NYE Eve @ Roy's

I kinda wrote this out of order... but oh wellz.

For NYE Eve, my fiance and I went to Roy's... our favorite place for special occasions. :) Also because they recently put out a new prix fixe menu which sounded awesome! We already had plans for NYE to eat dinner with my parents, so this was our fancy night out.

Roy's - Plano
2840 Dallas Parkway
Plano, TX 75093
(972) 473-6263
www.roysrestaurant.com/locations/tx/plano
Price: $$$$+

We arrived early for our 6PM reservation... we're old farts.. I know. :P I prefer to eat dinner pretty early. The place was pretty packed when we got there. So he went to the bar and hit up the happy hour while we waited for our table. Their hh goes until 6:30 or 7PM everyday. :)

Soon we got seated. Our waitress was super nice, as usual. We rarely have bad service here. And we already knew what we wanted to order.

We got the normal edamame with shichimi for the table. But they also brought out some compliments from the kitchen: Fried Duck Dumplings. 

Oooooo! Amuse-bouches are not standard here... although I've had a few since I've been there so much. The plate was so cute! The outside was fried nicely and the inside was creamy and rich. It was a good little bite. :)

We came here to try the new Creative Northeast Asia Prix Fixe menu. The 3 course meal is $36.95~ (not including tax or tip).

We started with the Grilled Filet Mignon Yakitori (shoyu, cucumber, yuzu kosho). 

It was a pretty big appetizer I thought. And although I found the meat to be a little underseasoned, it was sooooo tender. I was about to cut it with a knife, but it was completely unnecessary. Super super tender!!

Pumpkin Seed Crusted Ahi (kabocha squash dumplings, bok choy, citrus emulsion). 

The plating was very pretty and colorful...but not a big portion. The tuna was fresh and I liked the pumpkin seed crust. The kabocha dumplings were pretty good, similar to gnocchi in texture I'd say. But the plate lacked seasoning overall. It was very light in taste. I wish there was more sauce than that little smear in the middle of the plate. However, my fiance had a genius plan. He asked for extra wasabi cream sauce that they use in the Misoyaki Butterfish (which I ordered for myself) and it was awesome. That sauce can go on anything! The manager came over at one point and we got to chatting and he actually said he's put that sauce on mashed potatoes before! Sounds divine!

Apple Tasting (five spice cake, bruleed apples, apple gelee, caramel sauce). 

Since we got a dessert with the prix fixe, we didn't order another one. When the waitress brought it, I was like "whoa!" It's a pretty big cake! And it was very pretty, I loved the different types of apple chips, bruleed apples, and apple skin? on top. She did say the skin was more for decoration... may not be good to eat. We both really liked the bruleed apples with the crunchy layer of burnt sugar on top. I also really liked the gelee and sauce, gave the cake the moisture it desperately needed. I can totally taste the five spice and I liked the flavors overall, but the cake itself was too dry. And there wasn't enough sauce to make it better. I think a bit more caramel sauce, maybe a few dollops of whipped cream would work wonders. Or even better... a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Mmmm. Just a thought. :P

Of course I got the Misoyaki "Butterfish" (Alaskan Black Cod, baby bok choy, furikake rice) $34.60~ It's my absolute favorite, can never go wrong. The fish was melt in your mouth tender. And the sauce is always amaze-balls and the green is gorgeous on the plate. Thumbs wayyy up!

Ohh.. and the cherry on top... the couple in the table next to ours gave us a $25 off coupon as they were leaving. They got 2 in the mail and said one was to give to a "friend". Thanks friends!! It definitely made our night even better. :)

Another great meal. Everyone was so friendly, the food was good.... my butterfish still trumps all! Can't wait to go back again. Maybe I'll try something new next time... haha.

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Las Vegas - Aburiya Raku

From my previous post, we just had an awesome 3 course dessert. Now it's time for dinner at the sister restaurant, Aburiya Raku. This came highly recommended by a friend, and he was right, it's totally worth going. It was a really difficult reservation process... They don't have a voicemail system and would only take reservations through the phone. I think every time I've tried to call them, I get the automated message telling me to call back at least 5 times before I can get through. XP And if you make a reservation for more than 6 people, I believe everyone has to get the Omakase (chef's choice menu) priced at $75-100 a person. Luckily we only had 5 people. I called weeks in advance and got a reservation for 7:30PM but after learning that Sweets Raku didn't take reservations, I had to move Aburiya Raku to later in the night. About 10 attempts later... I finally got thru and got a reservation for 9:30PM. Yay!

Aburiya Raku
5030 W Spring Mountain Rd #2
Las Vegas, NV 89146
(702) 367-3511
http://www.raku-grill.com/
Price: $-$$

Aburiya Raku means "Charcoal Grill House Enjoyment", it's basically like a yakitori (food on skewers) and izakaya (Japanese drinking establishment) place. The majority of their menu are different types of skewered meat. There are also some seafood, noodles, etc.

We finished at Sweets Raku around 9PM so we walked over to see if they can maybe seat us earlier. They said the table isn't available yet but we can wait in the waiting area (small bar with 5 seats). My friend proceeded to order some sake. They bring out a tray full of different types of sake cups and you get to choose your own. I thought that was pretty interesting! 

But lucky us, there was a cancellation and we got seated before he even got his sake. The place is pretty small... dark lighting, very much like a late night eating/drinking place. hehe. Oh yea, make sure you check out their bathroom, there's a pretty awesome fish tank in the wall. I forgot to mention that Sweets Raku also had a killer bathroom with a really unique sink. :P

We wanted to try everything... And since everything is priced individually we only ordered 2 things to share and everything else we ordered on our own.

We started with an order of Raku's Tofu (bonito flakes, chives, ginger) Whole $5.50~ 

 

The waiter told us to pour a little of Raku's Soy Sauce (blends of Japanese Daiginjo soy sauce infused with Japanese plum) and sprinkle a dash of Raku's Green Tea Salt (Hokkaido sea salt, maccha green tea, shiitake and seaweed powder) on top of the tofu along with the other toppings. 

 

They make all their tofu in house and it is fantastic. The texture of the tofu was silky and soft. It was served slightly cool/room-temp. With the toppings and soy sauce and salt, it was amazing. It was light, yet had so much flavor, and you can really taste the tofu itself. It was a really good contrast with all the meats we ordered too. We loved it. Ended up ordering 3 of these. I probably ate a whole one myself! A must have if you go here.

We also got a Juicy Deep Fried Chicken $11~ to share. 

 

This was also soooo good. We don't know how they got the inside to be so freaking juicy yet the outside skin so crispy. And there are no bones in this. It was lightly sauced and made the spinach so yummy. We ended up getting 3 of these over the course of dinner too. haha. So far so good!

Yellowtail Carpaccio $12~ One friend ordered this. I didn't get to try it, but I tried the sauce which was very interesting. Slightly sweet with a hint of spicy? It looked really fresh.

Next we move on to the Robata Grill: Price is for each skewer. We all just ordered what we wanted and shared (or not share) some. haha. I've included the quantity we ordered in front of the item names. :P

(4) Jidori Chicken Thigh $3~ My friend ended up getting 4 orders of this on his own. The chicken was tender and juicy.

(1) Kobe Beef Filet with Wasabi $12~ The beef was very tender and I really liked the wasabi, I wish there was more on top. Another friend thought the wasabi was too strong though.

(3) Kobe Beef Outside Skirt with Garlic $7.50~ It looked good with the garlic chip on top. I didn't try it. My friend said it's not as tender as the kobe beef with wasabi but the garlic addition was very good.

(1) Kobe Beef Silver Skin $3~ I saw a picture of this on yelp so I thought it would be interesting to try. Normally I think chefs remove the silver skin from the meat since it can be tough. This was not tough at all. A little chewy, a little soft. Reminded me of intestine a little bit but not as good. I'm glad I tried it, but wasn't spectacular or anything.

(1) Kobe Beef Liver $4.50~ Not a fan of liver, so I didn't try it.

(7) Kurobuta Pork Cheek $4.25~ This was my favorite skewer of the night, by far. We did 2 rounds of this. The pork was fatty, but wasn't like just chewing bits of fat. It was super juicy and tons of flavor. I loved the texture of it. I had 2 skewers myself!

(1) Iberico Pork $10~ Pretty good. I tried a bite after I ate the pork cheek.. which was a mistake, because this one didn't live up to the pork cheek. haha.

(4) Pork Intestine $2.50~ I love me some pork intestine! And this was done well! Not too chewy, lots of flavor, and not too expensive! :)

(3) Duck with Balsamic Soy Sauce $4.50~ Really really good duck. So tender. The balsamic was mild so you can taste the duck itself.

(1) Salmon with Ikura Oroshi $6~ The salmon was ok, I would've preferred it cooked a little less. But I liked the combo with the daikon radish and fish eggs.

(1) Enoki Mushroom Wrapped with Bacon $3~ This is a standard for me whenever I have yakitori. I just love enoki mushrooms and everything's better with bacon! Tiny little skewers but totally yummy!

(1) Portabella stuffed with Jidori Ground Chicken $5~ I got this one because it sounded interesting. Definitely looked yummy, but the chicken was quite dry. Probably my least favorite of the night.

(3) Hot House Sake $13~ Only 1 of my friends drank. He got 3 bottles of sake throughout the night. If only I liked sake, all the food would've been so good with it.

So we had an awesome dessert experience followed by another delicious dinner. I was soooo full afterwards. I highly recommend this place. Just have to be patient and call them a million times to get a reservation. haha. Thanks to my friend for the rec. I will definitely revisit next time in Vegas. :)

Quality of Food:

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Japan 2013: Tokyo - Casual Dining

*EDIT 8/7/13*
I totally forgot about these places we tried in Asakusa!! It's my favorite place to visit in Tokyo!

This place had a window in the front where you can see a guy making noodles. Totally cool! So we had to try it.
Soba Set (cold soba with mini tempura rice bowl) 1,200Yen~ Great texture, very refreshing. 

 

Japanese Udon (served cold with dipping sauce) 700Yen~ I think I like cold udon better than cold soba! The udon in Japan is always cooked to perfection. Nice and chewy. And cold noodles are great for a hot day!

 

 

Pork Dipping Noodles 880Yen~ I wanted tsukemen, which is dipping ramen but this wasn't what I expected since I've tried it elsewhere last year. It was still good, but didn't satisfy that craving I had. haha. TONS of noodles... I couldn't finish it.

Chow Mein (fried noodles) 850Yen~ Basically yakisoba. I liked that it had a lot of veggies in there. Good flavor too!

Melon Cream Soda 

 

 

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This year I didn't do much research at all for food spots. There are too many good food everywhere so we just walked around and looked at different places and narrow it down from there! Tough choices sometimes since everything looked great. Especially when you're hungry! hehe. 

Here are some places we randomly ventured into in Tokyo... 

First day in Tokyo, we stopped in Shinjuku station to pick up our JR passes and just walked out in search for some lunch. We found this underground udon place, Hanamaru. Appears to be a chain, and I went to a very similar style udon restaurant in Hawaii and it was awesome. It's cafeteria style where you grab a tray, pick up the tempura you want, then order the noodles and they make it right there and give it to you to check out. Seating is community tables, first come first serve. 

I got the Cold Udon with Pork and a Soft Poached Egg (small for 399Yen~) The noodles were cooked PERFECTLY. The texture was amazing. So chewy! I liked that it was in more of a sauce instead of full on soup. It had tons of flavor, and so many different textures. I topped mine with some tempura crumbles. The egg was amazing, soft and runny. 

 

The bf got a Hot Udon with Pork (small for 399Yen~)

Also got Octopus Tempura 147Yen~ and a Salmon Rice Ball/Triangle (Onigiri). 

First meal in Japan, and it's easily one of my favorite meals of the trip. Simple but done perfectly... YUM! 

For dinner the first night, I don't even know which area we were in... We saw the signs and pictures outside of Za-Watami and was lured in. haha. Later, I also realized this was a chain because I saw it everywhere! It's an Izakaya which is a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks. We had to take our shoes off at the door and put it into little cubbies. Fun! :) 

We started with some cocktails. We ARE on vacation after all. hehe. Cassis & Orange 499Yen~ Easily one of my favorite drinks. I discovered it last year in Japan. It seems to be a very common drink in Japan. It's like juice, so it's good for people who don't really like the taste of alcohol. 

Bf got this Mango Yogurty Cocktail thing. Looked really pretty. But since I'm allergic to mango, I can only appreciate its presentation. 

We got these little appetizers that came with our drinks. (We realized after that they charged us for it!! What?!?) 

Apparently a lot of places in Japan have a "sitting fee". I'm assuming it's to cover the rent of the space? Not sure, but we were so confused why our bill was so high so we asked the waitress. Her English was very limited and ended up just removing the charges because she saw how confused we were. haha. These apps cost as much as the cocktails!!! Whoa! 

I wanted some veggies so we got a Salad. So pretty, and bigger than I expected. Topped with a crab salad and soy sauce dressing on the side. It was delicious. So fresh and crisp and the creaminess from the crab salad paired perfectly. I didn't even need to use the dressing. My favorite item of the night. 

5 Skewer Combo 699Yen~ We had Chicken, Chicken & Scallions, Chicken Hearts, Scallions, and Okra. We also added a skewer of Mushrooms. Not the best yakitori I've had but still pretty tasty. 

 

Butter Corn 349Yen~ The picture on the menu looked better than the actual product. Could've used more butter. haha. 

The 2nd day, we visited the Tokyo Skytree. Which is pretty cool. You gotta wait in pretty long lines but it's got a great view at 450 meters from the 2nd observatory. We wandered into one of the department store's restaurant level for dinner. Found a tonkatsu place that didn't have such massive lines as some other places. Saboten Tonkatsu. Staff's English is pretty limited (as was most places), but they had English menu. 

Bf ordered the Saboten Combo (pick 5). He picked Barley and Rice, Pumpkin Salad, Side of Chicken Cutlet, Side of Asparagus Roll, and Pork Loin Cutlet of Kenbiton (a higher quality of pork) 1,680Yen~ 

 

 

 

With the meals we also got unlimited shredded cabbage, rice and miso soup. SO. MUCH. FOOD. The tonkatsu was fried to perfection. Juicy and moist on the inside, nice and crispy on the outside. There was just enough fat on the pork to give it moisture and flavor. My bf loved it so much. He's had tonkatsu in Dallas before but never cared for it because it's usually thin and dry. This is the real deal! It also came with sesame seed with pestle and mortar.. You grind the sesame seeds and then mix it with the tonkatsu sauce. NOM! The pumpkin salad was yummy as well, I could've just had a tub of that. 

 

I wanted to try something different and got the Mizore Combo (Pork loin cutlet with Mizore sauce which includes chopped scallion, bitter orange juice, grated white radish, and grapefruit) 1,350Yen~ Very interesting. The radish and citrus gave the fried cutlet a level of freshness. I also loved the barley & rice. A little nutty and difference in texture.

 

We both finished our food. I'm shocked. haha. But it was too good not to. Can't get quality like this in Dallas that's for sure...

Another lunch we had was close to our hotel at Nippori Station. It was inside another hotel. We didn't realize it was a smoking establishment though. Bleh!! We ate quickly and got on with our day. haha. Keeping it light, we got the Yakisoba 680Yen~ and I got a small salad 380Yen~ The food was good. Too bad we couldn't stay long to savor it. 

 

This next location is pretty cool. I specifically hunted this place down. I always wanted to try the live octopus... where the tentacles are still moving and stuff. Wanted to do it in Korea but didn't know how to order, and didn't find it in Japan last time. I found out that this dish, called Sannakji, is a Korean dish, so we went to "korea town" outside of Shin-Okubo station. We basically walked around and looked for pictures and signs outside for the octopus. Only found 1 location. So here we go... 

We asked for it at the door and the waiter showed us the menu. As soon as we ordered it, we see him go to one of the many fish tanks and pull out a live octopus 2,000Yen~. Pretty quickly we had a bunch of squirming tentacles in front of us. How cool! It came with sesame oil and chili paste to dip. 

 

The octopus itself doesn't have much flavor so all the flavor comes from the dipping sauces. The texture is the most important. It was definitely fresh! haha. The sensation is a new experience. You can feel the suction cups sticking on your tongue and inside of your mouth. I'd recommend chewing thoroughly before swallowing! Don't want them to stick to your throat. We enjoyed it. And had fun battling the food. haha. It was a feat just to pick the things up, since they suck on to the plate. :P If you are adventurous, I'd recommend trying this at least once. The picture doesn't do it justice. But if you google Sannakji, you can see them in action... 

We also got Jap Chae to supplement our dinner. haha. 

Next day, before we headed off to Osaka, we had a quick lunch at Ranmen in Tokyo Station. 
Soba, Tempura and Rice 950Yen~

Katsu Don and Soba Set 950Yen~  

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~