Smack'N Guamanian Grill

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

Comments

[Junichi]

Drove by on opening weekend and they had a line out the door. Looks like no lines during the week.

[Soo]

Bummer the beef, ribs and chicken were dry.

[Kirk]

Yeah, no lines at 11am during the week for us Junichi.

But you might want to try the kelaguen Soo! And it's still better than L&L.

[caninecologne]

I'll have to try those corn fritters for a future visit. I still have to try the new JJ's down south (used to be Matua's)

[Kirk]

I have JJ's on my list too CC......I'm sure you'll get there before me.

[kat]

empanadas:) look forward to this post..

[Kirk]

Thanks Kat!