aloha roy's ohana tour

this past thursday, i was invited to a media tasting at roy's restaurant in downtown to kick off roy's l.a. ohana tour. if you're excited about roy's food AND like sweepstakes on top of that, then this tour might be just the thang for you:

• An inaugural trip to a participating Roy's restaurant, where guests are awarded an Ohana Tour card to present at the next Roy's location.
• On the second visit, guests will receie a complimentary Chocolate Souffle (with purchase of entree).
  
• At the third location, guests will receive a $20 gift card (with purchase of entree) and entry into the Hawaii sweepstakes.
• Restaurants participating in the tour include Roy's Anaheim, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Pasadena and Woodland Hills locations.

since roy does not have the ability to be in a million places at once, he has "chef partners" in all of his restaurant locations. after talking to this cutie, garrett mukogawa, the chef partner at roy's downtown restaurant, i learned that being a "chef partner" meant that he has liberties to create his own items on the menu as well to go along with roy's classics.

i also enjoyed the fact that libations were flung at me and being the good guest, i did not deny them the pleasure of getting me buzzed. i started off with a very strong, highly recommended the original hawaiian martini. it is a favorite at the restaurant and i can see why. hello! fuck me up please :) coconut and pineapple flavors with a good dose of vodka. ooooh la la.

first up was the yellow fin ahi poke which had chunky tuna pieces mixed with guac and topped with tobiko (flying fish roe). i liked this a lot and though it was slightly salty, it didn't stop me from inhaling three. yes, that's right. three. they were small cups ok!

the spiced duck confit tarts were little cups of sweetened shredded duck meat. a bit sweet for my taste, but my guest ate two. oink.

what?! another drink for me? sure! here's a refreshing glass of basil cucumber collins. lovely, refreshing drink full of....vodka. i like.

by that time, the grilled albacore flatbread came out so that i can use it to soak up the alcohol.

the savory side of the tasting ended with the short ribs of beef au poivre. i enjoyed the truffle tator tot capsule. mmmm....

and the night ended sweetly with their strawberry basil panna cotta. the basil presence was strong so thank god i like me some basil. the dessert was quite refreshing.

overall, the tasting was a good introduction to roy's and i even had the pleasure of meeting susan of reservation for three. anyways people, do the tour and win a trip. it's all good. happy eating!

Roy's
800 S. Figueroa St.
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 488-4994
www.roysrestaurant.com