Posted October 29th, 2008 by Meg
For so long I have wanted to go to the cafe, art space, and store that is Royal T café, but there were always hurdles in my way. One time they were closed. One time I couldn’t rally the troops to go. One time I forgot it existed. But then one lonely day I remembered. Supposedly, it is the first cosplay cafe in Los Angeles. What is cosplay restaurant you ask? Well I’ll tell you. Cosplay are theme restaurants and pubs that originated in the Akihabara district of Tokyo around the year 2000. They include maid cafés and butler cafés, where the service staff dress as elegant maids (or as butlers). Compared with service at normal cafés, the service at cosplay cafés involves the creation of a rather different atmosphere. The staff treat the customers as masters and mistresses in a private home rather than merely as café customers. Which is pleasant when you consider how many rude baristi one encounters in a lifetime. Royal T’s waitresses are dressed in “maid kissa” uniforms designed by Lun*na Menoh (who designed similar costumes at Takashi Murakami’s exhibit at the MOCA ). The concept and design of Royal T is the work of Takaya Goto and Lesley Chi of Goto Design.
When I walked in I immediately thought: It’s kind of like if Kid Robot had a baby with Giant Robot and this child served food. Here is a picture of what the waitresses look like. I found it on Lun*na Menoh’s website. I was way too shy to ask for a picture while I was there; they are in character (high pitched voices, super duper overly friendly and nice) which I found to be intimidating.
First I walked around and looked at the store. Here are pictures of some of my favorite things I saw (Killer Cupcake, Fake Louise, Shoplifter Bag, and my favorite, Chanel Matches)
I didn’t take many photos of the art on the wall, but I did think this piece was cool. I am pretty sure it is Murakami’s work. Correct me if I’m wrong.
After the art, I sat down for some tea. Their menu is a fusion of French, Japanese, and Californian. Breakfast (granola, french toast, baked eggs), Lunch/Dinner (salads, sandwiches, rice bowls), and High Tea (the mix of everything for 20 dollars). I ordered the Royal T Milk Tea black tea with rose petals, pieces of fruit, and vanilla brewed in soymilk. As you can see in the picture, those are the bodum’s double walled glassware that is talked about highly throughout yelp reviews. It makes the experience very aesthetically pleasing. The tea was copious and delicious. I have a habit of finishing things even when I am full because I don’t like to waste. This was worth it though.
Although my maidtress told me that the brownie was probably the best dessert to order, I had to order the Sesesame Bean Sensation, a sweet sesame cake with tons of sesame oil and sugar. I am not the most knowledgable on these little squares of goodness, but I was able to recognize that it tasted very good. I would order it again, but I did see out of the corner of my eye someone else’s brownie and it looked quite decadent and delicious. So who knows what will happen next time I am there.
Hopefully, I will be able to return again soon. Not by myself. With enough money to buy Chanel matches.
Royal T
8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 559-6300
Posted August 10th, 2008 by Meg
On Saturday, my boyfriend (who is not the same person as my roommate) and I went to Scoops. It was my first time and it was pretty awesome. First of all, when we got there, the place was empty. I knew this was just luck and had nothing to do with the quality of ice cream. Also, shortly after we sat down to eat, a herd of people filled the room. I tried the flavors: Brown Bread (made from grape nuts), Banana Peanut Butter & Bacon, Guinness Mocha, and Thai Iced Tea with Honey. My favorite was definitely the Brown Bread, which is supposedly one of their most popular flavors. Even though they use grape nuts to make it, it is definitely a different taste than I expected. In fact, it made me wish I could just eat Brown Bread ice cream for breakfast everyday. I was slightly disappointed in the Banana Peanut Butter & Bacon because it seemed to be that each flavor was too subtle for me to distinguish. However, it could have just been that my palate was overwhelmed from such a variety of flavors. The Guinness Mocha was quite tasty, but seemed the most normal of the bunch to me. The Thai Iced Tea with Honey was probably the sweetest of my bunch, my second favorite, tasting like happiness. All and all, I would definitely go again, especially because of the rotating crazy flavors and the kind scooper that helped me was very accommodative, patient, and helpful while I made my my flavor decisions. 
Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped by Intelligentsia. We parked right next to a store I had only heard about, The ReForm School, a pro-green gift-y store. It is a very adorable store with a lot of neat and innovative products. I had found out about it on the internet a month or two ago and was always interested in visiting. Inside, you can find everything eco-friendly from bags, clothing, furniture, local artwork, notebooks, to bath & body products. The store fits right into the Silver Lake neighborhood. I would recommend it to anyone that is on the hunt for clever and cute gifts. I just wish I had the money to buy everything. I really liked these fun, easy to hold Buddha Bowls, but do not have the funds to purchase bowls at this point in time. The website is just as cute as the actual store. The story of how the store started is one that I respect: two friends that just wanted to own a store that promotes green living. How awesome is that?
Surprisingly, there was no line at Intelligentsia, but the place was pretty full. My boyfriend got his usual Mocha and I just ordered a cup of coffee. The coffee I chose was Galapagito, a La Tortuga Micro-Lot from Honduras. The website describes it as greeting “the palate with a burst of crisp citrus and lush tropical fruit. The acidity peaks in the center of the cup and melds elegantly into a supremely well-structured finish of deep, dark chocolate and baking spices.” My (probably weak) palate did not find it as citrusy as described. I did enjoy the finish and found it very smooth. I would/will buy those beans in the future. To keep the mornings interesting, I bought a 1/2 lb. bag of Fazenda do Sertão, Brazil. These beans come from Carmo de Minas, a popular growing region of Brazil. They are characterized as:
Flavor: Caramel, sweet orange, fudge
Acidity: Balanced, dried mango
Finish Smooth, buttery, dutch chocolate
Yum. Apparently these beans were tested to become espresso, but the taste was filled with such amazing depth and complexity that Intelligentsia R+D changed their minds and let it shine as a coffee. Another interesting fact about these beans is that they are pulped natural; beans were pulped without fermentation. Pulped natural coffees result in a beverage that has the characteristics of both a dry-and a wet-(fermented to remove the pulp) processed coffee; it is sweet, but retains acidity. This type of processing can only occur in countries where there is low humidity, such as Brazil, who has popularized this method and apparently produces some of the best pulped natural coffee in the world. For more information on the differences between processing, check this informative site out, CoffeeResearch.
Scoops
712 N Heliotrope Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90029
Get Directions(323) 906-2649
The ReForm School
4014 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
Get Directions(323) 906-8660
Intelligentsia
3922 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
Get Directions(323) 663-6173
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Posted August 7th, 2008 by Meg
For the past few months I have been training for the American’s Finest City Half Marathon in San Diego. In effort to help me train, I purchased a GPS Fitness Trainer, the Garmin Forerunner 205. At first glance, it looks like a big nerdy watch. If you continue looking at it though, you realize that it IS a big nerdy watch. The GPS satellites calculates speed, distance, and pace information. It is perfect for my training because I have to go on long distance runs, but don’t want to always have to google map out my trek beforehand. The 205 allows me to just look down at my watch to show my distance (and it also reminds me how slow I run!). I love it and find it incredibly helpful, even though it gives me quite an embarrassing tan and sometimes hurts my wrist.
This past weekend I had my final big run before the actual event, 13 miles. Sadly, during the run the battery went dead. I had to guesstimate the distance necessary to finish. Since the watch was only a few months old, I knew that I could probably get it replaced or fixed. I bought the watch at REI in Santa Monica and called them up to see if they could help. We went through different methods to resuscitate it, but nothing worked. The next step was for me to come into the store. I was hesitant about coming in, because I no longer had the receipt, but then I recalled that I had purchased it under an REI membership number. Ultimately, this is what saved me because when I went into the store, they looked me up on their database to confirm the purchase and then replaced the watch with a new one. Simple. Also, since the time I purchased the watch, the price is now lower, so they refunded me the amount in which the total cost had gone down. I was pleasantly surprised! REI has the nicest and most knowledgeable workers; leading me to believe that the company trains and treats everyone well (I hope I am right). Yay, REI!
I have not charged the new watch, now that I am tapering, but I am hoping it will be a better big nerdy watch than it’s predecessor and that we will have many hours and miles together.
For so long I have wanted to go to the cafe, art space, and store that is Royal T café, but there were always hurdles in my way. One time they were closed. One time I couldn’t rally the troops to go. One time I forgot it existed. But then one lonely day I remembered. Supposedly, it is the first cosplay cafe in Los Angeles. What is cosplay restaurant you ask? Well I’ll tell you. Cosplay are theme restaurants and pubs that originated in the Akihabara district of Tokyo around the year 2000. They include maid cafés and butler cafés, where the service staff dress as elegant maids (or as butlers). Compared with service at normal cafés, the service at cosplay cafés involves the creation of a rather different atmosphere. The staff treat the customers as masters and mistresses in a private home rather than merely as café customers. Which is pleasant when you consider how many rude baristi one encounters in a lifetime. Royal T’s waitresses are dressed in “maid kissa” uniforms designed by Lun*na Menoh (who designed similar costumes at Takashi Murakami’s exhibit at the MOCA ). The concept and design of Royal T is the work of Takaya Goto and Lesley Chi of Goto Design.
