MANILA -- The Grid Food Market, the high-end food court of Power Plant Mall in Rockwell, Makati, welcomes three new concepts as it announces expansion plans for later this year.

For those who have missed Chef Patrick Go’s cooking since his restaurant The Black Sheep closed, he’s back with Gochu-Gang in Stall 05.

“My previous restaurant was Filipino and Chinese. I wanted to try something different, something challenging,” said Go, a big fan of Korean food, who is putting his own spin to popular Korean dishes.

Go’s Fire Noodles are unapologetically spicy, even at the lowest spiciness level. He serves brioche alongside the noodles for guests to make a carb-on-carb open face sandwich. The result is a surprising balance of heat and buttery sweetness from the bread.

His standout version of bulgogi is served with duck breast. It’s interesting as the duck’s fatty and gamey flavors go well with kimchi when served as a lettuce wrap.

Besides these, Korean favorites such as chapchae, samgyupsal, beef bulgogi, kimchi chigae, and kalbi chim are on Gochu-Gang’s menu as well.

BEEFIER BURGERS

The Beef has been on several best burger lists ever since it appeared on the local foodie radar. Many burger fans were sad to see it gone from its old location. But now it’s back with a vengeance. Aptly named Beefier, it sheds its burger purist image by expanding its menu.

The no-frills burger and cheeseburger that The Beef was known for are still on the menu. Its winning formula of a well-cooked burger patty on a potato bun is still as good as ever.

Beefier’s Gravy Boat Burger Steak just shows how good the patty is. The patty is well cooked with a nice crusty sear. When you take a bite of the patty, it is slightly salty. But when combined with the Shinozaki rice and creamed corn, it’s makes for a filling meal.

Its top-of-the-line burger is the Cheesiest Burger. Beefier calls this a reverse burger because the cheese is below the beef patty. The cheese itself resembles a mozzarella stick that’s been expanded into patty – golden brown and crunchy on the outside, gooey and stringy on the inside.

Other items on the menu are ribeye and hanger steaks. Beefier even has steak and burger take-home kits if you want the grill-it-yourself experience.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN COMFORT FOOD

The Grid already has excellent Thai food at Flower Boy. But what about the rest of Southeast Asia?

Chefs Him Uy De Baron and Noel Mauricio show some love for Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean comfort food with their menu at Babu in Stall 07.

Laksa is the stall’s highlight. The broth is creamy and rich from the seafood the laksa was made of. I personally miss the usual heat from this Malaysian dish but Chef Him said that guests can request for more aggressive spice. The Premium Laksa is the recommended order as it is packed with mussels and prawn.

The Hainanese Chicken is faithful to what could be found in Singapore’s hawker centers. The chefs add kropeck, slices of cucumber, and fried shallots to their chicken rice for texture and flavor.

Indonesia’s contribution to the menu is the Nasi Lemak. This heaping plate of rice, dilis, peanuts, hard-boiled egg and a choice of grilled salmon or fried chicken is a filling meal. Add sambal if you want add some kick to this dish.

If you did add too much chili or sambal, order the Calamansi Pandan or the Almond Grass Jelly to cool off the spice.

*****

Meanwhile, visitors may have noticed a boarded-up section on one corner of the food court. The Tasteless Group, the group behind The Grid, are hard at work preparing a new 180-seater wing that will house six new concepts – a stall by chef Robby Goco, a spinoff of Legaspi Village favorite Your Local, healthy cuisine from chef Natalia Moran from the Sunny Side Café in Boracay, the return of Rockwell pioneer Macau Pigeon House, a concept from chef “Ton” Tassanakajohn of Michelin-star Bangkok restaurant Le Du (which also made the Top 20 of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants), and and one more yet to be announced.

The new wing is slated to open late October this year.