Outrigger Resort, Tumon Bay, Guam, USA

Ordered via room service at the Outrigger Resort, Guam.

I’ve always been a fan of dining with a relaxing, wonderful view in front of me with little noise around to ruin the moment – and many restaurants just don’t offer this. In fact, these dining situations are hard to come by, which made enjoying lunch on our balcony after an afternoon of wakeboarding an easy decision to make.

With panoramic views from the 17^th floor, gorgeous Tumon Bay was the only thing in sight, and nothing waves breaking in the distance filled the air with noise. I waited patiently on our balcony for my club sandwich to arrive. This had better be a filling club, I remember thinking; wakeboarding on the ocean was much more tiring than on a lake and combined with being in the sun all day, I needed an energy boost unlike a typical lunch would offer. And this was America after all – coming from China, I was expecting American sized portions, even if this island wasn’t a united state.

Perfectly toasted and decrusted, this whole wheat club sandwich arrived quickly and my appetite didn’t have to wait long, which was quite the relief; while the waves in the distance were loud, my stomach was beginning to compete by growling itself. The menu had listed guacamole as one of the ingredients to this club, but from first bite you could tell this guacamole – more of a paste really – came from far away. More of a sandwich spread that the dipping type, it made you wonder why they needed to add extra mayonnaise. Of course, the menu also listed a fried egg, of which there was none. A definite disappointment. And with the egg, must have escaped the swiss cheese (listed on the menu) as it was also MIA. The sliced turkey and ham were your typical quality, something you’d find in any supermarket. The lettuce was nothing but leaf, something I learned was common in Guam and Micronesia, and the tomato was ripe but sparse. The only thing that saved this club was the quality bacon – an import from the American mainland I have to imagine. On top of all that (literally) were the not-too-crispy fries that one was forced to fill up on when finished eating this sandwich.

There was clearly thought put into this club, and someone definitely picked guacamole for a reason to go with egg, 3 types of meat, and swiss cheese, but with average ingredients used and the lack of certain others, in-room dining didn’t deliver on what might have been a great club sandwich. For obvious reasons, I was less than satisfied.

I learned over the course of 5 days in Guam that Japanese is the cuisine to stick to on this island. Nearly everything is imported, and the seafood wasn’t too special. Steaks were a bit lame, the most highly coveted crustacean was Maine lobster, and most of the fish offered was fried. With the 1000s of Japanese tourists everywhere, it was obvious heading to a restaurant catering to them was the way to go. We had incredibly delicious sushi and I fell in love with the Okinawan-styled restaurants, always saving room for an American dessert after.

Location