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 October 22nd, 2008 by Meg
A few weeks ago my boyfriend and I went to lunch at gr/eats after receiving the recommendation of yam fries from Tim. We had no idea that the GR stood for Giant Robot until we arrived and saw the sign (it is also a few feet away from the Giant Robot 2 store, GR2). Giant Robot started as a magazine that focuses on celebrities, musicians, skaters, technology, toys, books, and any other cool aspect of Asian and Asian-American pop culture. Their stores have fun toys, books, t-shirts, stationary and art. GR2 has a rotating art exhibit. They had an exhibit of Susie Ghahremani called “The Wild Life.” I like her designs a lot and keep meaning to buy the Owl To-Do List (Yes, I have a to-do list that says “buy cute owl To-Do list”) The day we were there, there was a cool exhibit for Masakatsu Sashi called “Under Fluorescent Light.” This day was also the first time I heard about Pachinko, a Japanese game that is a mix of a pinball and slot machine! I have completely gone off topic…
I ordered the Iced Green Tea and was pleasantly surprised by it’s bright, dark green color along with the thoughtful bottle of simple syrup (any experienced iced-anything drinker knows that cold drinks and table sugar don’t work well). I loved this green tea so much and was so excited by it that I accidentally dropped my glass, spilling it everywhere, but mostly on my shirt and my face. My boyfriend could not stop laughing. The staff were beyond kind, friendly, and nice about it. They moved us to a new table and cleaned up my embarrassing mess.
We ordered the gr/eats Mixed Fries which are lightly fried mix of shoestring potatoes, yams, and bananas. I love yams. I love bananas. I had to order this. Words can’t describe how disappointed to find only 2 slices of banana fries, but I got over it because the other fries were delicious. Since they were lightly fried, I was able to pick up on the vegetable more than usual fried foods (which deceptively encouraged me to believe that what I was eating was healthy). I enjoyed the yam fries the best, but all three kinds were tasty.
We also ordered the Okra Rolls. I believe okra is an undervalued vegetable and do not see it very often. Maybe I’m not going to the right places, but because I never see it I had to order it here. The okra rolls were composed of chicken, okra, and enoki mushroom wrapped in a lightly fried roll and topped with avocado and a special sauce. This was my favorite of all the things we ordered. Each bite had a crunch, but melted in your mouth. The combination of the chicken, okra, and mushroom brought out each ingredient’s strength and the avocado was like icing on a cake.
I ordered Seared Tuna Sandwich for my main lunch course. It was seared and seasoned sashimi-grade tuna with grilled onion and a light sauce on a roll. I chose a small salad to join this sandwich since we already had fries on the table. The tuna was good and went well with the onion. There was a little too much roll going on, but that might be because I am used to eating tuna solo without a heavy carb accompanying it.
It was a pretty light lunch and I feel like if we had not ordered the appetizers, I would have left hungry. Overall, the place was relaxed, warm, and delicious. I plan to go again someday and try some of their other dishes like the paella or the tofu meatball plate.
gr/eats
2050 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 478-3242
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.
