversary Platter

P never fails to make me giddy whenever I see an unread email from her. It always mean one thing… good food! This time around, we were invited by Morganfield’s to try its anniversary platter called Presidential Platter priced at PHP3,295. After a few coordinations here and there, we all decided to enjoy the humongous platter on a Saturday. 

Hello, Morganfield’s! 

After celebrating my sister’s birthday at Buffalo Wild Wings (and used up the gift certificates I got from looloo’s 12 days of Christmas contest + R’s Bistro card discount and coupon), I headed straight to Morganfield’s for some serious eating. 

C and N were already inside when I arrived. We were given a pitcher of Tropical Fruit Tea which is a refreshing blend of mango and orange puree with fresh calamansi and orange bits. 

I loved that despite the puree overload, it wasn’t overly sweet and did the job in quenching my thirst.

After a while, the hefty platter—composed of half slab Hickory BBQ Spare Ribs, half slab Garlicky BBQ Spare Ribs, Chili Cheese Footlong Dog Pork Schnitzel, Beer Battered Prawns, Chili Cheese Nachos, Caesar Salad, corn bread and french fries—arrived. Just the sight of it made us gulp. 

How could we finish a feast that seems to be made for 6-8 persons? But we put that thought aside and went from one table to the next in search for light to take nice photos. 

Second Bite: Morganfield's Home of Sticky Bones

Birthday is meant to be the perfect reason to pig out and I decided to pig out in Morganfield’s to celebrate my special day.

Hello again, Morganfield’s.

I was lucky to win Morganfield’s sticky money from a looloo contest and I figured that I could use it to treat my family and R to this place on my birthday.

I heard that Morganfield’s sausages are superb so we got the Pork Sausage Platter (PHP465). We also ordered Chili Cheese Fries (PHP195), Hickory BBQ Spare Ribs (PHP750, half slab | PHP1,395, full slab), Chicken Roulade (PHP595) and Loaded Baked Potato (PHP125). For drinks, we got Begonia (PHP175) and Berry Easy (PHP195). 

First served were our drinks Begonia and Berry Easy.

Berry Easy (made with black grapes, blackberries, strawberries and pureed berries) was too sweet for my liking but my mom loved it. I prefer Bregonia which had chunks of kiwi, strawberries and lime in lemon lime soda with passion fruit syrup. It had a nice bubbly and refreshing taste.

Served next was the Chili Cheese Fries and I fell in love with... the cheesy part of the fries. Not all were drizzled with melted cheese and bacon bits and I wasn't really crazy over the chili con carne. But the baked fries were definitely delectable and serving size was good for sharing.

The Pork Sausage Platter was served next. The platter comes with spicy devil, smoky bandit, herby hog and chewy cheese. All four sausages taste awesome! All were juicy and flavorful. Each one can be enjoyed as is but putting some homemade garlic aioli makes the sausages even better. The spicy devil was just mildly spiced so I didn’t find it hard to eat. The chewy cheese and smoky bandit were my favorites! The sausages went really well with fries too!

I liked chicken roulade as well. It was flavorful yet not overpowering.

First Bite: Morganfield's

When I find a new restaurant, I stalk. I visit its social media pages. I check all hash tags with its name and occasionally drool on several food photos I see posted. I lurk in Looloo and read every single review about the place. And one of the places I stalked last month was Morganfield’s, the new ribs place in town that recently opened in the hardly open Uptown Mall in BGC. (Take note, BGC. It is not the UPTown Center in Quezon City. It’s the one beside Valkyrie and The Palace Pool Club. Clear? Okay, let’s move on.) So just imagine how happy I was when the adorable P of Looloo invited me to Morganfield’s for their first eat up (known as rendezvoos by the Looloo users) for 2016.

Hello, Morganfield’s!

I arrived a bit too early (I did the same last time with Le Petit Soufflé) and got to have a one-on-one chat with E, marketing head of Morganfield’s. 

From our short talk, I found out that Morganfield’s is a brand developed in Malaysia that focused on delivering delectable American dishes and specializing on ribs. 

I asked how they differentiate themselves from other ribs places here and in the US and she told me that it all boils down to the ingredients. E was proud to say that their ribs are sourced from Spain and that they are one of the few, if not the only, ribs place that serves “full slab”. She even told me to see it for myself on what a full slab should look like. (Cue: *Oooooh~*)

After a while, the others arrived and we all went gaga over the adorable mugs. And I was pretty amazed that they made the mugs gender specific. The blue mugs have pig snout with mustache and were given to the guys and the pink mugs with snout and lipstick were given to the ladies. I loved that the server took time to make sure we get the right ones. And I do hope that they keep it that way even when they're packed and busy. 

Here's the other mug design. 

Even their aprons are adorable!!!

I was starting to see flying pigs and imaginary ribs on the table when our drinks were served. I got the Agua Fresca (PHP195) which was a blend of watermelon chunks and juice with lime juice, served with rose syrup and a scoop of calamansi sorbet. The serving size of the drink was decent and could last me the whole meal if I'm not too thirsty. My issue though with my drink was... it was not thirst quenching. It was too sweet! I didn't even got a hint of lime or calamansi. All I got was the taste of syrup. Good thing the servers were very quick with my request for hot water. (Note: Hot water helps me eat more.)

As soon as everyone got their drinks, our first dish arrived. And it was the... Smokin' Duck Salad (PHP395). I absolutely loved this one from the salad dressing to the duck meat! 

The soy vinaigrette has that Asian flair to it. It was slightly sweet and salty and unlike other vinaigrette dressings I tried, this one had no weird and bitter aftertaste. Delightful! 

The greens were crisp and definitely fresh. There were slices of boiled egg and century egg too but I didn't notice that there were only two wedges for each kind. I felt really bad for getting one wedge of century egg just for myself. >.<

The applewood smoked duck was superb! Not sure how it was prepared but it reminded me of applewood smoked duck bacon. It had the right amount of fat and it was very flavorful but not overpowering. 

After putting together the greens, applewood smoked duck and century egg... my guilt for getting one wedge of century egg went *poof*. (Well, thanks too to K for saying it's a-okay for me to have it.) It was a must-order dish! Oh, did I tell you that this is not even their bestselling salad?

And just when we were about to finish our salad, the Awesome Threesome (PHP495) plates were served.

This set reminds me of the Trio platter of Chili's. This one also comes with spicy chicken wings and some carrot and celery sticks. But instead of some wraps, this set comes with Crab and Spinach dip and Russet Potato Skins.

Everyone loved the spicy chicken wings. Though flavorful enough to be enjoyed on its own, it was also great with the sour cream dip. (Note: Non-spicy food lovers rejoice! It is not that spicy. In fact, it was very very mildly spiced.)

I dipped the nacho chips on the crab and spinach dip which was very thick and creamy. It was a bit bizarre at first as my taste buds were yearning for spinach and "artichoke" instead of crab. It was good and had a nice seafood flavor to it. Though I still prefer to mix my creamed spinach with artichoke.

And I felt bad for the Russet Potato Skins. It was cold when I got to take a bite. The cheese also solidified. I bet it would have tasted so much better when it was eaten hot and fresh from the oven. But we have duties... click before lick. (Okay, it sounds terrible but I couldn't come up with a wittier way to say that we foodies have to take photos first before eating.)

I blame the scrumptious Jim Beam BBQ Iberico Baby Back (PHP950) for making the potato skin wait. It was served right after the Awesome Threesome.

But... boy oh boy! I can't turn my back from this baby! Named as the king of all glazes, this piece of juicy (and tender) meat was oozing with flavor. Why is it called Jim Beam, you ask? In order to prepare this dish, they use 300ml of Jim Beam to marinate the baby back with. Yes, we're referring to the alcohol brand. And no, you won't get drunk but you'll be intoxicated with its aroma and succulent meat.

And then finally... the skateboard ribs.