Friend of the Monument Aya Matsumoto's favorite restaurant is Kuriya in Gualo Rai. I don't know if its the food or the fact that it is right next to her house...oh, nevermind.I'm not sure if I've ever written about this place before. It is on Middle Road right across the street from the Division of Environmental Quality. The first time I ate there I felt like I had been magically transported to a hole in the wall place in Tokyo. The food is great.
The tuna tataki...and the beef tataki for that matter...are really good. I also recommend the curry curry potato salad (not what you would think) and the deep fried whole parrot fish.
We ate there last night to celebrate another great week of outreach for the proposed Mariana Trench Marine National Monument. We are in the final days of this. The public comment period ends on October 26.Then just to throw in an "only on Saipan" story...
Guess who was sitting next to us at dinner?
Uncle Ben!Sitting one table over from us was Governor Benigno Fitial, Secretary of Finance Eloy Inos, Secretary of Lands and Natural Resources Ignacio Dela Cruz, and an official from Office of Management and Budget (I forget his name).
Uncle Ben's godfather is my grandfather Ignacio P. Villagomez. That makes Uncle Ben and my Dad godbrothers. That makes Uncle Ben, well, my uncle.