Light Eaters 5: Cheese Steak Shop (Manila)

December 9, 2011

With my high school bestfriend about to leave the country before Christmas, we decided to go on a series of foodtrips. A fairly short internet search for places to eat at lead me to Cheese Steak Shop in Makati.

It’s been years since I ate a legit sub or anything remotely akin to a Philly Cheese Steak, aside from the occasional breakfast at Subway. I was particularly intrigued with the “Amoroso Rolls” that the place used, apparently to keep the original vibe/flavor of the Philly Cheese Steak.

We ordered 7-inch Classic Philly Steak sandwiches, with an order of each of the four available sides - onion rings, steak fries, garlic fries, & twister fries. Had I not been watching my diet (in preparation for the holidays), there were several more varieties on the Philly Cheese Steak that I wanted to try. Yes, on the same day.

Starting with the sandwiches, the beef loin that they use is as legit as you can get; the bread/rolls have that nice crust on the outside, but remain soft on the inside. The optional hot & sweet peppers on our sandwiches were a welcome addition, providing that ‘zing’ between bites of beef & cheese. When we were done with out sandwiches, we wished that we ordered the 10-inch ones instead. Not that the 7-inch wasn’t enough; it was simply that good! I don’t mean to sound like an artist, but there was transcendence; something in those sandwiches reminded of the subs I loved to eat when I was around 10-12 years old. 

The sides were nothing short of great as well. The onion rings, again… legit! The onion rings actually had flavor aside from the breading. The steak fries & garlic fries were pretty much the same in the way that they were cut. The garlic fries however, were smothered in a good amount of (butter?) and garlic. The twister fries were good as well, somewhat different from common fast food offerings. It was worth noting that the sides & the sandwiches were not greasy at all.

Maybe it’s just because we came on a weekday, but there were no other customers aside from my friend & I. Places that serve food as good as this deserve more customer traffic! But we’re definitely coming back, so we wouldn’t mind having a quiet place to enjoy sandwiches that may indeed “be habit forming”. 

Cheese Steak Shop Manila

GF, The E-Hotel Makati, 906 A. Arnaiz Street