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Sunday, January 9, 2011

Off Night @ Roy's :/

One of my quarterly eating groups met this weekend. We went to Roy's. Love this place! :)

We had a large group...once most of us were present they sat us very quickly. They offered black napkins to all of us wearing dark colors. That's a plus I have to point out. :) They also took our drink pretty quickly as well. It took a while for us to finally make our orders...that's usually how it goes with a large group. hehe. I kinda felt bad for our waiter because we were all chatting it up and it was a little difficult for him to get our attention. I think he handled himself well.

My bf and I decided to share since we are both trying to eat less after the holidays.

We got the "Da Wedge" Salad (Spun Maui Onions, Macadamia Nut Gremolata, Texas Blue Cheese Dressing) $7.95~ I asked for the dressing on the side but when it came the dressing was on top. I had to send it back... The waiter fixed it immediately. No worries. A pretty straighforward wedge salad. The dressing was quite thick...I'm glad I got it on the side. The lettuce was fresh and I liked how the onions were super thin. The macadamia nut gremolata was a nice interesting twist to the salad. It added a great crunch. I think that was my favorite aspect of this dish.

We also ordered from their Prix Fixe selections. They recently updated their PF menu for the winter. It's $35.95~ and you get to select an appetizer, entree, and dessert.

For the appetizer we chose the 5 Spice Braised Duck Leg (Shiitake & Shishito Peppers, Duck Jus). It looked SO good! Unfortunately it was overcooked...the meat was a little dry. If eaten with the skin, it was a little bit better since duck skin has quite a bit of fat. The flavor was good but I expected it to be much bolder since it was called "5 Spice". I thought the peppers paired nicely with the duck. I was underwhelmed...

For entree we got the Citrus Tarragon Grilled Salmon (Sweet Potato, Daikon, Saikyo Miso Broth). It wasn't how I expected it to be. The salmon was a little overcooked for my preference. I like it a little more pink in the center. I think the word miso made me expect it to taste more like a miso cod in Japanese restaurants, but it was more like a soy sauce type flavor. I definitely got the citrus on the fish...I'm not sure how I felt about it. I wished there was more sides. The dish looked quite minimal. I was excited about the sweet potato, but they were inconsistent. Some pieces were cooked perfectly and some were completely undercooked...still hard... :/ I think this was the first time I'm disappointed in a fish dish at Roy's.

For dessert, of course we got the Roy's Melting Hot Chocolate Souffle (Raspberry Coulis, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream). I ventured out and tried other desserts the last time I was there and nothing compares to their chocolate souffle. It was DELICIOUS! It's still one of my top 3 desserts OF ALL TIME! :)

Our group was too big for me to take pictures of all the other dishes so I only took pics of the dishes next to me. My friend also opted to get the Winter Prix Fixe. For appetizer she got the Split Pea & Rock Shrimp Soup (Prosciutto, Roasted Peppers, Shiso). We were a little confused when they brought it. Usually split pea soups have a brighter green. And this didn't look like split pea...it was more like lentils. Tasted like lentils as well....not sure what the kitchen did there. She thought it was a little bland.

Her entree was the Seafood Cioppino (Mussels, Scallops, Shrimp, Mahi, Thai Basil Tomato Broth). It was really colorful, looked pretty good. I didn't get to sample it so I'm just showing you guys the picture. hehe.

I was a little sad after the meal. This was probably the worst experience I've had at Roy's. It took a long time for each course to come out and the cooking seemed very inconsistent. Most of the main proteins were overcooked. :( I mean it was still good, but not to the quality I know Roy's is capable of. Maybe the kitchen just had an off night. At least the dessert was still amazing!

I was also impressed with the waiter when we were paying our checks. First of all, we had multiple split checks. He ended up putting our salad on our friends' check. Our friend said don't worry about it and he will take care of it. But after the waiter brought the checks and cards back, he had fixed the checks...without us pointing it out to him. That was observant! Even though he made the mistake initially, he noticed and fixed it on his own. I thought that was cool. :)

Overall it was still a good night. We were in great company and ended with a great dessert! I think I'll just wait until they change their Prix Fixe menu before going again...hehe.

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