"Chamorro Resturant"
The other day, I took a different bus home and one of the stops was right in front of a Chamorro restaurant. Imagine my surprise at an actual Chamorro restaurant in Seattle! It was in a small, shack of a building, but there was a latte stone and the words Chamorro BBQ. My heart jumped! When Mike got home, we went back to the place to investigate.
A Filipina woman greeted us as we walked in. Mike asked if she was from Saipan. She shook her head and said, "No, my husband is." I saw a man in the back, scrambling from one end to the other. I scanned the menu eagerly for Chamorro cuisine like chicken kelaguen. But there was none, save for some BBQ, but the only Chamorro thing about it was the guy at the grill.
The Chamorro guy came out and introduced himself. He asked me some questions in Chamorro and I replied in chopped-pathetic sentences. He asked me my family name (the name or nickname my family is better known as) and I told him, "Pitu." I tried to explain that my uncle was the former mayor, my mother's real name, etc. He said he hadn't been home for years, that he had been in Seattle since '83. So I guess he wouldn't know my uncle. But here's the kicker: he said, "You should really know your family name." I told him, "I did, it's Pitu." He repeated, "Yeah, I know that, but you should really know the name." I thought, didn't I just tell you that? I had flashbacks of all these mean cousins and distant relatives who tried to shame me because of my weak language skills. I didn't say anything because the food came out. Because of my new-found vegetarianism, I had udon and Mike had chicken teriyaki. His red rice tasted burnt and I felt embarrassed that he would be eating it something not done as well.
Then other flaws came to light. The iceberg lettuce in the salad bar was withering under; every surface seemed to have a greasy just-wiped-with-a-wet-rag plastic feel to it. There was no "island" feel to the place, save for two GUAM posters tacked up in one corner. A huge Chinese portrait hung on one side. The items on lit-up menu board .. And they spelled "Restaurant" as "Resturant" and "Restaruant". Of all the things to do, couldn't they have spell-checked? There was another restaurant across the street, couldn't they have used that as a reference? It felt like another teriyaki place that couldn't even do its teriyaki very well.
There was a great Vietnamese place a few blocks away called Pho Cycle. The place was really majestic, they made it a point to tell a story of the Vietnamese cyclicsts who knew the streets, the score, the gossip, etc., so everything in the restaurant told a story. I kept thinking of that place while I was in the faux-Chamorro BBQ. They could have done sooo much better.
So the moral of all this: if you're going to have a Chamorro restaurant, please make it Chamorro. Have a story, explain what Chamorro is, where the islands are, what are some distinctive dishes... And don't shame your customers! Is that too hard to ask???
A Filipina woman greeted us as we walked in. Mike asked if she was from Saipan. She shook her head and said, "No, my husband is." I saw a man in the back, scrambling from one end to the other. I scanned the menu eagerly for Chamorro cuisine like chicken kelaguen. But there was none, save for some BBQ, but the only Chamorro thing about it was the guy at the grill.
The Chamorro guy came out and introduced himself. He asked me some questions in Chamorro and I replied in chopped-pathetic sentences. He asked me my family name (the name or nickname my family is better known as) and I told him, "Pitu." I tried to explain that my uncle was the former mayor, my mother's real name, etc. He said he hadn't been home for years, that he had been in Seattle since '83. So I guess he wouldn't know my uncle. But here's the kicker: he said, "You should really know your family name." I told him, "I did, it's Pitu." He repeated, "Yeah, I know that, but you should really know the name." I thought, didn't I just tell you that? I had flashbacks of all these mean cousins and distant relatives who tried to shame me because of my weak language skills. I didn't say anything because the food came out. Because of my new-found vegetarianism, I had udon and Mike had chicken teriyaki. His red rice tasted burnt and I felt embarrassed that he would be eating it something not done as well.
Then other flaws came to light. The iceberg lettuce in the salad bar was withering under; every surface seemed to have a greasy just-wiped-with-a-wet-rag plastic feel to it. There was no "island" feel to the place, save for two GUAM posters tacked up in one corner. A huge Chinese portrait hung on one side. The items on lit-up menu board .. And they spelled "Restaurant" as "Resturant" and "Restaruant". Of all the things to do, couldn't they have spell-checked? There was another restaurant across the street, couldn't they have used that as a reference? It felt like another teriyaki place that couldn't even do its teriyaki very well.
There was a great Vietnamese place a few blocks away called Pho Cycle. The place was really majestic, they made it a point to tell a story of the Vietnamese cyclicsts who knew the streets, the score, the gossip, etc., so everything in the restaurant told a story. I kept thinking of that place while I was in the faux-Chamorro BBQ. They could have done sooo much better.
So the moral of all this: if you're going to have a Chamorro restaurant, please make it Chamorro. Have a story, explain what Chamorro is, where the islands are, what are some distinctive dishes... And don't shame your customers! Is that too hard to ask???
9 Comments:
Maybe as a fellow Chomorro "person" you could have made a suggestion or two to help them out as they are working hard for a living and doing the best they can, instead of ragging on people you obviously at first felt immediately drawn to. Ever think of that? How easily we turn on our fellow "chomorro's." How utterly American.
For example,instead of making fun and talking trash about how you asked, "Is that too hard to ask?" I will bring to your attention that the phrase actually goes like this: "Is that too much to ask?" Saying "Is that too hard to ask?" would actually be referring to yourself. I don't know, is it too hard to ask? Just a thought, since you are an ENGLISH major and all.
I really have no love for Chamorros like the one working at the restuarant. Don't give me a lesson about my family name, instead, give me what I came to your restuarant for! Some nerve! I would not eat there, Chamorro or not. Is that sad? Oh well.
You should have said, "My family name is PITU. I just told you that. What ELSE is there to know about it? Serve me some kelaguen. F-A-S-T!"
Now isnt that typical... to walk into a restaurant and only to find it is half of what it is or none at all! No better authentic serving than HOME! By the way, is the so called "Chamorro guy" from Guam? "I KNOW"....Being away as far back as 83 is not too far to forget unless you chose to .. well then..this explains the burnt red rice!
sorry about your bad experience...i too had the same senario...but in las vegas...a filipina greeted us...then came the chamooro guy gave us some pugua...nice..we ate redrice...chicken keleguen..hamhocks with mongobeans...lumpia and pancit...it was lacking that flare...my son looked at me and said...mom you cook better than this...i said i know...the chamorro guy had also been away from home eighty plus years...maybe the same family...the best part was when we got up up to leave the back door was open and they were barbecueing and on the side was a 12 pack of budweiser...it made me so homesick
"He said he hadn't been home for years, that he had been in Seattle since '83."
'83? That's 25 years ago! Damn! That Chamorro dude has beeen in Seattle for a long long time. There are a lot of Chamorros like that. Tens of thousands of Chamorros have left Guam or the Northern Mariana Islands (MNI)for the states and will never move back to Guam or the Northern Mariana Islands. And their Chamorro kids, born and raised in the states, know nothing of the Chamorro language or culture or about Guam or the NMI. It's a fact that can not be denied or prevented. It's not a bad thing at all. They moved by choice. They did because they wanted to. And so that makes it a good thing. They are enjoying their constitional right to move whereever in the US they want. They did on their own free will. If they wanted to move back they would but their home, by choice, is somewhere in the states. But despite Chamorros leaving Guam, Guam's population is rising. Why? Immigration. Filipinos are the future of Guam. There are so so so many of them. There are also so so so many immigrants from Micronesia, such as from Palau or Truk. Filipinos are the second largest ethnic group in Guam and since the Philippines has millions of people and just about everyone there wants to immigrant to the US, it is only a matter of time until they become the largest ethnic group in Guam. It is unavoidable. It is unstoppable. It is inevitable. After all, how many times have you met a person from Guam who is of Filipino ancestry and not Chamorro ancestry? Filipinos are the future of Guam!!
well i am glad that anonymous made a point in a none rude or hurtful way and instead of him lexuring you he told you how to do things better next time or told you things you could have said instead of yelling and getting angry and no not all people are the same but alot of people dont want some stranger to just be walking up to them and saying hey are u chamurru cuz to some thats disrespectful im native american but im datin a chamurru
I went to that same restaurant in Georgetown. All I can say is YUCK!
I'm American Indian and I married a Chamorro, and he and his family taught me to cook some chamorro dishes, and the food they served was nothing chamorro. We were disappointed cause we were looking to connect with other chamorros. Love the people. Very outgoing and very giving.
Post a Comment
<< Home