la.foodblogging

I am a total geek. I work for a video game company. My desk is covered in gaming magazines and mangas. I might know more about anime than I do about food. It is no surprise to my friends that I am familiar with some of the trends in Asia, such as maid cafes. Maid cafes started in Akihabara, a major shopping area in Tokyo, Japan. For those who are unfamiliar with maid cafes, the name is pretty self-explanatory. They are restaurants where the servers are dressed in cute maid costumes, and the idea is that they treat customers like they treat masters of their own homes instead of diners at a restaurant. Believe it or not, we actually have a maid cafe here in Culver City. Royal/T Cafe opened almost a year ago, serving breakfast and lunch, but it was only two months ago that the restaurant expanded the menu to include dinner. Royal/T is also participating in DineLA, which made it the perfect time to check out the new dinner service.

First of all, the restaurant is located in a rather unusual space - an art gallery. If you look all the way straight ahead of the entrance, you’ll spot the restaurant easily. Upon entering the restaurant area, you will be greeted by enthusiastic maids. Fortunately, unlike in Japan, they won’t say anything like, “Welcome home, master.” Something about being called “master” or “mistress” just makes me a little ill at ease. Besides, the brightness in their tone when they simply said “welcome” was more than enough to make customers comfortable. There is something quite interesting about the inflection in the maids’ voices and in their mannerisms. We couldn’t quite put our fingers on it, but you can just tell they were trained to speak, walk, serve, etc. in a particular way. It’s really very interesting.

Alas, we were more interested in the food. Before I get started describing the food, I must first write about the beverages. I thought I was going a bit on the boring side, ordering a small pot of Royal/T Milk Tea ($4.50), but I just wanted something simple to warm myself up. As I sipped my tea, I thought there was a rather floral scent. I passed my cup to the friend seated next to me, who happens to be a tea connoisseur. She took a sniff and said she liked the fruit scent. That confused me quite a bit. Only later on when I looked at the menu again, I saw that we were both right. The menu describes the tea as their own blend of “black tea with rose petals, pieces of fruit, and vanilla, brewed in soymilk.” So my simple tea was a little more complex than I originally thought and hardly boring. There are other teas, too, both hot and cold. Someone else at my table ordered the Kyoto Sunset, an iced tea with apricot juice. For those who aren’t interested in tea, Royal/T also offers coffee, soft drinks, and a limited selection of beers and sake.

Everyone at my table ordered something different for each course, so we got a good look at how each dish came out. I ordered the Shrimp Bruschetta for my first course. Now this was not a great dish, but I still enjoyed it more than I expected. The shrimp was cooked very well. I also liked how it was butterflied and placed on top of the bruschetta, which was pretty plain. The success of this dish is entirely dependent upon the shrimp. I didn’t try the other two appetizers (Spinach and Beet Salad and Smoked Salmon Canape), but my friends all said they enjoyed them.

I was a little unsure about how the main entree was going to turn out. I had ordered the Sake Steamed Rainbow Trout, at the recommendation of one of the maids. First, it took quite some time after the first course before the entree plates were sent out. Secondly, as you can see from the photo, the asparagus and mushrooms looked hardly appetizing. I had not expected the trout to be in steamed in parchment paper, and after seeing the accompaniment on the plate, I wasn’t exactly eager to unveil the fish. Much to my delight, however, the trout turned out to be absolutely delicious. The flavor was excellent, though it was a bit heavy on the dill. The other entrees were Grilled Flank Steak and Grilled Chicken Breast Over Fried Rice. One of the main reasons why I didn’t choose them instead of the trout was because I saw them on the regular dinner menu, but I did not see the trout. I’m not sure if this means that the trout is not usually part of the menu, but if this is indeed the case, then it’s even more reason to get to Royal/T soon to try the trout before it’s gone.

Dessert was quite simple, though Royal/T changed the dessert items from what was on DineLA’s website. The Red Velvet Cupcakes I had been looking forward to were not on the menu. I asked our maid about this, and she immediately went to the kitchen to check for me and reported back that some were being baked and would be available soon. The cupcakes were quite tiny, which was fine by me. After finishing the trout, I was pretty full. The Lemon Bar was also on the original menu and was available, but none of my friends ordered that. Instead, everyone else picked a chocolate brownie and a tiramisu. I didn’t try the brownie, but just from looking at it, I felt that it would be much better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I did sample the tiramisu, which was very rich and creamy. The friend who ordered it didn’t even really want it. He only ordered it because it was part of the DineLA menu, which means you get a dessert. Even he was surprised by how good the tiramisu was!

Now I confess, part of the reason why my friends and I decided to go to Royal/T Cafe was for the novelty factor. Ultimately, we were all pleased with the outcome of our dinner. Just a few more quick facts: Royal/T will keep the DineLA menus ($16 lunch, $26 dinner) through the end of February. Metered parking is available, but I think one of my friends parked illegally in a parking lot nearby. So now that I’ve seen how well a maid cafe can work in L.A., I just need to wait for the butler cafe to take off here.

Royal/T Cafe
8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 559-6300 Ext 3
Hours: Tue-Sat - 10am to 9pm, Sun - 10am-6pm

By Pauline (see more of her posts).