I love hamburgers to a fault, and I wouldn't mind getting out of my way somewhere in the metropolis to sink my teeth into really flavorful, juicy meat patty stuffed in a good bun.

But of late, I couldn't seem to find anything out there that's quite to my taste and scrumptious enough to make my eyeballs feel like they'd pop out of their sockets. That is, until I chanced upon those being charcoal-grilled by Shangri-La's Raging Bull Burgers at The Assembly Grounds at The Rise, along Malugay Street, in Makati City.

My first sampling from this particular establishment was the so-called Mighty Beast, classic hamburger with a patty comprised of about one-third pound U.S. Angus beef cuts marinated in just salt and pepper.

With a 70/30 meat-to-fat ratio, it is a hearty sandwich with the premium patty topped with griddle maple bacon, aged cheddar and a piquant spicy beer mustard sauce and the usual lettuce, tomato and dill-pickle (or LTD). Simply said, it lived up to what the house calls it, a beast of a burger, alright.

I also had, on a separate occasion, the house's Raging Wagyu, which you might say is an apt signature burger bearing the establishment's name, with a predictably tender intensely flavored patty.   

I had my order prepared naked — that is — sans barbecue sauce, no chili chutney or dill pickle. I didn't want to have any other strong-flavored ingredient messing up with the flavor of the Wagyu meat patty and, sure enough, I could feel a rush at first bite.   

There's a third meat burger variant on the menu — one that comes with less toppings for those who want their burgers simple and straightforward, that is, just U.S. Angus beef patty.

Meatless diet

For vegetarians, there's The Clean Slate — crispy squash patty with kidney beans, lettuce, cauliflower parsley tabbouleh stuffed inside the house corn bun. Maybe I'll come around to trying that at one point in the future, but for now, leave me to enjoy the pleasure of savoring genuine, honest-to-goodness (premium) meat, please.

Those on a meatless diet have a choice of either having  the house's Kickin' Chicken, which is grilled chicken thigh fillet slathered with the house's barbecue sauce, paired with maple bacon; or the Naked Fish — fried crisp fillet of grouper, LTD and tartar sauce stuffed in the same corn bun, which Raging Bull uses for all its sandwiches.

You can have your sandwich with the usual soda, or pair it with any of these craft beer variants — dry-hopped Raging IPA, with an aroma of citrus; El Toro Blanco which sports a spicy, citrus-and-pine flavor; and a refreshing Knockout Wheat Ale with tropical fruit notes — all customized exclusively for the house by local craft beer artisans from Nipa Brew, with, I imagine, hamburger pairing in mind.

Also available are San Mig Pale and Light, along with Stella Artois and Corona beers and — if you fancy something stronger — Raging Bull bourbon — while the kids sip their soda and slurp through vanilla, mocha or chocolate milkshakes.   

One thing going for the establishment is that it bears the Shangri-La stamp of quality — you know you are getting real good stuff — but the real bonus here, I think, is how the house has priced its fare on the menu. Sandwiches start at P295, and the most expensive, all below P400. Amazing, seeing how everything on the menu is genuinely premium-grade level.

Raging Bull Burgers are located at the Shangri-La The Fort, BGC, Taguig City; Assembly Grounds at The Rise, Malugay Street, Makati City; and at the Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City.