Prubechu – San Francisco

As there’s currently no Orange County restaurant offering Guamanian or Chamorro cuisine – foods from Guam and the Mariana Islands – and only scattered locations across LA and San Diego Counties, we took the opportunity to sample it at Prubechu, a well-established restaurant in San Francisco. And it was a nice experience, with a single-page menu featuring tropically influenced Latin dishes, where “tropical” equates to “coconut” and/or “pineapple” in almost everything. In other words, if you don’t like those flavors, you’ll be out of luck with caramelized potato soup (with coconut milk), crispy sweet & sour pork belly (with pineapple), or even soft Chamorro sweet rolls (with coconut vinegared) tuba butter.

The highlight of our meal was a thrice-cooked brisket skewer, unexpectedly served as a thick, juicy slice overflowing with onions, scallops, and a soy-worchestershire-beef jus, each bite packed with flavor and dualing soft/crispy textures. Good but less memorable was the Tinaktak, a bowl of egg noodles with a creamy stroganoff-like sauce, sliced coconut-braised beef, long beans, button mushrooms, and cherry tomato slices. Each of these items was around $30.