F&B 911: Himawari

I'm sure most of you have all ready discovered the little grocery store in the heart of Garapan, in a location where people wouldn't notice at all. Himawari is actually not a new supermarket but it's just that it's just now that people have been talking about it. It surprised me to gather great reviews about the Japanese food and other stuff sold at the store.

The store sells very reasonable Japanese bentos, sushi, tempura, croquets and so many more. They even sell soup. One good thing about this shop is that you get to pick these by yourself. You can create your own bento. Very Japanese. They have breads too. You have a choice whether to take them out or eat your food inside the shop since they have tables and chairs as well installed inside the shop. You can ask them to heat your food as well if you want.

To top it all, the bentos, sushis and a lot more is 50-percent off from 6pm tp 9pm. Oh, that you have to verify, if it's really from 6pm. I bought mine after 9pm.

Photo shows what we bought today, spicy tuna sushi, onigiri, salad, cinnamon bread, cake, bacon epi bread, karage all for $14.50 only.

The Reveler

F&B 911: Big Garden Resto's Bulgogi

This restaurant appears majestic from outside, giving away an idea that it is a spacious restaurant.

When you enter the restaurant, you will have a sudden feeling that you are inside a Chinese restaurant, but it's not Chinese, it's a Korean Restaurant. You know, with those sturdy furniture, old-fashioned fixtures and utensils.

One good thing that saved this restaurant for us, of course, was the food and the drinks! Boy, draft beer for only $3 per mug?! Yes, cold, frozen mug. Plastic though. Still, the draft beer is the best!

Order a bulgogi and you'll be surprised with the vegetable appetizers or accompaniments the wait staff will bring you. For us, it was like seven small bowls of appetizers that included kimchi (which I detest), dried small fish, bean sprouts, corn kernels, lettuce, etc.

Next the wait staff brought us a stove with an iron cast where she cooked the bulgogi right in front of us. I was wondering if I ordered right. All these lavishness cost me $9 for the bulgogi. I thought I ordered the platter but I did not. Now I wonder what the platter would be.

We ordered Mandu dumplings also and the wait staff brought at least 10 pieces of the dumplings for $9 too. It was a feast for two people. Bulgogi wrapped with the lettuce was the best. I didn't need rice with it. It was "delish and yammo" as Rachel Ray would say.

Piece of advice though, don't look up when you start devouring those luscious food. You'll lose your appetite with those old warped ceiling inside the restaurant. It makes the restaurant really look old and unkempt. Also, keep focused on the food. Don't look around. Just savor that gastronomic moments with the Korean food.

The restaurant, by the way, is located along Middle Road near the intersection in San Jose where Payless Shoesource is also located.

Photo and text: The Reveler