Roy's Hawaiian Fusion

It was our 6 months anniversary 2 weeks ago. :) We went back to Roy's where we had our first "dressed up" date. hehe. I can always use some butterfish and chocolate souffle cake! :P

Roy's
2840 Dallas Pkwy
Plano, TX 75093
(972) 473-6263
roysrestaurant.com
Price: $$$$

In our reservation I had told the restaurant that we were celebrating an anniversary so they decorated the table with confetti and printed out a personalized message for us. I always like doing special occasions here, they make it personal for you. Our waitress was great too. Super friendly and immediately congratulated us on the occasion. And then took our drink orders.

We got some of their spiced edamame while we waited for drinks. 

The bf got the Mango Mojito (Bacardi Limon, mango puree, mint, lime) $10.95~ It looked pretty tasty but I cannot try. :( Mango allergy! He said it was good but super strong! 

I got a glass of Moscato since it's the only kind of wine I like. Yum!

We started off with Beef Short Rib Bi Bim Bap (go chu jang sauce, carrot, scallion, fried egg) $8.95~ 

Never had it here before. But bibimbap is basically Korean mixed rice and I've had it plenty of times in Korean restaurants. The best is when they put it in a stone pot and the rice gets all crispy. Didn't really know what to expect here since I've never had an "upscale" rendition of this dish. It was pretty good. I think I still prefer the traditional prep but the flavors were still good and everything was cooked well.

Misoyaki "Butterfish" (Alaskan black cod, sizzling lemon shoyu vinaigrette) $33.95~ 

I've been dreaming about this dish ever since I made the reservation 2 weeks prior! haha. But I was so excited that I didn't realize they had changed the description. So I was totally surprised when they served the dish that it looked completely different... No wasabi cream sauce??? Whatt? What's going on? I asked our waitress and she explained that a while back, corporate came in and changed up the menu. Took off some stuff, add a few, and decided to change the butterfish back to its original preparation. I didn't even know there was an original preparation! I've had the butterfish with the wasabi cream sauce since I first went to Roy's 10 years ago! And this is by far one of their most popular dishes. Why the decision to change?!? Needless to say, I was disappointed. It did not satisfy at all. I mean, the fish on it's own was still amazingly tender and yummy but I did not care for the shoyu vinaigrette AT ALL. There was too much of it and made everything too salty. And it was drenching all the rice! I ended up putting a small plate underneath one side of the plate so the sauce would flow to one side of the dish and I scooted the food to the higher side. hahaha. Super ghetto. But it made it better. :/ Now, most of you are probably pretty disappointed to hear this news. But the waitress informed me that they can still make the preparation with the wasabi cream sauce but you have to call them a few days in advance to request it. Trust me, I WILL be doing that next time I go!!

The bf got the Blackened Island Ahi (spicy soy mustard butter sauce) $31.95~ 

Good thing we didn't BOTH get the butterfish like we initially talked about! haha. The tuna was fresh, had a nice thin sear on top and good flavor from being blackened. I liked the spicy mustard sauce on this one sooo much better than the butterfish shoyu. The spicy mustard almost reminded me of the wasabi cream. It was a little too much bite (spicy) for my bf though. He didn't want that much sauce either.

So it wasn't as spectacular as we hoped it would be but then it's dessert time! haha

Pineapple Upside Down Cake (with mango sauce and coconut ice cream). 

The bf got this. This also has to be ordered ahead of time like the chocolate souffle cake since it takes about 20-25 min prep. The waitress was very thoughtful since she knew of my mango allergy and brought the sauce on the side so I could try it. :) We didn't realize there was mango sauce on it when we ordered it. The cake was warm and fluffy. I liked the flavor of the coconut ice cream and it paired well with the pineapple, but not a fan of the shredded coconut inside the ice cream. The presentation is very nice and playful, and they even wrote "happy anniversary" on our plates in Hawaiian! :)

Roy's Melting Hot Chocolate Souffle (raspberry coulis, vanilla bean ice cream). 

 

 

Of course. Can't go to Roy's without getting this. They also wrote on the plate on my dessert. hehe. I was excited! But when I cut into it, nothing came out. It wasn't molten... meaning it was overbaked or it sat too long. :( I debated saying something since I rarely ever send things back. But given that I was already disappointed from my entree. I wanted a great dessert! haha. I think one of the managers walked by and I mentioned it to her. She was super nice and said they would make me another one if I'm willing to wait. And of course they would take it off our check. I said I definitely will wait for another! While waiting, she brought over 2 glasses of champagne on the house and apologized again for the cake. I didn't expect them to do this. It was very nice of them. Our waitress came by too to apologize and assure us that my cake is coming soon. When it finally came, they wrote "Sorry" on the plate! hahaha. How funny! I liked that. This time it was perfect. Gooey and melty on the inside. Slightly crispy on the outside. It was a great ending to a still wonderful night!

Despite the surprises and changes in the food, we had a great time. I'd say this was one of the best service I've gotten at Roy's in all my years being there! Our waitress and everyone else really made the night more special. :D And I'll be back for sure. And I won't forget to call ahead and request the better preparation for the butterfish! haha. Which still baffles me btw... that dish has been super popular. Why change it?? Please tell corporate to bring it back!!!!!

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NYC Apr12: Social Eatz

Saturday night we were back in the city (after attending a friend's wedding out in Great Neck). I had made a reservation at Social Eatz, the new restaurant of Chef Angelo Sosa from Top Chef Season 7 and Top Chef All-Stars.

The restaurant just celebrated its one year anniversary this past Tuesday! Congrats!!

Social Eatz
232 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
(212) 207-3339
http://socialeatz.com
Price: $$

I had a feeling the chef might be there so I really wanted to go and meet him. He was a fierce contestant in Top Chef and made it very far into the competition. From watching him on the show, I expected his food to be very good!

Chef Angelo is the Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Social Eatz and they do Asian inspired American comfort food. It is also Eater.com's Greatest Burger in America Competition winner (for the Bibimbap Burger).

It's a small, trendy place. Dark lighting and paintings on the walls. I noticed him at the bar just as we walked in. I'm so excited! :)

After getting waters at the table, I asked the waitress if we could meet the chef. He came to greet us soon after. He's so nice and very welcoming. Of course I got my picture taken with him! :P And he's sooo tall. Even taller than he looks on TV. He was very friendly and appreciative that we came from Dallas to visit his restaurant. And after we made our orders he came over with some complimentary shots. And he took it with us! Nice!

I think he said it was a Watermelon Margarita? I'm not quite sure since I was too happy to pay attention. haha. But it was pink and pretty and rimmed with pink peppercorns. I'm not a big drinker and the shot was a bit strong for me. But my favorite part was the pink peppercorns. It was very interesting and helped lighten the alcohol kick at the end.

For our meals we got...
Bulgogi Burger (cucumber kimchi, charred onion mayo; served with Kimchi Fries) $16~

I shared this with my friend because neither of us were really hungry. We substituted the Kimchi fries with Togarashi Fries. Togarashi is a blend of Japanese spices normally used when you have Japanese udon or ramen. The burger was pretty awesome. The meat was perfectly cooked and super juicy. The bread was soft but yet held up to the sauce well. And the flavors were great. I think the charred onion mayo really brought the whole thing together. The fries were cooked well and I liked the Togarashi on top.

All the burgers were served on old school Chinese style plates. We thought that was pretty awesome and hilarious. Never thought we'd be served burgers on plates like these. hahaha.

The rest of our group all got the Bibimbap Burger (slow cooked egg, korean pickles; served with Kimchi Fries) $17~ Since it did win the best burger title! hehe.

It looked yummy and tasted even better. Again, the meat was cooked perfectly. There were a ton of veggies on there and the egg was fantastic. Just slightly runny but not enough to explode all over your hands. It was still a messy burger, but in a good way. I liked this better than the Bulgogi burger. However, I agree with my bf that it isn't really a bibimbap burger. I'd say it's a loose translation of it. Since it didn't have the token red (gochujang) chili sauce and some other typical ingredients in a bibimbap. But his concept is Asian "inspired" so I'm not going to get all technical on that. All I care about is that it was delicious. The kimchi fries were also good, but none of us could tell the difference between that and the Togarashi fries. haha. We all expected the kimchi fries to have actual kimchi on top. But I asked the waitress and she explained that they used spices to mimic the flavors of kimchi, such as gochujang and shrimp powder and some other spices. I didn't get kimchi from it but it was still tasty.

It was a very delicious meal. A bit pricey for a burger, but in NYC I guess it's normal? It's definitely one of the better burgers I've had in my day. (Although I think LA Burger in Irving is still top notch! :) And it was great meeting the chef!! The only complaint is that the restaurant was a bit too dark. There were some lamps here and there but our table didn't have one. It was really hard to read the menu. And I'm all about eating with your eyes first! I wished we could see and appreciate the food even more! But definitely go check out the Bibimbap burger and I've also heard the ribs and pork belly buns were good!

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Naan - Korean & Sushi

Naan Sushi
7161 Bishop Road
Plano, TX 75024
(972) 943-9288
www.naansushi.com
Price: $$

April is a month full of birthdays (including my own! :) Went to a birthday dinner at Naan, a contemporary Korean/sushi restaurant in the Shops at Legacy. This was the 2nd time I’d been to Naan. The first time was when it first opened and I wasn’t impressed…it was just overpriced Korean food...that was meh. I can go down to Royal Lane or H-Mart area and get much better and cheaper stuff.

This time around I was pleasantly surprised. It was still pricey for Korean food, don’t get me wrong, but it was definitely tastier than I remembered. The first time I didn’t get to try the sushi. I got to try a couple different kinds this time.

The birthday girl ordered a large platter of sushi. Octopus, squid, yellowtail, salmon and eel sushi…Spider Roll (deep fried soft shell crab, cucumber, avocado topped with eel sauce) and Unagi Mambo Jumbo (eel, cucumber, avocado wrapped in soy paper).
I was able to try the Unagi Mambo Jumbo. The sushi was pretty fresh and had good flavor and texture. The rice was the right texture…I hate it when the rice is too mushy.

We also got the Rocket Roll (jalapeno, avocado, cucumber, shrimp tempura, topped with spicy tuna and crab meat) and the Ahi Tuna Tower (tower with a base of rice, with layers of avocado paste, crab, spicy tuna, Japanese mayo, sriracha and wasabi). The Rocket Roll was good. The spicy tuna and jalapeno definitely added a nice kick. The Ahi Tuna Tower was pretty cool. Once served, the waiter takes two spoons, destroys the tower and mixes all the components together. After it's mixed...it doesn’t look that appetizing…haha…but don’t let that stop you. It was super tasty! Nice heat from the spicy tuna and sriracha with the creaminess of the avocado…YUMM!!

In addition to the sushi, we also ordered some Korean dishes. I got the Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap (ribeye steak bi bim bap cooked and served in a hot stone pot).

This is one of my favorite Korean dishes. You mix all the components in the bowl together along with a red spicy sauce. The stone bowl makes the bottom of the rice nice and crispy. The flavor was nice and it was full of ingredients. I would definitely recommend everyone to try this dish…at any Korean place. The one at Naan was good, but still overpriced.

We also ordered the Barbeque Pork (Jai Yook Gui) – pork marinated in a spicy red pepper sauce. Like a lot of places that try to cater to more Americans, the pork was a little sweeter than it should’ve been. But it was full of flavor and cooked nicely. It was also a nice size portion, good for sharing. Most Korean dishes are meant to be eaten family style.

Lastly, we have the Spicy Pork with Kimchi and Tofu. Some thought the dish was too sour, some thought it was too sweet. I actually liked it. I love kimchi and really enjoyed the sweet and sour pairing. The tofu was really good. It was very light so it complemented the bold flavors of the dish very well.

Overall, I was pretty happy with the food. Naan definitely redeemed itself in my book. The food is good, but I still think it’s overpriced. I still probably wouldn’t go there if I wanted some Korean food. Although, if you wanted a nicer/classier setting for Korean and sushi, you might want to give this place a try.

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