Royal/T

Royal/T is both amazing and awkward at the same time. The cafe itself is surrounded by a sea of art installations that in themselves are enough of a reason to visit this spot in Culver City. The food is good but nothing spectacular. It's the combination of the two that makes this place special.

The waitstaff can be seen scurrying around the cafe attending to their customers in a manner that can be described as part shy, part giddy, and part fantastic. Dressed in brown maid outfits, the female servers (who are actually referred to as maids) bow and smile and act like school girls in front of the principal; they appear nice but you can't help thinking that the joke is on you.

We ordered the kobe beef burger and the tuna tartare sandwich. The burger was good and probably would have been better if we had ordered it with cheese. The tuna tartare came on a piece of sourdough with avocado and made for a tasty open-faced sandwich. Neither of the two were fantastic but they were good enough to warrant return visits.

I hope to one day befriend one or more of the 'maids' who work here and spend an evening following them around, smiling and bowing and acting coy; just to see how they like it. It's weird.

8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232

Ruby Red Rooibos tea

Wagyu Kobe Beef Burger

Spicy Tuna Tartare