When I heard about a French-American bistro opening up in Moore Square I was intrigued, but honestly did not rush to get there as I am often disappointed in these restaurants as the ones I have been to in Raleigh area have been way off base. Well, I heard a few positive comments, so I knew I had to get in there. One of my husband’s co-workers from out of town (Seattle) was visiting and wanted to go to a restaurant of my choice due to reading my blog, so I decided it was time to take the chance.
I walked into the restaurant and was already pleasantly surprised to how awesome the music was and couple that with the decor and feel of the restaurant and you have a an amazing setting. Good start!! The restaurant is small and quaint and I love how untouched it is with exposed walls, etc. I did not get to sit at the bar, but looks nice, so will try that out during my next visit. Here are some initial pictures I took:
I had made my reservation through Instagram (very easy and I was surprised by how quickly they responded) and was seated immediately when I arrived (an earlier dinner hour likely helps). Our server came over and greeted me immediately, offered menus and water while I was waiting for the rest of my guests to arrive. Once they came, we ordered a bottle of wine and decided to start off with the TARTE FLAMBÉ, which consisted of fromage blanc, bacon, red onions and olive oil. IT WAS SO FREAKING GOOD that I almost shouted!!! We ALL loved it and the crust was absolutely perfectly cooked (so nice and crispy, but not burned whatsoever)!!! Also, I have to say it was the exact right amount of each ingredient as I was not left wishing there was more or less of anything.
Then Chef Jeff was kind enough to send out some oysters for us to enjoy (two different preparations). One of the oysters was baked with roasted garlic, Gruyere and fennel and the oyster was fried and topped with an Aoili of sorts along with chopped cornichon on top. Okay, the based oyster was literally an explosion of amazingness in my mouth, which resulted in a shout or two!! I want to go back and have about 100 of those immediately if not sooner. Not only was the oyster cooked to perfection, but each of the components coupled together so well and delighted my taste buds!!! The fried oyster was also fantastic – not too much breading, not too fried, not too much sauce and the chopped cornichon was such a surprise touch! Holy moly my mouth is watering as I write this.
For my main meal, I was really struggling between the Royale Burger and the Steak Frites and decided to go with the Steak because if you cannot get that right at a French bistro you might as well pack it on up. I tried to talk one of my companions to order the damn burger, but no…..hubby was not super hungry and decided to order the Asian wings special they had for the upcoming dinner to celebrate the Chinese New Year. His co-worker (Kitson) was torn between a few items as well and ended up going with their pasta special (chicken, mushrooms, tomato ragu and I am sure I am missing an ingredient or five).
My steak came out and was cooked absolutely exactly how I asked for it (I ordered it med-rare and if you eat any steak cooked more than that….you are ruining it). I was worried about the frites at first because in my mind they were going to be thin and these are the opposite of that. Oh, and holy crap it is served with a generous helping of Au Poivre sauce (a really intense sauce to make consisting of housemade demi glaze, caramel, red wine gastrique, green and black peppercorns and brandy). Chef Jeff is not fucking around with this sauce and my understanding is that it takes him days to make it. Thank you sir!!!! I was anything but disappointed with the frites and am quite ashamed of how quickly I judged them before tasting them. Shame on me and so sorry potato friend. Here is my defense – typically wedge type of potatoes are not overly flavorful and they are difficult to get right from a crispness perspective without the inside ending up like mush. These were so right!!! Check this dish out!!!!
Matt’s wings were so damn good – quite spicy….not for you wimps out there! But they were also so meaty and flavorful! I am not the biggest wing person because I feel like they are so much work for such little reward, but not these! I actually could use a knife and fork with these as they had enough meat on them, but if I had been eating more, they were digging into and getting my hands and face a mess.
Kitson liked her pasta, but she was not wowed by it. I ended up taking the rest home and ate it for lunch the next day. I figured out her issue with it as she was disappointed she was not tasting the ragu as much as she would have thought. Well, it needed to be stirred as it was towards the bottom of the dish. Once I did that, it was so flavorful, the chicken was very moist, the mushrooms were cooked so well and I loved the choice of pasta type. I would stir it next time you order it before eating it and then you will not have this issue!! You can tell by the picture that you do not immediately see the ragu much, but the breadcrumbs on top were so crunchy delicious!
Now here is how great our server was – she must have let Chef know that I was trying to convince everyone at the table to get the burger so I could try it, so he sent one out cut into three pieces so we could each try it. Holy freaking burger batman!!! It was one of the best burgers I have had in a really long time. It is served with Gruyere cheese (and they are not stingy with that cheese…..thank you, thank you) and a choice of the Bearnaise or the Au Poivre sauce, but Chef gave us both to try. The Bearnaise has housemade taragon vinegar, whole butter, egg yolks and salt. The bread (it is actually an english muffin) that they used was so soft and was perfect!!! They have a woman who makes them fresh for them….she rocks!! My only feedback here is on the Bearnaise sauce as it was very watery and too thin to even really pour onto the plate and dip it. Also, you would think that you should definitely go with the Au Poivre sauce with this one, but if the Bearnaise was the right consistency, it would have been my choice as the flavor was so unique and complemented the burger extremely well. I WILL DEFINITELY be coming back for just that burger as soon as I can!!!
I was so full at this point and had to run out and leave, so we were not ordering dessert, but Chef sent one out anyway, so I had a quick taste before I fled the scene. It seemed to be homemade peanut butter ice cream with chunks of chocolate brownie or cake with sprinkles and peanuts. As soon as you tasted the ice cream it was so clear it was homemade as there is no other taste quite like it!!!! I am not a huge sweets person, but am a sucker for really good ice cream and they make many flavors…….dangerous!!!
I will absolutely be back to Royale very soon and will have tough choices to make as that burger is just something I think I cannot go without, but the steak frites was also so good (had the leftovers for dinner the next night and it was so good reheated even) and I also want to go on Thursday to try the Lamb Shank. Chef Jeff and team – thank you so much for such a fun night with great food, great service and fun atmosphere! Here is a pic of the team I stole from their Facebook site (Chef is in the middle)!!
#raleighfoodwhore #downtownraleigh #royaleraleigh #frenchamericanbistro #raleighrestaurants
