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).

Fresh fruits combine with traditional Chinese desserts at this popular chain from Hong Kong. If you’re not familiar with HK desserts, some of the terms on the menu will confuse you.

Sago – Very similar to tapioca, but made from a different plant.

Glutinous rice balls – Glutinous rice is a type of short-grained Asian rice that becomes very sticky when cooked. This type of rice is often ground into flour or mashed to make soft rice cakes and mochi.

Black glutinous rice – A variation of rice that is high in nutritional and medicinal value (not to mention delicious).

Crystal snow – Derived from snow frogs. Good for the complexion and aids digestion.

Kwai ling ko – Turtle shell extract. Good for the skin and for detoxifying the body.

Bird’s nest – Promotes growth and tissue repair to the benefit of your skin and immune system. (The Chinese are big on having good skin!)

They advertise their desserts as being healthy, but by that they use very Chinese definitions of healthy. Fresh fruits are definitely healthy, and the specialty items are traditionally known to be healthy in Chinese medicine but I’m not sure if there has been any Western research on the health benefits. Regarldess, it would probably be better than any chocolate/cheesecake/ice cream/cake/sugar/whipped cream filled Western-styled counterpart.

Mango items are their specialty, as you will be able to tell by the multitude of fresh mango, mango pudding, mango juice, mango jelly, and mango ice cream on their menu. They offer some of their desserts in drink form, and they have some savory foods that I haven’t tried. I love getting any one of their dishes that have mango, ice cream, coconut juice, or black glutinous rice.

In terms of service, I never really paid attention because honestly, that’s not what you go to a Chinese establishment for. You go for the food. My first time at the San Francisco location, several years ago, their decor used to be rather sparse with these weird low sprawling lounge chairs. However, they have since replaced those with more solid feeling Chinese-antique styled wooden tables and chairs. This place is usually pretty crowded with groups of young Asians. Luckily it is also open late (12am Sun-Thurs, and 2am Fri-Sat).

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.

They serve decent sushi and rolls here, but the rest of the menu is not what you typically see at a Japanese restaurant. The style is more fusion. I came here for the first time on Father’s Day for lunch, and the Spicy Moromi Miso Sea Bass was insanely delicious. It was so tender and flaky, and the flavors were great!

I’ve been back several times since and although none of those experiences quite lived up to the first one, they have still shown themselves to be pretty darn good.

Their lunch bento with the fish is a killer deal (considering my experience with downtown lunch prices). Service is always excellent, their servers are friendly and always try to arrange the dishes aesthetically on your table. I don’t typically think about that, but it’s one thing I’ve noticed every time I’ve been to Tani.

I took my parents here for dinner because I heard they had good fish and chips. The fish and chips (which my boyfriend ordered) were very good, light and flaky. Crispy, crunchy, but not heavy or soggy at all. The fries were delicious too. I had the shepherd’s pie, and it was solid. Both my parents enjoyed their dishes as well (my mom had their fish & pasta special of the day, and my dad had roast beef).

My only gripe, which I suppose the restaurant doesn’t have much control over, was how empty the dining room was. At any given point in time, we were one of only 2-3 tables of people. This may be because on the other side of the restaurant, separated by a wall, there is the pub/bar portion of the restaurant. The bar area is probably what gets crowded at night, especially since the restaurant is close to PCC and CalTech.