Welcome to Roy's! Well, Roy's in Anaheim. The Critic and I have been looking forward to this meal for 3 years. 3 years ago we went on a Disney vacation and stayed less than a block from this Roy's, but didn't realize it was the same ROY'S we went to in Kauai for our 10 year anniversary trip. We ate at that restaurant twice, ordering the same food both times... that's how much we loved it. If that doesn't mean anything to you, you don't know us very well.
So fast forward to this surprise Disney trip we had for The Guys and it was a given we were eating at Roy's in Anaheim. Yes, it's outside of the park. No, it's not that far. We all hiked the mile or so to get there and probably did less walking than we did inside the Disney parks. And we still had plenty of time to ride all our favorite rides before the park closed (I think we left at 11:00 pm, but oh well, it's vacation, right?).
The food was good. Not as amazing as we remembered from Kauai, but still delicious and all-in-all we are super happy we got to return. I will say the highlight for this was the treatment of The Guys. When I made the reservation online, I knew they would be going the extra mile for them. From chopstick pals to personalized desserts, they did not disappoint. Which makes sense, given the ridiculously expensive kids meal price! Oh well, again, it's vacation, right?
To start the meal, we had edamame. This was an experience with the good and the bad. The bad? It was overcooked. As one who makes edamame at home often (we had it last night for dinner in fact) I do not understand this. I think you have to really try to make soggy edamame. And if you're using this as your "free bread", you'd think it would be pretty easy to get this perfect. Oh well. The good was that rather than just having sea salt on it, they sprinkled on this mix of red chile, sugar, and salt. And it was GOOD! The Critic is looking forward to experimenting to make his own at home. On properly cooked edamame, no less.
Next up was The Canoe. I have absolutely no pictures of The Canoe because that's just how fast it disappeared. The Canoe is a sampling of about 5 different appetizers... ours included some sushi (which we both surprisingly enjoyed), lobster pot stickers, some braised short ribs, spring rolls, grilled shrimp... I don't remember but it was delicious and gone in a heartbeat. My honest favorite part of The Canoe was listening to a lady ordering for the table at a business dinner she was clearly hosting say "I took the liberty of ordering 3 "Ko-Nae-Hoes" for the table. Seriously? That made me LAUGH!
Now for the main dishes. Here is The Critic's dish... butterfish. Let me tell you, he wins! We always have that unwritten contest in a restaurant... who makes the best choice. This was kind of like cheating, however, because this is the dish we know and love from our Kauai trip. If you go to Roy's, get the butterfish. Always.
Next up, my dish. Meh. I got the mixed seafood grill or something similar. It included a scallop, a lobster tail, a shrimp, and a crab cake. Underneath it was a risotto that had macadamia nuts in it I think... here's the deal. The scallop was AMAZING! I love scallops. I love them best when they are cooked right, and this certainly was. Best thing about it was that they asked me how I wanted it cooked! How crazy is that? They wanted to know if I wanted it cooked "rare" or "cooked through". I informed her I wanted it cooked "correctly". She did not disappoint. It was delicious. The shrimp was okay... but we'd already had a couple of those on our Ko-Nae-Hoe (still laughing!). So I wasn't too amazed. Same with the lobster tail. It wasn't pulled out of the shell and needed something to dip it in (such as, oh, butter...). It was fine, but not amazing. Then the crab cake. Sigh. I tried a couple bites and didn't love it but couldn't figure out why. You know why? They had mushrooms in it. Mushrooms! I don't get it... well, and I won't get it again. And that's the same with risotto. Sigh. Why can't people just put that on the menu??? Nothing saddens me more than expecting one thing and getting one of the two foods I really don't like. It's kind of like they are trying to sneak them in to see if I still don't like them. Guess what? I don't. Oh well. That scallop was (almost) good enough to make up for the disappointment.
Check out this awesome kid's plate! This was the salmon. How great does that look? I love when a kid's menu item doesn't dumb down to the younger people. The salmon was good too. This was FIT's plate, but truth be told The Big Guy ate most of it. In the background you see The Big Guy's plain pasta. Sigh. Can't teach an old 6-year-old boy new tricks, can you? I'm working on it!
Last up dessert. The Critic and I split a delicious chocolate souffle. Picture? Nope... again. There is a direct correlation between our hunger level and picture taking for sure. But I did get a picture of the personalized dessert place each of The Guys got. In chocolate sauce, just below where the picture ends, they had their names written in chocolate sauce! My friend said "It's like dessert for little foodies!" and it totally was. The Guys were super impressed and so were we... which, as we all know, is the point.
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