20090607

lost restaurants

steak sangwich

when i was a kid, on special weekends we used to go to the cliff hotel in agaña heights to eat at the red carpet restaurant. i honestly don't remember much about it except that the hotel was indeed on a cliff so it had a spectacular island and ocean view, and living up to its name, it did have red carpet. i also remember two specific items from the menu. one was a clubhouse sandwich, which, as a kid, i thought was the deeeluxe-superduper-bee's-knees with its triple stack of toasted bread and fillings, cut into quarters and skewered with a frilly toothpick; running a very close second in superduperness was their french dip/steak sandwich that was little more than juicy slices of beef piled on top of a garlic-butter-slathered-and-toasted bun.

red carpet restaurant is gone; i can recreate the sandwiches, but without the restaurant experience, they just aren't the same, no matter how delicious. holland bakery had the best italian herbed hamburger you'd ever have in a warehouse, house of wong had the kind of filipino-ized americanized chinese food i adored--lurid orange sweet and sour pork, eggy fried rice, shrimp camarones wrapped in bacon, hototai soup, all served on melamine platters with stamped tin utensils. m's steak house in dededo had those red glowing heat lamps keeping warm loaves of homemade pumpernickel bread wrapped in a starched white fabric napkin, and pats of butter in a stone urn topped with ice chips to keep them cool. salzburg chalet would have lovely little thin squares of chocolate, wrapped in postcard scenes of europe, at the end of every meal. there was a smorgasbord/buffet in sinajana called the crow's nest (and at some point, the captain's table) that had a penchant for molded gelatins and aspic--lime gelatin and salmon mousse shaped like a leaping fish, lemon gelatin with ham salad loaves, red gelatin and fruit cocktail rings with a cottage cheese center. okay, maybe that wasn't so delicious, but the memories are still as evocative.

there are so many restaurants that have come and gone--some missed, some completely forgotten. guam diner found an old glimpses of guam article about restaurant options on guam in 1973 that's worth looking at if you are are old as methuselah (or, rather, as old as i am), and don't get me started on all the places in los angeles i miss.

so what about you? is there some place that no longer exists except in the fondness of your heart?

15 comments:

There used to be a restaurant on the top floor of the Pacific Bank Building in Makati, in the Philippines. My co workers and I often treated ourselves to a single bowl of its steaming hototay soup and a huge platter of its fried rice - shared amongst four or five of us. Maybe it was because we were all young and raw and financially struggling, but those shared meals and that restaurant remain indelible!

i think hototay and fried rice are the perfect share when you're skint foods :) we used to share a really good hototay soup at the "nice" restaurant on the top floor of makati med. although the food at the cheapy canteen was actually quite good.

Hankyu Department Store in Umeda, Osaka, had a large restaurant on its top floor where you could get everything from beef steak to a bowl of udon noodles. What I really wanted as a kid was its Okosama-lunch with a mound of ketchup-rice, with a little flag on top. I don't even remember what else was on the plate (probably not much), but I wanted the rice with the flag.

My mother never bought this dish for me, for it was expensive. I swore back then that when and if I ever had kids, I would buy them this forbidden Okosama-lunch.

Now that I AM old enough to take my son there and buy him a plate of Okosama-lunch, the restaurant is no longer there. I was heart-broken when it closed three years ago.

cocopuff, that's a little heartbreaking. i would love to be able to share a childhood favourite restaurant with my child or at least another loved one. unfortunately these days some of the only restaurants that survive multi-generations are fast food chains....

oh my goodness! Yakitori II on Marine Drive - my (now ex-) husband and I left Guam in March 1978 and I STILL miss the Yak!! Chop Steak - to die for. We lived in... Tumon Village Apartments, maybe? and every night on my way home from work at the Guam Continental Hotel I had to slow down and pass right by Chuck's Steakhouse on my way into the apartment complex. It about KILLED me because the aroma of those grilling steaks really got the juices flowing, and I'd be ravenous by the time I walked through my door. Chuck's teriyaki steak was to die for. Later on, we lived just a short distance from McDonald's on Marine Drive. McD's was one of the few restaurants on the island that had its own generator. It was within walking distance and where we ate after typhoons knocked out power. Portuguese Sausage and Rice... yummmmmmm!! I loved Guam.

My brother's father-in-law used to manage the Red Carpet, and in fact his wedding reception was held there. I attended dinner at the Crow's Nest in May of 1973 just before my senior prom! Ah memories..

oh my, how did I miss that magnificent steak sandwich?

I mourn the loss of the beachside burger caravans of yore

I have fond memories of my Little League baseball days (69-72) and our coach taking us to the restaurant named Panciteria Far East. It was beachside in east Agana (or was it Tamuning at that point?) across from the old Cinema theater. I remember when the Crow's Nest/Captain's Table was originally Fijord's Smorgette. On the other side of the gas station where Lin's Jewelry is in East Agana, there used to be a Sourgose's Pizza. Wow.. days long gone by...

smorgette! i forgot about that. and sourgose's was an early favourite. i vaguely remember the panciteria, though.

Dinamar (sp?) in Agana across the Lujan's bldg where Andy's watch repair still remains. I believe it was a trailer. They had a yummy burger, as good as Skateland U.S.A's. hahaha
Snow White in Anigua.
The store where the Cathedral rectory is now located sold this yummy red slushy drink after school. I can't believe there is no longer a "Cathedral Grade School." I remember when the Archbishop became the parish priest there. He was so young. They had some really great cafeteria food. I still remember the smell of the cafeteria. Best meat loaf and chicken chalakilis. I understand they cater the food nowadays at schools? BBJHS had great pizza. It was only a junior high school at the time.
Cool Spot had great burgers too.
Loved Yakitori and Flamingos and the gyudon at Sakura, which I tried a couple of years ago.. was not good. Or maybe my tastes have changed since high school. No, it was horrible.
Swenson's was a hangout when I was in hs. The korean restaurant across campus.
Hot dogs at the agana post office. Chili dogs at the Hafa Adai theatres.
I forget the Agana restaurant owned by the Wegner family.
Palabok at Filipiana. That family can cook. Of course, they are from Pampanga.
There are other restaurants that I miss. There are some that remain, but have changed so much. The island has changed so much. Remember Ralph's Little Market? I still sing their jingle.. though I have forgotten the lyrics as I type this. I loved growing up on Guam.

pippi! you know! come baaaa-aack! we'll be waiting, nen.

actually, I was back home in the summer... and actually saw you at the mall. yes, I know who u are. =) I wanted to come up and say hi, but I was mamalau. plus, I didn't want to seem like such a stalker or a groupie! LOL! we've met once before (officially) several years ago and crossed paths many times when we were chilgrens. =) *stalker* hahaha!

Ahh yes the Wegner family owned and ran Take 5 diner behind I think what is now BOH in Agana.

Pippi, the little restaurant owned/run by the Wegner family was Take 5 if I'm not mistaken.

Royce

I agree that Yakitori was really yummy. Loved the beef tatatsu. There was a Yakitori when I moved back to the states. It was in San Diego by Sports Arena/Point Loma. When the owners retired it wasn't the same. Our family favorite was Kinney's. I don't quite remember where it was but it seemed like it was kinda off the beaten path.