Maven Says: Eat at Roy's!

It is Baltimore Restaurant week, we had a babysitter and a friend so what did we plan? An adult meal--no cutting food for others, a single if any trip to the bathroom, and no ordering off the kids menu. Having no idea that restaurant week meant that every restaurant in town would be booked solid we waited to make our decision until Thursday morning. I knew I was in trouble when I called the first place and got a recording telling me they had no reservations for the remainder of the week--bad sign. Thanks to Open Table I was able to see what restaurants did have availability and when. I will definitely use them again--I really HATE talking on the phone so making a reservation without human interaction is perfect for me. Its the second time I've used the service, two different restaurants and it was perfect both times.

Roy's is the creation of chef Roy Yamaguchi and is a chain with restaurants mostly on the West Coast and in Florida. If I hadn't read it I wouldn't have guessed it was a chain--the restaurant has an interesting twist with some items available at every Roy's and some items that are created specifically for that restaurant by the local chef. We got to the restaurant early, went in and bellied up to the bar. We perused the semi-tropical cocktail menu-I chose the Pomegranate Patron Mojito and Scott got an Asian Lemon Drop. The mojito was seriously yummy. I like tequila and I like pomegranate so I figured I couldn't go wrong. Scott said the lemon drop had a touch of ginger which was just to his liking. The bill was a bit of a surprise, more than $20 for two cocktails--I guess we've been in the suburbs too long. Finally we got a seat and our waiter was a Bart Simpson look alike, thankfully without the matching attitude! He was pleasant, gave us an overview of the menu without being overbearing and didn't try to pressure into anything else when we told him we would be having the prix fix dinner special ($30.07 for 3 courses!). The starter of edamame instead of bread was a nice touch. We all ordered the appetizer sampler (the only choice), I had a honey Dijon beef short rib, Wendy had the Hamachi with lobster cream sauce and Scott the Shrimp Pad Thai. We were very quiet during dinner as we all enjoyed the food immensely. The beef was flavorful and tender, the mashed potatoes a bit ordinary but tasty, and it was accompanied by some lightly sauteed veggies. Finally, the much awaited molten chocolate cake. Yes, I've had it other places but this was the best I've ever had. The center was steaming hot and had great chocolate flavor. The accompanying ice cream and raspberry puree were great touches.

Overall our night was near perfect. Good company, good service, good food. My only word of warning would be the need to be aggressive to get served a drink at the bar. Scott managed it but a woman on the other side of me eventually gave up and went drink-less. The place was exceptionally busy and unlike some of the other restaurants I read about during Restaurant Week, Roy's was able to handle the crowd in style.