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Driving down Elliot Road the other day, Pere and I noticed that Sonoma Chicken Roasters had gone out of business and been replaced by a Guamanian restaurant called Island Roots Guam Cuisine. I made a mental note, and decided to give the place a visit soon. Soon came sooner rather than later. Today, Moody and I headed there for lunch.
The interior hadn't changed much from when the place was the Sonoma Chicken Roasters. It had the same bright, clean interior with lots and lots of space, the only real change being the addition of island memorabilia adorning the walls and counter. We were promptly greeted at the door and seated at a table right in between two other tables of diners. This seemed a little odd given that the place is huge and was otherwise empty. Before we had even sat down, our waiter asked if he could bring us anything to drink. Not having had a chance to look the menu over, we both ordered waters.
I think it's hard to say that Guamanian cuisine has a distinct identity of it's own. Given it's location (lying in the Pacific between Japan/Korea, Hawaii, and the Philippines), it borrows heavily from those countries as well as Spain and Mexico. The menu at Island Roots reflects this with dishes like lumpia, pancit, and adobo (Filipino); kalbi and bulgogi (Korean); and Spam musubi from Hawaii. Before we had a chance to look the menu fully over, our waiter returned with our waters and asked if we were ready to order. A few minutes more, and we were.
We started things off with an oder of the lumpia. They came out piping hot and were well fried. The sauce was tangy sweet and offered a nice balance to the meat and veggie filling. For entrees, Moody went with the chicken adobo while I had the Portuguese sausage with fried eggs. Moody's adobo was authentic Filipino and contained several pieces of chicken thigh and leg still on the bone, with skin as well as two scoops of red rice. When Moody asked the waiter what red rice was, his reply was that it was just more flavorful. I think it would have helped if he had mentioned that it was colored with annatto. Moody said the adobo was very good, although there was a fairly high ratio of scraps to meat. The Portuguese sausage plate I had was really tasty. The sausage was nicely grilled, and went perfectly with my over-medium eggs. The annatto in the rice gave it a nice orange color (more so than red), and the rice had good flavor, although I wasn't able to determine where it came from (perhaps bacon?) as annatto is relatively flavorless. Next time, I'd like to try out the Spam musubi. I also hear they have Poke on the weekend, a Hawaiian favorite of mine that I'd like to try their rendition of.
Overall, the meal was decent, and I would definitely recommend Island Roots - especially to Filipinos who find the options for authentic Filipino dishes in the valley to be lacking. I would, however, like to see Island Roots work on their service. I know it's a family run business, but there's just no excuse for lax and uninformed service these days. Given the large size of the restaurant, and the relatively emptiness of the place during the lunch rush, I have to wonder how long they'll be able to stay in business. If Island Roots is going to survive, they are going to have to polish things up a bit.
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you walked through the door and seated right away, and asked if you cared
for anything to drink while you take a look at your menu. So whats the
problem? Other places, you would either have to make reservations or wait for a
table for several minutes before getting seated. It seems to me that the food
was obviously good and your still complaining? Guamanians don’t borrow
their recipes from other countries or surrounding islands. We call our adobo, kadun pika
but most people are familiar with “adobo”. It is cooked basically the same
way except we put hot pepper in ours (something not everyone can handle, we
like our foods spicy hot!). We also have pancit (prepared in a different way).
Spam is a Guamaian favorite and did not originate in Hawaii. Our red rice is
Cooked with annatto seeds, salt, butter, onions and sometimes garlic. So
Maybe that’s were the tastiness came from (not bacon). The restaurant just opened,
So maybe not many people don’t know of it. Give it a chance! And if you
Were unhappy about where you were seated, then maybe you should have
Suggested to be seated elsewhere. Maybe the host was giving you the
Best seat in the house, or were you can feel the a/c better, or an area where
You can see the T.V. more clearly!
ITS NICE TO KNOW THAT THEY HAVE LOCAL FOOD OUT THERE AND NOT ONLY ON THE ISLAND. SOME GUAMANIANS THAT ARE OUT THERE IN THE STATES WOULD LOVE TO GO
TO A RESTURANT THAT COOKS FOOD FROM THEIR ISLAND. I KNOW THAT IF I WAS OUT THAT WAY I WOULD GO TO THAT PLACE EVERYDAY CAUSE IT WOULD MAKE ME FEEL
LIKE I WAS AT HOME... ITS ALWAYS GOOD TO GO SOMEWHERE THERE ARE GOOD SERVICE AND PEOPLE WHO HAVE RESPECT CAUSE I KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF PLACES THAT
DON'T KNOW THE MEANING OF GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE..... GIVE THEM PROPS THEY ARE TRYING IT MORE THAN SOME RESTURANTS...
@Elisha - there most definitely is an issue with being served too quickly. I consider it a problem when I'm asked what I'd like to drink before I've even sat down or had a chance to look at the menu to see what drinks are offered, just like I'd consider it an issue if my entree comes out before I'm finished with my appetizer. As for being too friendly, I don't see anywhere that I complained about the waiter's friendliness.
@Diane - the waiter didn't ask whether we cared for anything to drink while we looked at the menu. He asked if we wanted drinks before we had even sat down! That's the problem. You should also note that nowhere in the review am I actually "complaining". I mention what I see as problems, then offer some constructive criticism.
As for Guamanians borrowing recipes from other cultures, you most certainly do. While there are certainly some foods native to Guam, most of what is served at Island roots originated elsewhere. That's not to say that there isn't a Guamanian spin on the dish, but you are mistaken in thinking that the dishes are Guamanian in origin. In my review I did not say that Spam originated in Hawaii - I did say that SPAM MUSUBI originated in Hawaii. You may enjoy it in Guam, but it's Hawaiian in origin. Lumpia and Pancit are both of Chinese origin, although made famous in the Philippines. Bulgogi is Korean. All of these things appear on the menu at Island Roots, but are not distinctly Guamanian. That's my point.
The red rice is indeed tasty. I don't think the flavor comes from the annatto as thats essentially flavorless and used for color. I simply guessed that the flavor I was tasting came partially from the addition of bacon. After researching Guamanian red rice recipes, I did indeed find several that called for bacon, so I think that this was a reasonable assumption. I don't know the recipe that Island Roots uses for their red rice, which is why I simply speculated. When we asked the waiter what was in the red rice, he didn't know and only remarked that it was "more flavorful" than the white rice - not very helpful.
@Lisa - Why are you shouting? Can't we all just get along here? Seriously, though, I'm happy that there's another independent restaurant from which we all can choose. In fact, that's why I wrote this review - including my criticisms. A lot of people read this blog, often including restaurant owners and staff. I'd like to see Island Roots stay in business, and I believe that honest criticisms of a restaurant's issues is one way for them to make improvements.
Overall, I did have a good meal at Island Roots, and in fact have recommended it several times to others. I eat out a lot, and given that I have a lot of choice as to where I spend my hard earned money, I have expectations. When a restaurant has areas I believe can be improved, I write about that in my blog.
and unfortuantely, we've had aout 200 years or so of influence of Spanish
and then the Japanese until we were liberated by the Americans. There is
defiantely a hint of influence-you think. I wonder if the restaurant owners
are from Guam. They should've, if on their menu promoted other flavorful
dishes which come across as more indigenous such as kelaguen
( minced chicken , fish ( in leu of poki)or beef with lemon and hotpepper),
or gave you some finadene for your sausage. It's an excellent sauce with
soy sauce and vinegar or lemon based with hotpepper. Every time I make it,
residents out here love it.
Bottom line is, I thank you for going in and making the effort to try the
restaurant and take the time to write about it. Funny, most people out here
are intrigue by what exactly I am. THey say, "you ain't mexican. BUt you
ain't from around here, what are you." I tell them that I'm from Guam and they
say, "OH, I've been meaning to go to the Carribean."??
Seems the restaurant has adapted like every other restaurant to market
to what people like. I hope it works for them. I also hope one day that you get
to try a fiesta or true Chamorro barbeque one day. I never met a person
that didn't enjoy it. Thanks again. Decent coverage is better than no
coverage