If there's one foodie place that I discovered this 2018 that got me hooked, it's Pound by Todd English. Think about great grub, good coffee, sleek interiors,
attentive service and pocket-friendly prices.
What's not to love?
Pound is a spin-off of the Todd English Food Hall, that classy and trendy foodie place which opened at SM Aura Premiere in 2014 as the first celebrity chef restaurant in the country. I've never been to the food hall but I read in some blog posts that it has nine stations, one being the grill station for meat and seafood. It is here where people order gourmet burgers and presumably, the most popular of the
stations, thus, giving birth to Pound.
There is now a number of Pound stores: at Bonifacio High Street, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, Eastwood Mall, Alabang Town Center, Ayala Malls Vertis North and Robinsons Place Manila. I have so far visited the last two branches. The one at Robinsons opened last year but I wasn't too eager to try it then, to be honest, as I was intimidated by the physical store's classy appearance that got me thinking the food was expensive. Imagine black-painted walls, black couches, ambient lighting, splendid brass mugs plus candles on white marble tables. The cheapskate
in me wouldn't want to budge!
And then, finally, I looked up the menu and found out that on the contrary, the food was very affordable! Well, you can splurge on the P700 burger with foie gras if you want but it's the only pricey item on the menu. And so, I was at Pound-Robinsons for two consecutive Saturdays, one time tagging along my youngest child. On my third visit, I went with my househelp to the Vertis North store.
What we've tried so far:
attentive service and pocket-friendly prices.
What's not to love?
Pound is a spin-off of the Todd English Food Hall, that classy and trendy foodie place which opened at SM Aura Premiere in 2014 as the first celebrity chef restaurant in the country. I've never been to the food hall but I read in some blog posts that it has nine stations, one being the grill station for meat and seafood. It is here where people order gourmet burgers and presumably, the most popular of the
stations, thus, giving birth to Pound.
There is now a number of Pound stores: at Bonifacio High Street, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, Eastwood Mall, Alabang Town Center, Ayala Malls Vertis North and Robinsons Place Manila. I have so far visited the last two branches. The one at Robinsons opened last year but I wasn't too eager to try it then, to be honest, as I was intimidated by the physical store's classy appearance that got me thinking the food was expensive. Imagine black-painted walls, black couches, ambient lighting, splendid brass mugs plus candles on white marble tables. The cheapskate
in me wouldn't want to budge!
And then, finally, I looked up the menu and found out that on the contrary, the food was very affordable! Well, you can splurge on the P700 burger with foie gras if you want but it's the only pricey item on the menu. And so, I was at Pound-Robinsons for two consecutive Saturdays, one time tagging along my youngest child. On my third visit, I went with my househelp to the Vertis North store.
What we've tried so far:
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| Crispy Goat Cheese Salad, P150. This is one of their best sellers, the server told me, so I asked for it. I was curious, too, as it sounded out of the ordinary. The goat cheese, which is sour and salty, is wrapped in what looked like wanton wrappers and then deep-fried. Nice contrast there both in taste and textures, with the fresh lettuce, onions and tomato slices. However, I wasn't sold out to the raspberry vinaigrette and thought a sweetish dressing like Asian would have been better to tone down the sourness. |
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| Pound for Pound, P195. This consists of one T. E. Burger Slider and one T. E. Crispy Chicken Slider |
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| Close-up of the T. E. Crispy Chicken Slider Loved them both, the miniature beef burger and the chicken sandwich. But it was the Crispy Chicken Slider that I loved more for the perfectly battered and fried meat chicken fillet that's crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside plus the sweet-tangy sauce and crisp slaw on top. |
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| Sizzling Pound Moco (beef), P180. This one floored me! I, indeed, "pound" love served on a sizzling plate. Big, thick and flavorful Salisbury steak on top of a huge serving of garlicky fried rice, covered with peppery gravy then crowned with a sunny side up egg, what could be more perfect? I went loco over this Moco!  This wasn't on the menu but I read about this in some blogs. I asked the server at the Vertis North store and he said they did have a fowl version of the Pound Moco so I went for it. Slices of chicken breast slathered in delicious gravy over fried rice, this was really good! However, the beef version is still tops for me! |
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| Pomodoro Set, P179. The pasta is solo size and the T. E. Burger Slider, you can finish off in two huge bites so if you're famished or have big appetite, this might not be enough for you. This combo is perfect for me, tho :) I love the Pomodoro: al dente pasta bathed in light red sauce made savory by a beautiful medley of flavors from fresh tomatoes, basil and spices. Best of all, it's not sweet! |
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| Onion Cube, P90. Crunchy deep-fried onion rings that come with a dark sweet-salty dip. It's the perfect side to your burger.  What could be a better way to end a lovely meal than some lip-smacking spoonfuls of vanilla ice cream topped with brownie bits and drizzled with chocolate and caramel syrups? Woe to me, I couldn't eat more than three spoonfuls lest my blood sugar shot up. |
Brewed coffee, P100.
Strong coffee is always my drink of choice. At Pound, they have a good cup of joe, thankfully. I didn't have to go somewhere else afterwards for my caffeine fix.
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| Foodee Iced Tea, P90. My son's drink. Menu |
Pound at Ayala Malls Vertis North
At Robinsons Place Manila
Visit Pound by Todd English, folks if you're feeling like you could use a nice burger to cheer yourself up, or even if you want to eat healthy by just having a salad. This place won't disappoint. You might even be coming back for more like I did.
Happy eating!
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