hey All You Guamanians in the Bay Area Hiding Among the Many Filipinos Out There, it's time to rise as food from your culture has made it's way out of the comforts of your homes and into the mouths of anybody willing to give it a try! hooray, right? right!
walking into the space that is Prubechu, you wouldn't think the quality or creativity in the dishes could be anything more than simple home cooking. the three counter top burners, ice cream freezer and portable deep fryers don't seem like they are capable of putting out five course meals for tables full of people but somehow they do. and it's not just sloppily thrown at you in a rushed fury or hurriedness. the dishes are thoughtfully prepared and executed. the service was relaxed, informative and enthusiastic. whether it was the cook or the host/server/probably part owner, there was a passion when speaking about the next course we were to indulge in.
the food's base is Chamorro or in recognizable words, Guamanian comfort food. but then they take it to another level by using quality seasonal ingredients chosen on a daily basis at the farmers market and amp it up even more by making it pretty. the five course dinner is accompanied by an amuse (ours was a fancy pants oyster) and a dessert (ours was a coconut with rock salt ice cream with a tapioca/coconut concoction that was incredible) and costs a very reasonable $45. while the rest of the menu sounds great and I'll definitely be back to try it, i recommend the tasting menu upon your first experience.
oyster with coconut, tobiko, etc.
slightly sweet but with the familiar brininess of the oyster. I don't even like oysters but this was awesome with the slight crunch/texture from the fruits and fish eggs.
corn soup with crab, coconut and crisped nori
refreshing and light. creamy and crisp. a delightful start to the meal.
crispy egg with pork belly and tomatoes
the egg had a good crisp to them while the yolk remained a nice luscious runny when sliced through with your fork. pork belly is never a negative but with the egg it's quite a rich dish. good thing there was the tomato to cut through all of that!
chicken sausage cooked in banana leaf
this was probably my least favorite dish but not for lack of flavor. i personally am not a fan of mushy textures and it's unavoidable with steamed ground meats so i don't fault them for that.
rice porridge with smoked meat, brussel sprouts, mushrooms and quail egg
aaaahhh the epitome of comfort food. rice porridge is prominent in asian food cultures so a tasting menu wouldn't be implore without this addition. revamped and more refined than your typical porridge, this was an absolute winner.
tender short rib over mung bean noodles
as advertised, this was very tender and full of flavor. the mung bean noodles were cooked perfectly and were a nice change from the expected rice accompaniment to the hearty chunk of beef.
as much as I loved the rest of the dishes we had this night, my favorite dish was the dessert. the coconut tapioca was perfect in texture and was super coconutty. as a whole it was chewy, crunchy, creamy and utterly satisfying.
i thoroughly enjoyed my meal at prubechu!
No comments:
Post a Comment