1.24.2011

Alright, I'm Back to Talking About Food. Also Known as: No More Butt Talk.

Before we get to the real deal Holyfield...

Remember that social networking/ blogging site I told you about, Studio30Plus?? They asked me to be a guest writer for their blog magazine. (Looks like all those colonoscopies are finally paying off, amirite??) Check it out here.

As I was saying...


I'm sure I've bragged mentioned it before, but I spent a short time living in London a few years back. It was through the Bunac program and although it was hard being away from all my friends and family, it was a GREAT experience. I met some really cool people that I'm still friends with today (and one not so cool person who won't lose my number- Michael, I'm talking to you) and we usually meet up a few times a year.

Since we all became spoiled when it comes to tea (Thank you Savoy and Ritz Carlton), we always meet up for an Afternoon Tea. This time we tried a tea room we've never been to before: Royal-T in Culver City.

This place has an industrial feel to it- raised ceilings, exposed ductwork, cement flooring. The front section is more like an art studio-slash-gift shop. This area alone gives Royal-T some major street cred.

The view when you first walk in.

In the art studio area...


A section devoted to everything Barbie. :::Droooooool:::


Mini chandeliers.


My FAVORITE item in the shop: The Little Wanderer by Yoshitomo Nara. It has wheels underneath and when you drag it backwards, it winds up and wobbles across the floor. :::Mega drooooools:::


Some art pieces on the way to the dining area.

The crowning glory at Royal-T???


All the waitresses are super Asian (and by "super Asian", I mean beautiful and courteous and have tiny voices). Their uniforms look like Alice in Wonderland had a baby with Flo from Mel's Diner and that baby decided to move into Anime land. These girls are seriously cute and immediately I pretended I was super Asian just like them.

Royal-T offer about 10-12 teas to choose from. I ordered their namesake, the Royal Tea, which was basically a sweetened black tea steeped in milk.

I've never been a plain tea/ plain coffee drinker, so I had a feeling I was going to like this little diddy. Well let me tell you, my tea was fucking delightful. I ended up drinking nearly the whole pot by the end of my visit. Now, if you're not one for cream and sugar and bells and whistles, this may not be the right one for you. But if you're like me and try to make everything taste like candy, this drink is the perfect choice.

The High Tea (This is totally a misnomer based on some quick internet research I conducted. It should definitely be called the Afternoon Tea.) consisted of four finger sandwiches, a slider, and some mini desserts. I substituted an extra egg salad and curry chicken salad sandwiches instead of the lox and seared tuna because those raw fishes make me nervous. I wasn't crazy about the curry chicken mostly because I didn't know ahead of time it was going to be a CURRY chicken salad (the waitress only called it "chicken salad"). And the egg salad wasn't much better- it had almost no flavor at all. BUT! The kobe slider was SO good, it almost completely made up for the duds in the sandwich department.

The portions seemed tiny. Surprisingly though, they got the job done and I didn't even eat all of my meal.



One of the desserts was this brown spongey thing. I had a few bites and really liked it. My mouth couldn't put it's finger on where I knew the flavor from, but I still knew that I liked it. My friend Tricia said it was a Green Tea Flan. Hm. Interesting. Not something I would have ordered on my own, but it was good nonetheless.

(I have lazy eyeballs. I already know.)

On our way out, we spotted an exhibit based on Warhol photos.



Guests were encouraged to go into the photobooth, attach one of their photos from their photobooth strip to an index card, and clip onto a prehung string for all future patrons to see. Well, since the camera loves me (naturally), we were all over that shit.

Ta-da!

Also important to note: Royal-T is available as a rental space. (Click here and watch the video to see what this place is really about.). If anyone plans on throwing a party here, I'm totally available.

Overall, a great experience at Royal-T, but mostly because of the art scene and novelty of coolness. I would give this place 3.5 out of 5 chins.

18 comments:

Anything Fits A Naked Man said...

OK, I ABSOLUTELY need one of those Alice in Wonderland/Flo the Waitress uniforms, STAT!! Also, does Barbie SERIOUSLY have an entire JAR devoted to just EYELASHES?!! Man, that chick is hard core!!

Chrystal said...

I need to go there immediately! Sooo cute! I love everything about that place!

Danielle said...

I LOOOVE that place! We should go sometime.

Dr. McCoy said...

I read your Studio 30+ piece. I feel your pain...explosive diarrhea happens to me all the time.

Congrats on your guest post and good job!

a bitch called mom
the well fed spirit

Little Chicken said...

You are such an international traveler! I am super jealous. That place sounds amazing and maybe it's the lighting (it's not) but you guys all look so glamorous and cool in that one shot.

I am such a coward and never go to places like this because oh god what if I don't know how to order and then I end up eating the shell on the outside of the edamame because I didn't know it wasn't edible (only happened once).

But this is totally why I should suck it up and go... looks AWESOME.

michael said...

looking at the small portions again makes me wanna rage. good thing the 10 piece nuggs made up for it. oh and the fact that we hung out with lindsey lohan afterwards. good pics.

TILTE said...

NAKED MAN- i know! i think i'm going to ask where they get them at my next visit. i'll let you know if i'm able to get the scoop.

CHRYSTAL AND DANIELLE- have you been there yet? seriously, the food is not that great. but the slider and the royal tea is enough to make me go back. we should plan our next get together there.

MRS HYDE- thanks for stopping by! yeah, unfortunately stomach issues are nothing new around these parts. i'm sure there will probably be another entry in the near future that was (apparently) way too much info.

KIM- you HAVE to try out new places! especially if they seem weird! just get a couple of friends together and then you can all have a good laugh when one of you does something embarrassing. and once you start trying new things on a regular basis, you totally won't even have any shame about it anymore. (at one of these classy afternoon teas, one of the people in our group was so hungover, she left mid meal to go throw up. true story. i'd also like to note- it was NOT me.)

MICHAEL- i have yet to see the pix of LiLo. evidence or it didn't happen.

Simone said...

been there and it is dope. love the waitress uniforms! your photography is lovely. thank you for sharing.

leeanne said...

Love Barbie, love the mini chandeliers, and love the mini hamburger. You guys better take me here next time I'm in LA.

x x

Deidre said...

This place looks amazing.

The tea sounds so delicious! Yummmmmy

Sara Louise said...

Yoshitomo Nara is one of my favorite artists! No joke! I have a few prints (not originals of course) and I love them!

Deborah said...

I'm so excited about your guest blogging! Wonderful.

Bonnie said...

Dude. Barbie section. Equal parts awesome and creepy.

BTW, congrats on the blogging. You deserve it since you kind of kick ass. (Kind of?) Okay. I'm full of shit. You totes kick ass. (Totes?)
BTWW, I'm a great, big, huge loser.

http://glamkittenslitterbox.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Oh, that place looks so cool..... I want to go.

Lorraine said...

I'm totally a "make my drinks tast like candy" person. In general, when something tastes like candy I'm happy! I'm pretty sure that's a broad statment that can be miscontrued, but it's Friday so fuck it. Candy, yay!

Lor

Trude said...

Wow what a super cute place! Gonna have to put that on my LA list. :) Yummmm...

Anonymous said...

Hell, I'd go there just to be served by Alice in Wonderland Asians.

Marie Nicole said...

I think this place looks so cool! LA has all the best digs... I'm so jealous.

ツ my cyber house rules

© Things I Like to Eat (...and Other Nonsense), AllRightsReserved.

Designed by ScreenWritersArena