day-before-the-birthday birthday dinner ...

The tradition with my good friends here is we go out to nice restaurants to celebrate each others' birthday. The birthday person eats and drinks for free (and gets prezzies! yay!); the others pay for their own food and beverages, and split the cost of the birthday honoree.

So earlier this night, we did just that, minus one guy who's off-island (and thus owes me! hah! LOL). The restaurant of choice: The Guam Hilton Resort & Spa's Roy's Restaurant!! Super good food. Those of you who might have tried the place in Hawaii or elsewhere are lucky; it's chef Roy Yamaguchi's fantabulous chain.

So here's a little bit of the dinner, since you all have become accustomed to my food posts. Hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I enjoyed eating and drinking them!

I got there first — I'm always on time and everyone else is always late. I decided to loosen up a bit and ordered an Absolut kamikaze on the rocks.

Not pictured: My friend and boss ordered ahead and made sure there was a chilled bottle of champagne for us to enjoy before the meal. Silly me actually thought for a bit that it was provided by the restaurant because of who I am and because it was my birthday. Ooops ... my hubris got me shot down. LOL

But later, the waiter did bring me another Absolut kamikaze on the rocks on the house because it was my birthday! Woohoo to free booze!

A very tasty flat bread is served with an olive mix-mash thing in oil. Damn this stuff is GOOD!

I went off my usual page with this appetizer — a spinach sald rolled up, dipped in tempura batter and then flash fried. I usually have one of the salads or the crabcakes. This was very tasty though, so I was by no means disappointed. The sauce on the tomatoes is a spicy jalepeño deal; nice and piquant.

Not my meal, but a dinner companion's very tasty sushi roll. She couldn't decide between a variety of items, so went with a three-appetizer dinner — escargot to start; then the cream of lobster and zucchini soup; then this hearty sushi roll. Not a bad idea, though I need something heartier for my main course. LOL

My main course was the filet mignon, medium, served with mashed potatoes. I wish they would have told me they butterflied it; I would have ordered it more medium rare/rare. Oh well; the premium steak cut melted in my mouth it was so tender. Mmmmmmm... But, it would have been a little better if it had been a little more bloody.

A free dessert, courtesy of the restaurant, which came along with ALL the waiters singing a happy birthday song, which included the manager playing guitar. Pics of that to come!

This was a take on a pineapple-upsidedown cake (which, coincidentally, is my FAVORITE cake of all time) with fresh berries and other fruits. Tasty.

I love Roy's coffee. They use this fancy coffee-maker. The water in the bottom bowl is heated from below with a flame. When it reaches a certain temperature, the water rushes up to the top bowl, which is filled with Kona coffee. After it percolates a bit, the flame is taken away, the coffee cools and seeps down to the bottom again, leaving the grounds up top. Nothing beats finishing off a great meal like a great cup of coffee ... except perhaps a cigarette or cigar ... *sigh* ... of course, I didn't indulge in the tobacco, though I wish I could have. LOL

Random Guam Fact Of The Day:
• The Chamorro phrase for "birthday" is "kumple años."