Earls Kitchen + Bar

Last week, I had the pleasure of checking out Earls in Legacy West for the first time. I had been hearing great things of the restaurant so I was excited when I was invited to come check out their new Fall Menu. I'm obsessed with Legacy West btw... and I cannot wait for their Food Hall to finally open! So far every restaurant in this area has been excellent.

Earls - Legacy West
7401 Windrose Ave. Suite D100
Plano, TX 75024
(469) 969-2490
https://earls.ca/locations/legacy-west
Price: $$$+

Earls is a Canadian restaurant chain but each location is regionally specialized as far as the menu goes and I believe how they source their ingredients as well. The menu is pretty eclectic... worldly. It ranges from Asian influences, to some Jamaican inspired dishes.

On a Monday night, the place was pretty busy! The decor is warm and dimly lit. Not the best lighting for food bloggers but definitely has a more intimate atmosphere if you want to do date night. But is also good for groups as well.

They started us with some cocktails. Y'all know me... don't really drink. But I sampled 2 of the cocktails.

Charred Jalapeno Margarita (El Jimador reposado tequila, Ancho Reyes, Triple Sec, charred jalapeno, fresh lime) $9~ 

If you go on Mondays, this is $5 all day! They have some pretty amazing Happy Hour specials btw. AND they have Reverse HH too. Lots of food and drink specials. My friend enjoyed this. It does have a kick to it!

Jasmine (Tanqueray gin, Cointreau, Campari, fresh lemon, peach and black tea bitters) $10.50~ A beautiful cocktail. I liked it but was still too strong for me so my friend helped me drink it. If you like sweet, this is a good choice.

We got a preview of some of their new seasonal items before it rolled out the next day...

Maui Ahi Poke (sesame soy marinated ahi tuna, avocado, mango, with tortilla chips) $13~ 

A colorful dish. I had to get mine without the mango since I'm allergic, but the mango really added a splash of bright colors. Really enjoyed this. The tuna chunks were large and tender, very fresh. I loved all the veggies in there as well. A great starter to share with friends.

Blackened Swordfish Tacos (two flour tortillas with melted white cheddar, roasted jalapeno crema, pico de gallo, fresh cilantro) $12~ My favorite thing about this? That roasted jalapeno crema!! It definitely made this dish. The fish was a bit tough and dry, but swordfish is generally quite dense. 

Warm Kale Salad (black kale, baby potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts, cranberries, toasted almonds, brown butter vinaigrette) $16~ 

This dish typically comes with Grilled Chicken but we got a version without meat, which is fine because I was already getting full. haha. Freaking loved this salad. So many textures and flavors! My favorite part was the roasted brussels sprouts but it was all delicious. Everyone raved about this salad. I don't think I even needed the chicken, but having chicken would definitely make a filling meal. The salad was dressed perfectly, not drowning and not bland. I would totally eat this again.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken (chicken breast in an authentic jerk marinade, glazed with sweet tamarind and seared to a smoky finish, served with coleslaw, dirty rice, and black beans) $20.50~ 

We got mini versions to sample, thank goodness. Cuz the full portion is huge!! You can totally feed 2 people easily. Love this dish too. Bold flavors, you can really taste the smokiness, and everything worked together so well. The chicken was super tender. I loved the crispy toppings on the chicken too, more texture.

We were stuffed but they were serving us pie. Yaassss! Pumpkin Pie (cinnamon, sugar, chantilly cream) $8~ 

I thought we were going to get sample portions but no, they basically gave us each a quarter of a pie! Wow. Needless to say I had to take most of it home. It was a good pumpkin pie. I wish the crust was a bit more flaky with crunchy edges, but the flavor itself was great. And loved the whipped cream on top.

It was a great meal. I will definitely go back to Earls to try more things. In the mean time, y'all better get over there to try the seasonal menu items, they won't be around forever! Also shout out to our wait staff, they were all wonderful. Very diligent and accommodating with all the different food allergies in the group. Thank you so much for hosting me, Earls, and welcome to Plano! :)

*The meal was comped but all opinions are my own.*

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Roy's Hawaiian Fusion

We went to Roy's again last Friday. Love that place! The main purpose was because my bf wanted to try their limited time Winter Trio. (And luck would have it, I happen to get a $20 off coupon in email! It was meant to be. haha) I had emailed the restaurant a couple weeks ago to see how long it's around for and they told me April 6th, so I made a reservation for 3/28. However, the day before our reservation, I came across an article saying that the dish is only through 3/23. Wait, what? So I called the restaurant to check. Apparently the lady I had first communicated with from corporate had sent the restaurant a message saying to have this for us when we went. How awesome is that? We definitely felt super special! :) Roy's has always had amazing service and I was completely impressed with this.

Roy's Hawaiian Fusion
2840 Dallas Pkwy.
Plano, TX 75093
(972) 473-6263
http://www.roysrestaurant.com/locations/tx/plano.asp
Price: $$$-$$$$

We arrived for our 7:30PM reservation and was immediately seated. I immediately noticed that they had changed the entire look of their menu. It's thinner and more sleek looking now. And they've just updated to their spring prix fixe last week.

We got some waters and their spiced edamame and ordered a couple of cocktails. We really like their low calorie Coconut Frappe and Mai Tai Ultra.

We started with the Lakanilau Roll (Wagyu beef, snow crab, asparagus, avocado, sesame miso, truffled greens) $16.95~? 

I recently saw this posted on their facebook page and it just sounded amazing. A tad pricey for a roll but it was sooo worth it. The quality of ingredients were great. I could definitely get the hint of truffle which paired really well with the wagyu beef. Wagyu literally means "Japanese cow", they are well fed and have a high amount of marbling. In Japan, wagyu can be synonymous with Kobe. The beef was sliced thin on top, really tender, and the asparagus had a nice crunch to add texture. I normally like to dip sushi in a thick wasabi paste (meaning I put a bit of soy sauce with my mound of wasabi, haha) but the sesame miso was yummy on its own and I only used minimal wasabi. We both loved it.

My bf obviously got his Winter Trio (Hoisin-Glazed Duck, grilled Kalbi Beef Short Rib, Singapore-Style Crab Cake; served with Asian vegetables and noodles) $26.95~ 

I'd say the duck was my favorite. The beef short rib was his. He really enjoyed the dish, I thought it was just ok. I've had much better other stuff at Roy's. It was just a bit sweet overall. Everything was cooked well and tender. But the crab cake was too salty. It did taste better when we ate it together with the duck. The noodles were a tad overcooked, and I'm a stickler for soft noodles.

I came in with the mindset to try new things this time, since I normally get the butterfish. I decided on the Dynamite Baked Hawaiian Swordfish (bok choy tempura, oshizushi rice, dragon sauce) $26.95~ 

I think I've only had swordfish one other time in my life so I wanted to try it again. I know that swordfish is a denser fish and it was... it was more like a steak. haha. I loved this dish. It was on the heavy side with the dynamite sauce on the fish, the cream sauce, and the tempura but oh sooooo good. If you've ever had a volcano roll, it was like they took that sauce, covered the fish, and baked it. Deeeeelicious. The rice was seasoned and had a slight tang to it like sushi rice. It paired sooo well with the sauce. The dragon sauce is basically a Korean chili sauce, not really spicy and had some sweetness to it. And I've never had tempura bok choy before. It was nicely fried and added another texture to the dish. I liked my dish way better than my bf's. :P I scraped my plate clean! Had to get all that yummy sauce.

For dessert, my bf assumed we were getting the chocolate souffle cake, but guess again! Trying new things, remember? The waitress mentioned the Lemon & Ginger Creme Brulee (topped with berries), and it sounded really good. 

I don't normally prefer creme brulee but the lemon and ginger combo sounded refreshing. And it was! The flavors made it seem lighter than normal creme brulees and it was a great finish to our meal since we were both pretty full.

Once again, we had a great time at Roy's. I got to try a bunch of new things. :) Our waitress was all smiles and did a great job. I'm sure we'll be back again in no time.

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~