Last week we wrote about our first time to visit Guam, an American territory in the Marianas, where we sampled its cuisine.
The native people of Guam, the Chamorros, are fond of chicken kelaguen—grilled or boiled chicken in a marinade of lemon juice, fresh coconut, green onions, salt and red chili peppers.
Here’s more of our adventure in this lovely tropical island in Micronesia.
Asu Smoke House
One of the restaurants we went to was Jeff’s Pirate Cove, which claims to serve the best burgers. The patty was bland, but the beef’s flavor came alive with catsup, mustard and homemade mango spicy sauce.
The chicken thigh and pork ribs barbecue were delicious.
Barbecue, by the way, is also big in Guam. Asu Smoke House—said to have won as the best barbecue place in Guam for the past three years—also served grilled ribs, as well as one of the most delicious, melt-in-your-mouth beef briskets with Chamorro rice and coleslaw.
We still dream about that dish today.
Seafood
We were also served fantastic seafood—boiled clams, mussels, prawns, crab, among others, eaten kamayan-style—at Samurai Restaurant.
Assistant manager Albert also showed us another of the restaurant’s attractions: Wagyu steak, teppan style. Sirang-sira ang diet ko!
Pika’s Café, meanwhile, boasted of Tinaktak Burger—thick grilled burger dipped in coconut milk with mixed vegetables, mainly string beans.
Meskla, a restaurant owned by chef Peter Duenas, was packed with locals. We were served a deep-fried parrotfish with a delicious coconut sauce and shrimp kilaguen—which became the most memorable dish we tasted in Guam.
3-foot-long sausages
At a night market, we sampled juicy grilled three-foot-long sausages, and large turkey legs, marinated in brine, smoked and then grilled—the best turkey leg for us.
At Pacific Star, the hotel we stayed in, we met general manager Roy Abraham, who has a working experience in food and beverage. He took us out to his hideout, a Japanese restaurant called Kai. Here we were served fish foie gras. Yum!
Tasty steaks
Back at Pacific Star, we loved eating at its restaurant, Manhattan, which is regarded as the best steakhouse in Guam. We were served USDA prime-grade sirloin steaks. With shaved Himalayan sea salt, it has to be one of the tastiest steaks our palate has ever tasted. Really yummy!
The hotel also has an authentic Indian buffet. We love Indian food when well-made. This buffet affirmed our love for this cuisine.
Our last dinner was at Katre, a restaurant owned by our good friend, chef Rox. Katre was once a hit in Quezon City’s Morato area.
Rox has since migrated to Guam where the lucky diners now enjoy his cooking. We were treated to unlimited wine, fork-tender sweet pork belly, oxtail bulalo and beef oxtail munggo. Patay ang may gout dito, but the food is very basic Pinoy—saksakan ng sarap. Even Roy Abraham comes here.
Our Guam food tour ended after seven days. Our luggage was not the only one overweight.
Now begins our never-ending quest to diet. Hay, buhay, but I love it.
Happy eating!
