Guamanian/Chamorro

Lunch at JJ’s Island Grindz (Bonita) with JJ of course

December 15, 2025 mmm-yoso Dog Friendly, Guamanian/Chamorro, Plate Lunch

Back at the end of September, I had the pleasure of sharing a wonderful lunch with two of my favorite people; those who’ve been reading our little blog for a while know Cathy, along with our long time friend CC, who while she doesn’t update her Pink Candles at Ridgemont High blog anymore, has quite a presence on Instagram these days. The place chosen was JJ’s Island Grindz in Bonita. I was kind of excited since there’s not much Chamorro/Guamanian available these days since Smack’N Guamanian Grill has closed, as well as the Midway location of Guahan. I’m thinking that other than JJ’s, Chamorro Grill might be the only other place serving this style of food South of the 56?

Anyway, we had a wonderful time…though so much of it was catching up on things, so I decided not to do a post.

The food was plentiful and the conversations wonderful! Of course, both CC and Cathy asked me why I didn’t bring JJ…..I should have, right?

Anyway, I brought the leftovers home and told the Missus She might enjoy those pork ribs; which were chewy, but nicely flavored with touches of smokiness and soy. Of course She didn’t believe me; but I removed all the meat from the bones and chopped it up and She ended up enjoying it. And we both thought that taking JJ to a place named “JJ’s” would be kinda fun. So, about a month later we ended up heading over to Bonita and the strip mall where JJ’s is located….with JJ in tow. Man, I remember when this place was Ono’s Cafe!

The nice young lady directed us to a table on the patio. She was so nice to JJ and when we told Her his name she could not stop laughing!

Of course we weren’t going to order the sushi rolls or sushi burritos and that kine’ stuff from the huge menu. We got the Chamorro Combo and I was curious, based on how smoky the ribs were, to try the Kalua Pig.

The portions here are fairly sizeable.

The Missus wasn’t fond of the potato salad, though She really enjoyed the red rice, which I did as well. Great texture, savory tones, a hint of smokiness, and to us, even a mild acidity. She was not a big fan of the kelaguen, it was chopped too coarse, without a nice sour-spicy kick, and lacking in the hint of coconut She loves in the version I make. The finadene was too mild for Her taste, but the young lady brought over some of the spicy finadene which helped things out.

The ribs were flavored as She remembered, though strangely, the Missus preferred them the next day as leftovers. Removed from the bone and chopped!

As for the Kalua Pig.

Well, I do like the red rice here. The pork was nice and smokey, but strangely….very strangely, wasn’t salty and porky enough for me. I mean, I don’t ever recall wanting to add salt to my kalua pig! But for me; it’s the mushy, almost watery texture of the pork I didn’t enjoy. Again, strangely, the pork was better the next day after it firmed up a bit and I added some Alaea to it. It’s still not my favorite though.

As for JJ’s, I think we’ll return, so the Missus can get those ribs and perhaps I’ll something else from the menu. The service was warm and welcoming.

And JJ had what Cathy called his “hakuna matata” moment!

JJ’s Island Grindz
4154 Bonita Rd.
Bonita, CA 91902
Current Hours:
Sun – Thurs 11am – 8pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 9pm

Chamorro Grill Revisited

May 30, 2023 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Guamanian/Chamorro

A while back FOY "ChrisR" sent me an email recommending the PSER at Chamorro Grill. That would be Portuguese Sausage, Eggs, and Rice for those who haven't spent much time in Hawai'i. I had meant to drop by; but PSER is kind of a breakfast thing for me, and Chamorro Grill doesn't open until like 11am. Recently, I needed to take my car in for servicing in the Mission Gorge area and by the time my vehicle was ready it was nearly 11. So, I thought it would be a good time to check out the PSER at Chamorro Grill.

Chamorro Grill Rev 01

Man, would you believe it's been almost 13 years since I last visited! Yeow.

Chamorro Grill Rev 02

The place looks basically the same. I went and placed my order at the counter, the Portuguese Sausage, Eggs, and Rice ($13) and a small side of Kelaguen ($3). I ordered my eggs easy over. About 15 minutes later my food was ready.

Chamorro Grill Rev 03 Chamorro Grill Rev 05 I got my plate with Red Rice instead of white. The rice was done quite well, moist, good texture, there was another scoop of rice hiding under the eggs. There was a good amount of Portuguese Sausage, which was really crisp and hard, almost like it was deep fried! While I do like the exterior of my sausage crisp; this had taken it a bit far. The sausage was dry. The eggs were a nice easy-over and that egg yolk flowed beautifully over the rice. No off flavors: though I needed to get some salt as it seems that they don't season the eggs. I also like my eggs crisp around the edges.

I was curious as to how the Kelaguen would be.

Chamorro Grill Rev 04

While lacking in chilies, the chicken was much more finely chopped than what I'd had here previously. It was moist and tender, good sour tones, perfect sodium level. The finedene was strange; quite salty, but not sour enough. Still, this was a decent version.

The folks working were nice, they told the thank you and goodbye as I left. I'll need to make sure not to wait 13 years to return!

Chamorro Grill
6628 Mission Gorge Rd.
San Diego, CA 92120
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 8pm

Thanks for the email and recommendation ChrisR!

COMC: Revisits to Smack’N Guamanian Grill, R & B Filipino Cuisine, and Krispy Krunchy Chicken

January 13, 2023 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Filipino Restaurants, Guamanian/Chamorro, Sisig

I’m just going to do mostly photos in this C(learing) O(ut the) M(emory) C(ard) post. I’ve done so many posts on these places.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill:

**** Smack’N Guamanian Grill has closed

Been here so many times since they opened in 2019. I usually get the same thing; the Chebot BBQ Chicken, which is now $17.79. It was $15.79 on my last visit.

Sm Rev 02

For some reason, the chicken wasn’t nicely grilled and was really chewy; the Kelaguen was super bland. This was disappointing.

This is what it looked like on previous visit.

Sm Rev 03

Man, raise the prices and cut down on the quality and execution? I hope this is just an aberration, but I’m going to give this place a rest for a while.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill
9506 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92126

R & B Filipino Cuisine:

Another regular “turo-turo” stop for me since I first visited in 2008! 2008??? Man, what were you doing in February of 2008?

I basically get sisig and whatever just comes out of the kitchen or looks good. So this time it was the Sisig and Beef Mechado. I can’t put it away like I used to, so I go with “half rice” nowadays.

RB Rev 01 RB Rev 03 The sisig had decent spice, balanced with some good sour tones. This might be the best I’ve had here in terms of seasoning and flavor. The lechon kawale was on the chewy and hard side; but still, I liked the flavors.

R&B has this weird habit of keeping large and ponderous slices of meat in their stews, which I’ve mentioned before. The meat was tough and there was a kind of greasiness to the dish.

RB Rev 02

At least the sisig was good.

And I know what “FOY” JanFrederick was doing in February of 2008. He recommended that I give R&B a try….almost 15 years ago! Thanks Jan!

R & B Filipino Cuisine
11257 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Krispy Krunchy Chicken:

**** Krispy Krunchy Chicken is now a location of Cluck n Sip

This is totally “low hanging fruit”. It’s so easy for me when I’m shopping at 99 Ranch Market (I know of folks who still call it “Ranch 99”, do you?). I place an order and return to pick it up on my way out of the store. It always handles the trip back home with no problem. And on this day, they fried it up fresh because there were no wings ready.

COMC KKC 01

Potato wedges are usually a bit on the dry side; but like the name says the Krispy Krunchy Chicken, is still indeed crispy and crunchy. For me, this always needs Crystal Hot Sauce or Tabasco to cut thru the fried tones and saltiness. It’s not amazing and worth going out of your way for, I call it “Popeye’s elevated”. But it’s a pretty consistent product, convenient to get when I go shopping, I guess it fills a niche.

Krispy Krunchy Chicken
5950 Balboa Ave (In the 99 Ranch Market Food Court)
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

The Rule of Three – Revisits to GyroGrill, LouZiana Food, and Smack’N Guamanian Grill

August 4, 2021 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Greek Food, Guamanian/Chamorro, Sandwiches

So, I recently started returning to places fairly close to the office and when setting up this post I noticed something about three of these places. The number three comes into play. All three places are on Miramar Road. This is my third post on these places since the pandemic started…..yes, it’s been that long. And all three are, well….take out visits. The one big difference is in my ordering mechanism.

So here goes.

GyroGrill:

Gyrogrill actually opened during the pandemic and my first post was back in October of last year.

Since service and turnaround is fairly quick at GG….a big plus is that they open at 9am so I can get our lunches at around 10 and the place is empty and the parking lot isn’t crazy. I actually order at the restaurant.

As I mentioned in my follow-up post, I….and my coworkers basically get one thing here. The pork gyros combo with handcut potatoes.

So even though the pork gyros here isn’t in the same league as Zgara, it’s sometimes a bit on the dry side and could be more aggressively seasoned, it’s way better than the ubiquitous Kronos stuff you get almost everywhere else. Decent pork flavor and everyone enjoys the crispy hand cut potatoes. And I’ve kinda gotten used to the really thick Tzatziki.

Gyrogrill
6780 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 9am – 7pm
Sat 9am – 6pm
Closed Sunday

LouZiana Food:

**** LouZiana Food has closed

I think I’m pretty good at taking direction and on my last post on LouZiana Grill back in January of this year, “FOY” Dereck wrote this in the comments:

“Kirk, I don’t know how you can get out of there without a roast beef po boy. It isn’t like the debris sandwiches from NOLA, but it sure as hell does taste good when I want a fix!”

So, ok I decided to try the roast beef po’ boy. My mechanism for ordering here (there’s no online ordering) is to call in. LZ can get a bit busy at times and I still am a bit put off by crowds. The folks working are always friendly and my order is always waiting when I arrive.

I mentioned in my previous post during the pandemic, that I’m not a big fan of the bread here. But in this framework it does real well. Because sheesh…..

Oh geez, look at all that remoulade sauce! But that bread holds up real well and is almost tailormade for all that mayo goodness. In fact, when I bit into one end of the sandwich…it basically “sharted” remoulade out the other end. Luckily, I ate over the wrappers! The sauce was fairly balanced; not too much sour-pickle juice tones, though I like my remoulade to be more garlicky and spicy this was not bad. Standard issue shredded iceberg and tomatoes. The one thing about not having and overly strong sauce is that I could actually taste the roast beef.

A messy, but pretty good sandwich. Thanks for the recommendation Dereck!

LouZiana Food
7128 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 8pm

Smack’N Guamanian Grill:

**** Smack’N Guamanian Grill has closed

Much like GyroGrill, I pretty much get the same thing from Smack’N Guamanian Grill during my pandemic takeout visits. The Chebot Plate, the combo of BBQ Chicken and Kelaguen (I sub out an extra scoop of Kelaguen for the cabbage slaw), with Red Rice. Smack’N has online ordering which I use.

And even though on my previous two pandemic visits the chicken was “masked” (i.e covered with foil)….I guess with new CDC guidelines, masking is now optional!

Smack’N has been pretty consistent over the last couple of visits and I know what to expect. The Kelaguen is very moist, though lacking in coconut tones and spice. It’s not overly salty, has mild citrus tones, and is quite easy to take. The finedene is also fairly mild as well. I actually take the Kelaguen home and use my homemade finedene…..because, as you can tell, this a generous amount of food.

The BBQ Chicken is nicely grilled, fairly tender, and has really good salt-soy balance. It’s much better than what you get from many of those “Hawaiian BBQ” places.

The Red Rice does a fine job of soaking up the chicken drippings and is quite moist.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill
9506 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 7pm
Closed on Sundays

You know, it’s hard to believe that I’ve now done three posts on these places during the pandemic……it just seems to go on and on. My hope is that the next time I do a post on one of these places; I’ll be eating in and the worse will be but a tiny speck in our “rearview mirror”.

Take care everyone!

Takeout From Smack’N Guamanian Grill (Again)

December 16, 2020 mmm-yoso Guamanian/Chamorro

**** Smack’N Guamanian Grill has closed

I had a busy day in the office….it seemed non-stop from when I got in at 520….before I knew it……it was noon! I usually have lunch way before then. Since I was spending the whole day in the office and was famished, I decided to place an order from Smack’N Guamanian Grill. Man, had it already been 7 months since I ordered takeout from Smack’N? I guss time flies when you’re in pandemic mode…..

Anyway, I ordered, jumped in the car, drove over…..

I parked, waltzed in, my order was waiting, was handed my package, jumped back in the car, and drove back to the office.

Like the last time; I ordered the Chebot Plate, but replaced the cabbage salad with more kelaguen. And like before, my plate was fully masked.

Though I have to say; that BBQ Chicken wasn’t doing a good job of social distancing from the red rice or the kelaguen…..

Man, this was a ton of food. I barely finished one scoop of the nice and moist red rice, love how they place the chicken on the rice allowing the juices to add to the flavor, and maybe two pieces of chicken; well marinated, a bit on the chewy side, but still way better than most Hawaiian BBQ places. The chicken was perhaps a bit on the salty side; but it still had some nice sweet tones to it.

I had a bite or two of the kelaguen and saved the rest for the Missus, who said it was better than what She previously tried from Smack’N, though She still used what little finedene I still had in the fridge to “top it off”.

In my opinion the kelaguen still lacks coconut and spice, but has really good citrus tones, and wasn’t overly salty. It was also quite moist and more tender than what I’d had here before.

It seems like the food is improving here. For a kid from Hawaii, this really had the salty-sweet-soy sauce “comfort” flavors I’m familiar with. So no complaints….and heck I got two meals out of this. It’s not fancy or hip, but just solid good grindz……and I’ll take it over what I recently had (I was talked into) from L&L any day of the week.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill
9506 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92126
(858) 762-2544
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs Noon – 7pm
Fri – Sat Noon – 8pm
Closed on Sundays

Covid-19 Takeout – Smack’N Guamanian Grill

May 11, 2020 mmm-yoso Guamanian/Chamorro

**** Smack’N Guamanian Grill has closed

These days, I usually get to work between 515-530am….and sometimes, like on this day, there’s an unending chain of meetings, calls, and fires to put out. It was past noon and I decided to call Smack’N Guamanian Grill to see if they were open. And the young man who answered said they are open from noon from Monday – Saturday right now, so lucky me I guess since if I’d called earlier there might have been no answer and I would have assumed that the place wasn’t open.

Anyway I placed my order, jumped in the car, and went down the street to Snack’N.

At this time, Smack’N is only accepting Credit Card transactions; no cash.

My BBQ Chicken plate was waiting; it was less than 5 minutes to pay, grab, and go.

Returning to the office, I removed the plate from the package and opened it……the first thought that went thru my mind when I saw the plate was; “sheesh, even my lunch is wearing a mask now!”

This might be the best plate I’ve had from Smack’N! The chicken was much better, nicely “grilled”, fairly moist, decently tender, good salty-soy tones, much better then what I had before. The best thing about having the chicken on top of the red rice was that the drippings had permeated the rice; adding additional moisture and flavor, a winning combination.

The Kelaguen was pretty much what I’d had on my previous visit; lacking in coconut and spice, with good citrus tones and not overly salty. Sadly I was given one small container of finedene.

Overall, this did the job….and it was way too much food. The chicken was much better than what I’d had previously and better than what I’ve had at other Guamanian/Chamorro places in San Diego…..heck, I’d even take it over most of the generic Hawaiian BBQ places in town.

I ended up taking most of the Kelaguen home to have the Missus try it out….She wasn’t too impressed and ended up pouring a ton of the stuff I had in the fridge on it. And guess what the Missus had me make that sweltering weekend?

Still, I did enjoy that chicken, so I’ll definitely return.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill
9506 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126
Currently open at noon (closed Sundays) and only accepting credit cards

Hope everyone is safe and in good health!

Revisits – Smack’N Guamanian Grill and Gaya Gaya

November 14, 2019 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Guamanian/Chamorro, Sisig

Some revisits to a couple of places that opened on Miramar Road this year.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill:

**** Smack’N Guamanian Grill has closed

I was feeling a bit hungry and it had been over four months since Smack’N Guamanian Grill opened in the former location of Bann. So I decided to head on over and see how the Kelaguen was these days.

I arrived right when they opened and things weren’t overly busy.

Ordering was easy. I just went with the two items I enjoyed the most over my previous visits; the Kelaguen (aka the “Fan Fav” – $10.95) and a side order of the Bunuelos Uhang, (Shrimp Patties on the menu $3).

The Finadene here is now self-serve and has a hilarious sign on it – “NOT ICE TEA”. I asked the young man manning the counter and he confirmed that folks had gone there with cups, thinking it was iced tea and actually tried to drink the stuff! Hilarious!

Having packed like four containers of finedene I made my way back to the office. This kelaguen and subsequent side dishes were consistent with my previous visits, the chicken medium chopped, citrus forward, really lacking in spiciness or hints of coconut. The cabbage is basically coleslaw mix with some finedene….hardly any flavor, as I added two containers to give this at least some flavor. The rice was more chewy than on my previous visits.

What wasn’t in line with what I’d had before were the Shrimp and Corn “patties”…..which were actually balls and were totally incinerated.

Everything on the outside was hard and bitter, this was just totally gross. Why would anyone serve this?

For your reference from a previous visit.

It just kind of ruined my meal….just a total lack of quality control.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill
9506 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126

Gaya Gaya:

***** Gaya Gaya has closed

Man, Gaya Gaya has been open six months already! Soo’s post reminded me that I should head back and see how things are doing.

I dropped by for lunch and the place was totally empty during my entire visit….it’s a large space, which really makes things seem even more deserted.

The young lady who was my Server was such a joy…so cheerful and funny.

I was tempted to order what I enjoyed the most during my previous visits (other than perhaps the balut), the Adobo Rice Bowl, but decided to go “riceless”. I was tempted by something called the “balut surprise” but I’ll save that for the next time.

I started with the Pig Ear Sisig ($12.50), which was a mixed blessing.

The pig ears were nicely fried; crunchy, chewy and the sunnyside up egg, while a tad overcooked for my liking was fine. This dish really lacked the spicy, acidic-sour tones I enjoy in sisig. Pickled onions, jalapenos were used, which were ok bites, but just didn’t stand up well to the porkiness of the pig ears, which didn’t seem sauced……this just seemed like a hipster version of the dish for folks afraid of the strong flavors of sisig. Too bad; when I saw Pig Ear Sisig on the menu; I thought about the last time I’d had a more traditional version of the dish.

The Pinakbet ($9) on the other hand was better than what I’d previously had at Gaya Gaya.

The last time I had the pinakbet here; ampalaya (bittermelon) was MIA. This time, while a bit on the sparse side; there was enough to add a nice tannic-bitterness to the dish. Which balanced out the light sweetness of the perfectly cooked (not mushy) pumpkin. The eggplant was buttery-tender without being mushy and there was enough bagoong to give this dish a nice savory-salty “oomph”. The green beans were a bit too large and a tad undercooked and tough for my taste, but that’s splitting hairs. I enjoyed this dish.

Like I mentioned earlier; my Server was a joy. This wasn’t a cheap meal by any means…over $20 for what is considered two apps. Is it “elevated-modern” Filipino cuisine? I’m not sure yet.

Sitting in this ghost town for lunch made me wonder how much business Gaya Gaya was doing. I’m hoping weekends, dinner, and Happy Hour is taking up the slack as the place is now closed on both Mondays and Tuesdays.

Gaya Gaya
7580 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126

Smack’N Guamanian Grill

July 16, 2019 mmm-yoso Guamanian/Chamorro

**** Smack’N Guamanian Grill has closed

After a short for Smack ‘N to open and a couple misfires on when they were actually opening; I finally made it.

It’s a nice; tidy shop.

And the folks are very friendly.

I got a smile seeing cans of Your Lemon Powder, an ingredient I use to balance out flavors in my Kelaguen on the counter.

And the nice, what I assume are photos of the owner’s family. Really enjoyed that personal touch.

And, of course I ordered what I typically do when first visiting Guamanian restaurants. As I noted way back 2007; one of my coworkers, and sort of a drinking buddy was from Guam. We had a cookout at our friend’s house and his Mom was in town. She made Kelaguen and the rest is history……

Here it’s on many of the plates, but if you want it to be all Kelguen, you’ll find it on “Fan Fav” ($10.95). The Kelaguen is chopped to a medium texture; is quite lemon-forward if you will; not from the Yours Powder, but quite a bit of lemon juice. It was a bit short in the coconut and chili pepper department. In fact, it wasn’t spicy at all. I asked about Boonie Peppers and was given a blank look….so am not sure if they have that. It was moist, fairly tender, and perfectly edible. The finadene is less sour than other versions I’ve had; a bit more on the salty side, and also not very spicy.

The rice was perfect; just moist enough, and great when you hit it with some finadene.

The cabbage salad was basically coleslaw mix with findene on it.

This was not bad; the portion size; especially all the rice was quite generous.

So, Calvin and Daniel decided they wanted to try this stuff. So, I went back like a day later.

And got two plates.

Starting with what you could consider to be the “mix plate”; “Yona Rules”. Yes, $21.95 might seem a tad expensive; until you open it and see this.

The kelaguen was still decent, seems like they’ve got their consistency down. I especially enjoyed the Bunuelos Uhang; the shrimp and corn fritters; which was still hot and crispy when I got to the office. Nice sweetness from the corn; yes, it could use more shrimp, but this was seasoned nicely and was a winnah! The lumpia was crisp, though kind of greasy. The chicken and ribs were very much like what I’ve gotten at other Guamanian places; on the try side. The ribs were especially tough and lacked flavor. The chicken, while on the dry side, was decently seasoned, and with a dose of finadene was fine.

I also got BBQ Beef – “chebot”, they have two sizes of their basic plates at Smack’N; chebot means “fat”, while dikike means….well, you can figure it out “small”. Of course with three of us sharing I got the “chebot” ($15.95). It was a lot of beef.

The beef, while of the dry side was fairly tender. It did need a bunch of finadene to help it out as it was on the bland side.

Honestly; while the beef and the chicken weren’t great, it’s still better than what I’ve had at L&L. Those ribs….well, it would take me some convincing.

The folks here are quite friendly, the portions quite generous. On both visits, the really nice young man, I believe his name is Christian came out to chat with customers. I could see three older women and a man cooking in the kitchen. It’s nice to have a decent change of pace in the area. I’ll come back for the kelaguen (and the Bunuelos Uhang), I’ve got to try the empanadas; though it will take some convincing for me to try those ribs again.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill
9506 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Tues – Thurs 11am – 8pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 10pm

Monday Meanderings – Smack’n Guamanian Grill Coming to Miramar, No Moa’ Poke at Zarlitos, and Some Snackage

June 24, 2019 mmm-yoso Guamanian/Chamorro, Poke, Stuff

I haven't done one of these for a bit, so here are a couple of things I saw this past weekend.

Smack'n Guamanian Grill Taking Over the Bann Bann Cutlet & Teriyaki Location:

Noticed this as I drove past the old Bann Cutlet & Teriyaki location on Miramar. In case you don't know; Bann has reopened in the new H Mart.

I'll miss Bann, but it looks like some Kelaguen is coming our way?

9506 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126

No Moa' Poke at Zarlitos:

I was hoping to grab some poke this past weekend so I drove down to Zarlitos, which I thought made some pretty decent poke, it had become a favorite of the Missus, and I enjoyed having a "Poke-silog" from time to time. First thing I noticed was a sign on the door announcing that Zarlitos was raising their prices. I walk in and quickly noticed no poke in the fridge and a sign that said there has been a management change and no more poke.

Looks like I'm going to have to work on a replacement.

Zarlitos Family Restaurant
505 East 8th St.
National City, CA 91950

And finally……

A Bit of "Snackage":

During my last trip to the SGV for an appointment; I stopped by Hong Kong Plaza, which has gone thru so many changes since we lived in the neighborhood in the late 90's. I quickly noticed how much HK Market had changed; especially the snack selection. So, when we recently drove up to the SGV for lunch (that post is coming soon), I convinced the Missus to drop by the market.

At first She wasn't too keen on the idea……but then

She saw the snacks and had a pretty good haul.

The salted egg fish skin is pretty heady stuff; deeply savory, and not cheap at almost ten bucks a package.

We did have a good time…..and because I was curious, I also got a bottle of the 3 year aged black vinegar ($8.29!!!) for my jiaozi as well.

While I was there, I actually saw a customer grab that bottle on the left, open the cap, and pop the tab to have a whiff. Sigh…..some things never change.

Hong Kong Supermarket
18414 Colima Rd #1
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Guahan Grill (Midway)

July 11, 2017 mmm-yoso Guamanian/Chamorro

**** This location of Guahan Grill has closed.

Way back when, the Missus used to make me drive up to Oceanside for Kelaguen from Guahan Grill. That went on for a couple of weeks; until we had two pretty bad meals….which had me making my "Kind of Kelaguen and Fast Finadene" from that point on.

Back in January, Guahan opened a location in the Midway area and I put it on "my list" for a visit. For some reason, it took me like 6 months to finally drop by.

Sorry about the photo of the sign. There was a giant semi parked in front of the place during my entire visit.

I like the set-up here. Bright and wide open, almost looking like a "gastropub" of sorts.

I basically went with the exact thing I ordered during my first visit to Guahan…way back when. The combination Pork Ribs with Kelaguen (of course)….called "Guahan Special", this came with a salad and empanada.

Of course I had to taste the Finadine, which was pretty good. Much better than what we had during our last two visits to the Oceanside location, which was almost all soy sauce, barely a hint of sour. I do like my finadene a bit more sour and spicy. So I asked for some boonie peppers, but they were out. Bummer. There was of course red rice, nice textures, mild in flavor, livened up with finadene. The empanada was not as good as I recalled; crisp, but with hardly any filling, which was very bland. The kelaguen was also pretty bland; I taste ginger in this, no coconut, no spice, kind of dry…..it really needs the finadene. The pork ribs were as I remembered, perhaps even better, as the meat came off the bone cleanly. These were far from bland, edging on salty….but I was pleased with them.

My Server, a very friendly and pleasant young lady, Brazilian I believe, was a joy.

So yes, I'll be back. I need to try some of the items on the menu. Especially since I don't have to drive up to Oceanside any longer. I'll have to see if I can talk the Missus into coming. With the state of kelaguen in our household, that's going to be a challenge.

Speaking of a challenge….this shop is hidden behind from Rosecrans in the same building as Native Foods and Pick-up Stix, next to Yummy Buffett. Man, talk about setting the bar low in this strip mall….though I know folks who like the Gourmet Bagger.

Guahan Grill
3373 Rosecrans St
San Diego, CA 92110
Hours:
Tues – Sun 11am – 9pm