Royal Hotel
It’s another one of those nights. I first went to Sheng Tang BBQ House, where I was told I could wait for two hours for a table. That place was smokier than Beijing. I’m not sure roasting my own pieces of meat on a little barbecue would’ve been one of the finest episodes of my feeding career, so I didn’t mind too much. The next place I went to was a lunch-only place.
A approaching 8pm, I searched for nearby restaurants, and found the Royal Hotel, with an unbelievably-low Urbanspoon rating of 23%.
Oh well. Here I am. Let’s hope I don’t have the same poor experience that 77% of this establishment’s visitors have had.
Other than me, one family is here.
I’m handed menus, and told to sit anywhere I like, and return to the counter when I’m ready to order. My first choice is sold out, but my second choice is available.
In a garlic brandy cream sauce, served with rice.
The main course is served about five minutes after I order it. That’s nice, but it’s a poor omen for feed quality.
The prawns have a kind of a cream sauce on them. It has almost no taste, but if you told me they’d rationed a single garlic clove over every meal today, I’d believe you. The central rice pile is on the dry and hard side, but only slightly. I’m sure the rice was much nicer at 8am, when it was cooked.
As inept as this dish was, a plate of creamy prawns, dryish rice, and cooked cherry tomatoes isn’t vomit-inducing.
Served with warm chocolate sauce and vanilla bean ice cream.
This dessert is taking a while to appear. If they’re actually baking something for me, I’ll fall off my chair.
No, I think it was just sitting there for 20 minutes or so. The main part of the dessert is a big chocolate disc. It’s very dense, having a consistency somewhere between chocolate cake and a block of chocolate. In the centre of the disc is a very firm chocolate paste. It all has a nice, strong, chocolatey taste, despite being cold and obviously pre-prepared.
This place and it’s fairly average fare certainly exceeded my expectations.