Showing posts with label royal t. Show all posts
Showing posts with label royal t. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Get Ready, Ludobites is Back.

Ludobites is back for another limited engagement, this time at the first maid cafe this side of the world, Royal/T (and yep, some old faces from the previous Ludobites may be wearing maid outfits serving you). A group of bloggers were lucky enough to get a sneak preview the night before the opening, all thanks to the Fooddigger team!

They not only get the LA food blogging community together, algorithmically match our palates, and throw dinners for us, they throw dinners like no other. Whole suckling pig, special tastings, and this time, a taste of the new Ludobites before they open.

  • Why we love Ludo's wife, Krissy:
While some restaurants think we camera-toting foodbloggers are annoying, she buys a light box to indulge us with great lighting. Yep, so if you're wondering how we got such great photos for this dinner, she's the hero. She's also the power force running the floor, maneuvering the legal side of the restaurant business, and handling the reservation (so get on her good side!).

  • Why we love Ludo (9 reasons below):
1. Scallop, Brown Butter, Pineapple & Black Powder
The raw scallops were slightly cooked with the addition of the hot brown butter. The scallops were fresh and delicate, with a nice tartness from the pineapple. The black powder was really made from squid ink and added an interesting texture to the dish.

2. Bread Soup with Gruyere Marshmallow
Who thinks of things like "bread soup"? Ludo does, apparently. Bypasses the need to dip bread into your soup I suppose? Either way, this creamy soup made from Breadbar's Rustic Bread, paired with the poached egg is the perfect warm bowl for a cold night.

3. Foie Gras Beignet, Celery Roots Remoulade
The deep fried beignet is glazed with honey and holds 2 oz of foie gras inside. The most indulgent of indulgence, the richness of 2 oz of foie gras will knock you out. The beignet itself acts as a container for all the juice and moisture that comes out of the foie as they're cooking in the deep fryer. You're going to need that honey and celery root to cut all the richness.

4. Squid, Chorizo Oil, Kimchi Puree, Red Onions, and Eggplant Paper
A perfectly cooked squid with a texture like no other and a delicateness that's accentuated by the spicy kimchi puree and chorizo oil acting as both flavor and texture enhancer. The red onion added a slight tartness the brings the dish to yet another level while we were all marveling over how to make that thin eggplant paper.

5. Veal, Udon, Kombu Dashi, Mushrooms & Sesame Seed Miso
A lovely udon. It surprised me the Ludo can make a bowl of udon like this. The noodles had a nice chewy texture and the flavors of the tender veal and the kombu dashi hit the spot as a great umami flavor should.

6. Wild Striped Bass, Garden Vegetables, Aioli
A return to classical French cooking with the tender and moist fish. The highlight here is the combination with the aioli and crisp cauliflower.

7. Marinated Hanger Steak, Crunchy Escargot, Baby Corn, Bok Choy, Black Olive Mole
It was less than 2 weeks ago that Ludo learnt the art of mole making from Glutster's mom and already here he is blowing us away with his creamy and flavorful black olive mole that elevates the flavorful and tender hanger steak. The escargots are crunchy on the outside and chewy inside - simply addicting.

8. Fourme D'Ambert Tourte, Red Pears, Honey-Balsamic
The Fourme d'Ambert is a pasteurized cow's milk blue cheese that supposedly dates back to the Roman Times. Although the cheese normally has a semi-hard texture, in the tourte form it is soft and creamy. With the intense flavor of blue cheese and the warm crispy crust, this was one delightful tart. The crisp red pear and the tangy honey balsamic did well in cutting the richness, making a balanced dish.

9. Chocolate Cake, Coconut Sorbet, Caramel Coffee
A thick and decadent chocolate cake is paired here with a lightly sweet and cool coconut sorbet soup resulting in a clean and refreshing finish. The sprinkles of pink peppercorn on the other hand gave it that light kick that took this dessert to another level.

Yet another great meal from Ludo. We came in with high expectations and we were blown away once again. I'm certainly looking forward to my future meals here, and if you haven't made your reservation yet, they are sold out but get on the waitlist to snag those cancellations (they do have cancellations for tonight - opening night, just contact Krissy the @Frenchchefwife)!

And thanks to Brian from Fooddigger for handling all the wine pairing!

Ludobites at Royal/T
8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA
http://www.ludolefebvre.com/ludo-bites/royal-t
Ludo Bites at Royal/T in Los Angeles

Monday, November 24, 2008

Royal/T for Light Lunch, Art, and Maids - but No Sweets

Royal/T in Culver City is known for its servers' maid uniforms, inspired by maid cafes in Akihabara in Japan, and the use of its space for art exhibits.The maid uniforms themselves are much tamer compared to maid cafes in Akiba with their dark brown and white color scheme. And no, they don't call you "Master" here.
As far as their brunch offerings go, you'll find light fares such as salads, sandwiches, rice bowls and "baked eggs" (more on that in a bit).

The tea selection is fairly interesting featuring "modern brews" on top of classics like sencha and darjeeling. Tea selection was fairly small though. It seems that most of their "modern brews" is supposed to be better iced, so I asked for a yuzu sencha iced. Pretty solid, but not particularly memorable for me. The yuzu flavor was not as strong as I would've liked and the tea itself was slightly overbrewed.

I decided to just have a simple salad: Shrimp with Asparagus, Avocado, and Tomatoes ($10)
Their prices are pretty reasonable, the ingredients used are good. The shrimps were good, and the salad overall is pretty good, although the combination didn't work 100% for me. Regardless it was enjoyable.

My friend also got some sort of egg scramble with tofu, served with salad.

Their baked egg dish was interesting and actually pretty good. It's literally baked.
I only had a bite of this but I think I'll get it next time - with something more than tomatoes though. There were only 2 slices of tomatoes in it, but the baked egg itself was good.

For a supposed "tea" place, Royal/T unfortunately has a very limited selection sweets and pastries - besides croissants at the bar area, they had three items on the dessert menu. Their online menu certainly boasts much more, but they were nowhere to be found that day.
I decided to try the chocolate banana bread.
The bread was good, but not enough to satisfy my cravings for sweets. It was pretty light and not that sweet, and I have no idea what whipped cream was doing next to a bread.
I tried ordering their brownies, but they were out so I had to settle for the lemon tart.
The lemon tart was good- the whipped cream was entirely decorational and superfluous. But again ... not quite enough for my cravings. But that was all that they had as far as desserts go - such a shame!
I headed to Boule and splurged afterwards.

I didn't get the afternoon tea set this time but now I'm not sure if it will even be worth it. No scones? No pastries? What's the point?? I would still go to Royal/T because their simple food is good enough and the space is cool, but until they fix this lack of sweets problem I won't be there too often.


Royal/T
8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 559-6300
www.royal-t.org

Royal/T on Urbanspoon

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