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!
I was laughing so hard at "even my lunch is wearing a mask now" !! It completely looked that way in the photo. I like how they use thighs for the bbq plate. Are you able to choose a salad over rice for these plates?
Posted by: Faye | Monday, 11 May 2020 at 07:56 AM
Glad you enjoyed the photo Faye....I cracked up. Unfortunately, the plate comes with the standard issue cabbage salad....which is pretty bland.
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 11 May 2020 at 08:02 AM
That's cool the chicken is better!
Posted by: Soo | Monday, 11 May 2020 at 09:00 AM
It was much better than before Soo!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 11 May 2020 at 09:12 AM
Looks great! On an unrelated note, we picked up a couple of omakase sets from Tadokoro yesterday and really enjoyed them. Thanks for recommending them!
Posted by: Jason | Monday, 11 May 2020 at 12:11 PM
This was better than what I had on previous visits Jason! Glad you enjoyed Tadokoro....guess who went and got more take-out from there this weekend? Hope all is well.
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 11 May 2020 at 12:26 PM
good that the food was better than before:)
Posted by: kat | Monday, 11 May 2020 at 03:32 PM
It is definitely good news Kat!
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 12 May 2020 at 05:56 AM
one of the meats i ate here was really good, but the other, maybe pork, was chewier or something? ... i think the yelp check-in item (some kind of fried item) was tasty though! need a revisit for an easy meal.
Posted by: Lynn | Thursday, 14 May 2020 at 05:08 PM
Hi Lynn - I've found that the beef/pork options tend to be on the tough/chewy side and undermarinated. Were the fried items the Bunuelos Uhang - the shrimp patties (fritters)? Those were quite good initially; though were terrible on my last visit. Hope all is well!
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 15 May 2020 at 06:05 AM