Hafa Adai! Chamorro Grill.

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog.  Kirk usually writes here, but he isn't here right now. He is in an exotic land far, far away.  Well.  The land may not be exotic, but is far away for some of you and the food he is eating is exotic.  In the interim, Cathy is talking about her foray into exotic. 

Hi.  The other day, The Mister and I were driving along Mission Gorge Road and saw the two end buildings at the NorthEast corner at Zion had changed ownership last year and we kept forgetting to stop. At this point in time, we were both hungry. We remembered to stop. 
I was not interested in the Hula part, but the "Island Barbeque" sign caught my eye. Basically, Chamorro means Guamanian food.  The Mister had spent quite a bit of time in Guam and said Guam had the best food, and he thought it was the first place he had had poke.  I figured I could get poke if nothing on the menu seemed interesting. 
 Well.  No poke on the menu. Different island food here.  But interesting looking items.  Decor was Philippines, Guam and Hawwaii... We went inside.  
We placed our order, paid, sat down and waited.  The good thing about Chamorro Grill is that your food is made to order.  The only bad thing  about Chamorro Grill is that your food is made to order.  Many people came in to pick up phoned in/to go orders. There had been 5 tables with people eating when we came in.  We watched the television, read a copy of The Reader and pondered a lot about that door to the right.  The one with the red sign "Employees Only".  The door which cannot possibly open fully.  See the wall behind it, the wall with the clock, the 12 inch wide wall employees walk around to get to the kitchen?  The wall with a door. We pondered that little sort of storage area a long time. 
It was worth the wait.  The lumpia ($3.25), which we ordered as an afterthought,  were home made, filled with ground beef and peas and a nice spice.  We got 5 and not 4, as the menu stated. Perhaps because we were waiting.  These were prepared last and were very hot.  We could not eat them for a while. But they were fried properly-crispy, not greasy. Again: made here, not the frozen ones you can buy at the Asian Market.
 I wanted to try the Kadun Pika ($6.50).  Chicken in a spicy coconut sauce. Boneless, skinless thighs, at least two thighs, possibly three. The menu says braised chicken...in any case, moist and flavorful meat.  The sauce did not have any hints of coconut, but was thick (not from cornstarch), tasty and had some very nice heat to it. This was served with Calrose rice- with a hint of achoete (achiote?).  Menu says the rice is cooked with garlic, onions and other spices, but it wasn't.  I think if it had been, that would have contrasted with the pika sauce. 
Next to the cash register there was a board listing 'specials'.  The garlic shrimp cooked in crab fat ($7.95) caught my eye.  Crab fat, sometimes called crab paste, is sold in jars, not refrigerated.  I have seen it at most of the Asian markets around here. I never bought it.  I should have.  I will.   The flavor of crab fat is ...crab.  Buttery, concentrated crab. 

The very large, plump, fresh shrimp(7) in this dish still had the fresh shrimp flavor, sauteed in garlic.  The sauce had the most wonderful butter-garlic-crab flavor and lots of canned mushrooms.  We spoke to the cook-chef, who was very happy we had ordered and really liked this dish. 

This is a very nice place, the people working here are very friendly and the food is excellent.

Chamorro Grill 6628 Mission Gorge Road (at Zion-kitty corner from the Wendy's) 92120 (619) 280-2000   Website

Comments

[caninecologne]

hi cathy
i'm glad you posted on this. i saw that place a few months ago and wanted to try it. the chamorrow place here in chula vista (yokoz) sux ever since it changed ownership.

i'd like to try that kadun pika and the garlic shrimpwith the crab fat - both sound good to me.

btw - achiote is "annatto" in english and "atsuete" in tagalog. maybe 'achoete' is the chamorro way of spelling it?

there is another chamorro place called 'islander grill' located on park blvd (near the greek church) inside the Embassy Hotel. they're pretty good but the service is very island style (slow).

[caninecologne]

oops! spelled chamorro wrong!!!!!

i is a college graduate.

ha ha

[Carol]

Oh crab fat!!! Actually everything looks really good. A friend of mine mentioned this place (I think it's this place) and she said it was really good.

[Cathy]

Mission Gorge Road leads right into Santee, CC, and before the 52 was put in, we'd drive it daily. I saw Yokoz earlier this year and planned to do a post on it. Kirk did a post on Islander Grill in 2007. Its OK if we spell phonetically. Sometimes.
Probably is the place, Carol, nothing else even close in this part of town. Just started being open on Sunday, if you have time on the weekend...

[john]

Where can I get some of that crab fat???

[caninecologne]

hi cathy - yokoz used to be yokozuna's which started back in 98 (or 99). they were pretty good back then. there are diff't owners now and they really skimp on the quality and quantity of the food. i blogged it a while back and same with islander grill (used the coupons in the entertainment value books - helps out).

[Cathy]

John, I am pretty sure I have seen it at 99Ranch as well as some smaller Markets in National City. I haven't been shopping since we went to eat at Chamorro Grill. I know it is jarred and on the regular (not refrigerated) shelves. Thanks for stopping by to comment.
CC- I remember it was something else, and used to shop at the Henry's in that mall, thinking I would stop and try it, but never did. I used to use the Entertainment Books regularly. It helped me feel better I did not pay full price for sucky meals. There are quite a few interesting places to eat in that part of town.

[bill]

What an interesting place glad it was a hit with you. I sure learned something today about Guamanian I didn't have the slightest clue.

[janfrederick]

Is it actually called "crab fat" on the label? Or is there a special name?

[Cathy]

It seems to be a cross of Filipino and Hawaiian, Bill. Kirk explained it on his Islander Grill post in 2007. It is good food in any case.

Hi JF. I sent you a google.images link that has photos of some jars. Most seem to be Filipino. Yes. It either says "Crab Fat" or "Crab Paste".

[caninecologne]

hi cathy
yes, having coupons kind of makes me feel better for not paying full price in case the meals are bad. in the case of islander grill on park blvd, it was great and a great bargain.

by the way, as a Filipina American, i jus want to point out that the word Filipino should only have one 'p'. :)

[cathy]

So sorry, CC. I should know better! I just corrected my spelling...no spellcheck on comments...I will never forget forever.

[Dennis]

Hi Cathy, I've been to Guam once but was too young to remember much what we ate.. This place looks pretty good!

[Cathy]

It is very good Dennis. All the places that last around Kaiser Hospital seem to be good, or go out of business fast.

[Wandering Chopsticks]

You always find the coolest places. I want to try chicken kelaguen. Or rather, every time Guamanian food comes up, that's the dish everyone always talks about.

[Cathy]

Thanks, WC. Yes everyone seems to like kelaguen. I've had it three times and it didn't send me, so I try different things hoping to find one I crave. I like everything and don't dislike any of the food items I have had. It's the whole "send me" factor I haven't found.