We've gone to Pika's Cafe often enough to have our usual orders but on our most recent visit, we decided to be more adventurous with our food choices. I arrived at Pika's around 10:15AM just in time (breakfast ends at 10:30AM) to order my favorite breakfast meal, the Kahlua French Toast with coconut syrup. You can add caramelized bananas for just $3 more and also have the option of regular syrup if you're not a coconut fan.
Then as our other lunch companions arrived, we got down to business and decided on our lunch orders. We decided to share the Loco Moco, the Mighty Meatloaf and the Seoul Salmon sandwich. This was the first time that I had tried these three lunch items.
First, the Loco Moco. The Loco Moco is a ground beef patty atop a bed of white rice covered in carmelized onions and sautéed mushrooms all covered in their white gravy sauce. It usually comes topped with an egg but since we were sharing, we had our eggs on the side. Overall, the Loco Moco was delicious and I especially loved the onions, mushroom, gravy combo. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
The next meal to arrive was the Mighty Meatloaf. It definitely lived up to its name. The Mighty Meatloaf features the meatloaf on white rice with more delicious white gravy sauce and some homemade stewed tomatoes. The meatloaf was so delicious and savory. I'm not usually a fan of tomatoes but I thought that they it rounded out the combination of meatloaf and rice nicely.
The last item that arrived at our table was the Seoul Salmon sandwich. Our server kindly had the kitchen cut it into fourths so that we could share without having to cut the sandwiches ourselves. The Seoul Salmon sandwich has salmon topped with onions, carrots, cucumbers, and lettuce between ciabatta with a nice layer of soybean paste coating the inside of the top bun. The salmon was tender and juicy but our lunch companions found that the soybean paste made the sandwich too salty. I am personally in love with soybean paste soups so I didn't mind the saltiness. It was however, a little too spicy for my pika sensitive tongue. Such is life though. It's definitely worth a try though if you like soybean paste and have a higher pika tolerance.
The atmosphere in Pika’s Cafe is warm and inviting. Their walls painted with earth tones sprinkled with perfectly seated pieces of art born of the hands of Guahan’s own. For brunch on a Tuesday, I was surprised to find that the restaurant was almost full. Despite the busyness, our server greeted us quickly, made friendly small talk, as she remembered us from a previous visit and returned our playfulness with a little bit of her own. She suggested bestsellers from the menu and encouraged us to try the daily specials. Drinks were promptly delivered, with a very standard wait time for the food, which was made to feel incredibly short by good company and deliciously flavored teas and tangs. Our very enthusiastic server delivered our meals correctly, providing us all the tools necessary for a happy dining experience. Her secondary service was on point! She gave us napkins, offered us extra sauces and made sure to come back after delivery to check the quality of our meals.
*FLASH BACK TO A PREVIOUS POST* Okay so this is where I revisit IMPRESSION from Restaurant Etiquette 101. Not only did this chick REMEMBER us, she probably also had pleasant memories of us and made it a point to get to us quickly and be fun with us. Why did she have pleasant memories? Because we say please and thank you, we smile, we’re polite and we tip! This kind of stuff works like a charm! Practice it and you shall enjoy your experiences in the restaurant world my child *FLASH FORWARD* We indulged happily while the smooth sounds of Shannon McManus and Jonathan Glaser lingered about the room, serenading us like sirens calling sailors to the sea. They called us to stay longer to listen to their sounds while offering our server the opportunity to sell us desserts after we’d stuffed ourselves full of food. We fell weak to the seduction of mango cheesecake! There was no way we could say no to the offer! After enjoying our desserts, were allowed pleasant pause to enjoy the atmosphere of (I’m assuming) the only restaurant on Guam that has live music on a Tuesday morning!
With a promptly delivered check and to-go items, our Pika’s experience came to a close. While the food and service did us well, how did our pockets fair? For the quality and freshness of Pika’s delectables, pricing is a definite win! Their most expensive lunch item, which is their award winning Classic Burger Champ, only puts a $15 dent in your wallet while the rest of their menu items range from $9-$13 (many of them coupled with soup or salad). Juices, soda and their deliciously flavored, bottomless tangs and teas range in price from $1.50-$3.00. You will definitely have spare change to tip your server ^__^; Brava!
If you're not sure what flavor of bottomless tang or tea you want, ask your server for a "surprise" and they'll bring out a surprise flavor mix. I like to try and guess what flavors they added.
You can get a cup of flavored tang or tea "to go" after your meal if you ask nicely.
Please feel free to share your own experiences at Pika’s Café with Cabs, myself and our readers!
If you’re interested in living the full Pika’s Cafe experience for yourself, they are located in the Star Building, Across from St. John’s in Upper Tumon. Hours of Operation Monday - Saturday 7:30 am – 3:00 pm Sunday CLOSED Phone 647-PIKA (7452)
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