Dinner Review

This started as an anthropology inspired blog. it has become a food inspired blog. Go figure right?

So, We went to a place called Roy's. It's fancy and an upper-class restaurant with under 10 sister locations.

It was Hawaiian Fusion. And, though pricey, was well worth it.

I had to resist ordering a Manhattan and settled for a glass of wine. But I know for certain that a manhattan would fuck the shit out of my blood-sugar. (and I didn't want to pair an unknown alcohol combinations with new foods. I also would like to mention that firefox's dictionary does not recognize the plural form of Combination).

So, we have our wine, make our choices.
Now, we all shared but I'll go around the table.

Appetizers:

Me: A Hawaiian inspired Caesar Salad, with Avocado, capers, a dressing, romaine lettuce, a slice of Panchetta and a goat cheese croquette.
my thoughts: Wonderful contrast in this dish. the dressing was rather bland (however, I was eating this at the same time as the Dragon roll, so I have a feeling my tastebuds were comprimised by a glob of Firecracker sauce. Sometimes, I am my mother's daughter.) But, the blandness (imho) of this dressing allowed the individual elements of the salad to come together. The avocado paired wonderfully with the Panchetta and my goodness. Now, Please understand, I may be exposed to lots of ethnic food as a whole, I am missing general areas in things. I had never had a Croquette before. Now, understand also, that I have a huge weakness for goat cheese, so a goat cheese croquette? Damn near divine to me. :) This salad was wonderfully organized and presented. But the star of this dish were the capers! Now, again, I have never had capers (or if i have, i don't remember them) but I realized that I love the little things (even if they do look like rabbit turds). The acidic bite of the capers was perfectly paired with the richness of the avocado and the goat cheese. Definately the star of the dish!!


Dad: A "Dragon Roll" With Tuna, general sushi fixings, & avocado, rolled in a crust and fried. Served with "firecracker sauce" (basically chile+oil) and Kim Chee
My thoughs- Absolutely fabulous. I didn't get to examine this as closely as i'd have liked (one of my issues, restaraunt was a tiny bit TOO dim, but then, I scrutinize <3), but the flavors paired excellently with eachother and the crust around the nori was FABULOUS. What the crust was? I couldn't tell you. If i had to guess? Spiced Panko. The firecracker sauce gave it a fabulous edge and the KimChee was even better than I'd hoped it'd be. I'd just watched No Reservations-Korea and had been craving KimChee something fierce, yet, the last time I had kimchee I *hated it* (though I'm not entirely sure if it actually was Kimchee...Dad made it...and it might have been KimChee A-la-Dad, which the a-la-dad leaves a lot of wiggle room).

But it was nice, and LIGHT, more akin to pickled ginger than the crap dad made (sorry dad, love you but...plz don't try and make kimchee again). It was a perfect palate cleanser.

Grandpa and Steph-Mom: Fried Calimari-- Calimari bodies (no legs :( soo sad) marinated briefly in Citrus juices, then tossed in flour and Panko breading, lightly fried, served with I believe a garlic and chile aoli
My Thoughts: If you're looking for value in an appetizer, this is your dish! They presented a FABULOUS *bowl* of calimari that I nearly wished I'd gotten as an Entree (it was that good; then again, severe weakness for calimari).
The calimari was marinated in citrus, which made me automatically think CEVICHE~! (Now, I have been craving Ceviche for *months* thanks to bizarre foods and No reservations, however, finding somewhere to get it down here, not so easy.) But, they went one step further, they *fried* the citrusy calimari in a breading of flour and panko.
This was my favorite appetizer of them all, I have to say, due to the portion, and the "poppability" they were completely addictive. And the aoli was simply fabulous. Light, but creamy! and the Calimari had a nice kick to them.



Main Dishes:

Dad: A whole snapper, pan fried til crispy, with a sweetish sauce, and a side of Jasmine rice
Fish was cooked PERFECTLY. flakey, crispy. delicious. The fins were fried to perfection--nice and super crunchy (until it started "fighting back" and it stabbed me in the cheek while i chewed). I was jealous of this dish for sure. Perfect portion of rice at just the right consistency (i'm particular about my rice :B) However, I started scavenging the carcass. Dad had joked with teh waitress (who warned him that it was a WHOLE fish) upon delivery that "it was looking at him" to which i said "I'll take the head" well, I did. Now, I watch a lot of Bizarre Foods. So, really...i'm not squeamish. In fact, while watching that show there are few foods i would not try. (Whether I'd try them twice, is another story). So, me, still hungry after picking the skull clean, went for the contents of the head cavity and the eyes. Now, fish brain (or what I assumed was fish brain) tasted exactly like marrow of say, a lamb. Very rich, irony- similar to chicken liver if you haven't had marrow... Interesting texture. Kind of mealy, but creamy. Much like chopped chicken liver spread, actually. Eyes, are much like marrow too, except more like that little part of fat that accompanies it, or the little slip of fat you can find in a pork or veal chop in the crevace in the bone. Rich, creamy, fatty. Very good, actually. The only thing I found iffy was since the fish was fried, there was a kind of crunchiness that I could have done without, but otherwise, it was very cool. Dad has dared me to try something *larger*, claming fish eyes are too small to count as eyeballs. I told him to find me some.

Me: Seared Ahi tuna with a soy-wasabi butter sauce
To be perfectly honest, I was mildly dissapointed with this dish. As some of you may recall, I recently made an Ahi Tuna dish of my own. I'm almost serious when I say I liked mine better. Now, I only really mean that about the sauce. Their tuna was far superior to mine (melt in your mouth amazing, which was what made it worth it). Nice crust, seared perfectly. Presentation was simple, and clean, with a pile of shredded veggies and a PILE of pickled ginger (how did they know I love pickled ginger so much? *bats eyelashes*) But, the sauce... was...bland. Really bland. Like? Really? wasabi? barely.
It was nice to taste the fish, definately, but i would have loved something BIGGER in the sauce.
Also important to note: if you're a light eater, the salad and the tuna was a fine portion. if you were hungry like me...and can afford it...go for a full entree. I hate to say it but I will be hungry again soon, and normal food will be pale in comparison

Grandpa- some sort of Shrimp with a goat cheese Polenta
My thougts- didn't get to try it, :( but, I really wanted to try the goat cheese polenta and will try and beg Dad (or moreso mom, who dislikes goat cheese) to make some.

and Steph-Mom: appetizer platter.

my thoughts? Don't know don't care. Was very token. Some tortellini dish, spring rolls, ribs, and a slice of dragon roll.




Overall, this was an incredibly fabulous dinner

Pros: Fabulous Service, Fabulous Location & Ambiance, A+ presentation, A++ food. Very inventive combinations, and I can assure you that deciding on the menu (though it's rather conscise) was dificult.

Cons: Could be a tad bit brighter in the dining area, and Price. I understand that fab food usually doesn't come cheap, and I will say that this dinner was worth every penny, however, it's sad that to get GOOD, unique food in Florida it takes that kind of price-tag.


And yes, I know that it can be argued that there's more options for less, etc, however, this wa the first meal in quite some time that *moved* me.

i blame the goat cheese :B

I am glad to say that this dinner saved spring break from being a complete disaster. Thank you Roy's.