Hawaiian BBQ In The Foodcourt

I arrived in the outlet mall in Yokohama Bayside past 4 PM but before shopping, I figured I should grab a bite since I haven't eaten anything since morning. I was eyeing a cafe when I entered but @appleeatingapple was in the foodcourt so I immediately scrapped the idea of having an egg benedict.

The food court was so huge. It was in a separate building from the main outlet mall, and to get there, you have to cross the foot bridge. It was located on the 2nd floor of the mall, but there were also restaurants on the 1st.

They have a lot of tables and chairs and it wasn't crowded on a Saturday! I could choose wherever and even spend time here without getting bothered. I love they have an area where you could see the marina from here but we didn't sit by the windows. There was also an area for kids, and they even have like a parking lot for the strollers. It was fun to watch. And what I super like was the table where there was an outlet, so you could charge your gadgets and probably can use your laptops there.

There weren't a lot of shops that I like though, I mean I wasn't craving for anything so it was hard to decide. The options were different - there's teppanyaki, Chinese food, ramen, curry and burgers. The one in the middle caught my attention so I went there.

Merengue was the name of the shop and it was a Hawaiian Steak & BBQ joint. I got convinced seeing the steak and the garlic shrimps but I ordered their porkchops in the end. It's been a while since I had good porkchops so I settled for that. Besides, it looks so delicious in the photos.

A random thought crossed my mind after ordering.
If I eat here, will I taste a bit of Hawaii?

I had to wait for a few minutes for my order and when it was ready, I was asked to choose 3 sides.

I went back to the table and happily savored my first meal of the day. I couldn't wait to try the porkchops. Just look at it, it seems so inviting!

First munch and I thought I'd be tasting the BBQ flavor but it was lacking something. The taste isn't that bland but it seems that the juices didn't penetrate the meat. Probably they didn't marinate or what. Either way, I didn't like it and was disappointed. Looks could be deceiving indeed!

I took a bite of everything in my plate. The sweet corn was cold and I think it lacks butter. The broccoli was nice, I mean it was okay. I could taste the flavors. The macaroni was bland.

Good thing, the mashed potatoes were good. At least there was something delicious in my plate. I wasn't sure what this was in the middle of the mash, but it added the flavors that I like on it.

Even when I was a bit disappointed with my first meal of the day, I still finished everything on my plate, not even a speck could be seen. I was that hungry. This week at home, I'll try making BBQ porkchop so this memory will be replaced by something good. I just don't know yet how to make the perfect BBQ sauce. If you know, please teach me in the comments! 😉

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Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！

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With love,

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^{All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.}