matikin9 "food, wheee!"

Every time I’ve been to Roy’s I have consistenly come away satisfied – and I’ve been to the San Francisco Roy’s at least 6 times within the last 4 years.

My most recent visit was with a group of coworkers who were throwing a goodbye dinner for me and another coworker on May 31. We had a very large group of 14 people for dinner at 8pm. Something happened at the office, and half of us arrived 30 min late – no problem, the staff took it all in stride. We even brought along an extra person, and they accomodated us by adding an extra table. Even after all that, our server was so friendly! He gave us suggestions on meal items, gave me suggestions on drinks and even told me to steer away from a particular drink I was considering. :) I love it when the servers know the food they’re serving and will not automatically praise everything on the menu.

The menu changes often, so don’t skimp if you see something that sounds good (although there are a few clasic dishes that never go away). Their appetizers are also usually very good. I like the calamari, in whatever form they happen to manifest when I visit. My boyfriend really likes the tuna tartare.

When you see their serving sizes, you may think to yourself that it’s not enough but it is surprisingly filling. When I go with my boyfriend, we usually order 1 appetizer to share, an entree for each of us, and the chocolate souffle to share for dessert. We get so stuffed by the time we get to dessert, but it’s too good to pass up.

summary: I LOVE ROY’S!!! :D

Cafe Algiers serves delicious sandwiches for under $5-6. They use Boar’s Head meats and cheeses (apparently it’s high quality for those of us who don’t know much about deli meat brands). They offer ciabatta buns, and you can even get your sandwich grilled, heated, or toasted if you ask for it. You choose a meat and tell them what bread you want. Cheese is an extra few cents.

They also serve coffee, pastries, various Middle Eastern/Mediterranean foods like falafal and spinach pies, but I was too enamored with the sandwiches to ever order anything else. This place is definitely a great lunch option if you’re in the Financial District: yummier and cheaper than the chain alternatives (Subway, Quizno’s, Togo’s).

I found this place mentioned on Chowhound while looking for Japanese restaurants in LA that serve okonomiyaki. Much to my surprise I found a place that, like many places in Japan, let you cook it yourself!

You can order the okonomiyaki cooked in the kitchen, but it’s more fun to cook it yourself. Each teppan grill sits 4-6 people. They give you a flyer with instructions on how to cook the okonmiyaki. They offer the typical style of okonmiyaki as well as the soft goopy Tokyo-style monjya yaki, and the noodley Hiroshima-style okonmiyaki.

You may want to start off with the normal okonomiiyaki, and do your research before you try the other styles. My first time here we were totally confused about the monjya yaki and ended up putting the liquidy mess back into the bowl. We looked up videos and instructions online until it made sense and we’ve enjoyed it at Gaja every time since.

Some of their staff have very heavy accented English. If you need help with your okonmiyaki cooking, try to catch the skinny old guy with the glasses and beard.