Several years ago an editor asked me to come up with an article about a current dining trend. As a food writer I eat out a lot, but my mind went blank. I waited a couple of days before responding with a “not in my wheelhouse” reply. I never heard from them again. To declare that something is trendy is a reliable clickbait strategy—it’s FOMO time!—but otherwise complete bullshit.
If a couple of cafes are suddenly making ube lattes, that doesn’t mean it’s a trend. It means that a couple of cafes are now making ube lattes. And the reporter, with all their subjectivity on display, enjoys drinking them. Et voila, a trend is born because someone has randomly declared it as such. The circle of interest is generated by a dog chasing its own tail.
With that preface in mind, I’m not going to say The Royale is embodying a trend. However, the Pleasant Hill restaurant is definitely part of an ongoing expansion of Asian influences in the greater Bay Area’s breakfast and brunch ecosystem. In two recent interviews—one with a chef, another with a baker—both interviewees bristled at the use of the word “fusion” to categorize their approach to cooking. So let’s stick with “influences” to gather together this burgeoning segment of our mighty culinary scene.
If I were playing the part of a pastry detective, which I often get to do, the first baked goods with Asian influences that really caught my attention were the croissants and milk buns at Bake Sum, back when it was still a pop-up. The pandemic was a particularly fertile time for home bakers, or unemployed restaurant employees, to stake out a place in the industry while featuring their own individual points of view, family backgrounds and recipes. I’m not discounting or ignoring the fact that Asian bakeries pre-date the arrival of these newcomers by decades, but they weren’t necessarily vying for the same customers who were buying croissants and desserts at traditional French bakeries and patisseries.
While I will probably never get tired of pains au chocolat, they do seem staid when compared with East Bay Bakery’s banh mi Danish; Croissante’s matcha chocolate croissant; the array of Elaine Lau’s creations at the now-closed Sunday Bakeshop, some of which are now being served at Sirene; or Milk Belly Bakery’s loaves of Japanese milk bread and kinako sesame sourdough.
Opening parallel to these bakeries are a number of restaurants that not only reimagine what an American brunch plate can look like but also, in The Royale’s case—it serves dinner, too, Thursday through Saturday—make room for Korean fried chicken, tom yum paella and kare raisu, a Japanese-style curry. Tanzie’s in Berkeley has created a buzz with its lava egg plates. Oakland’s The Peach is making a series of inventive dishes like ricotta pancakes and chicken deep-fried with rice flour, mushrooms and congee, and char siu toast.
In the Courtyard Shopping Center, The Royale stands out on its corner mainly because the exterior is crisp and white. Perhaps its fresh coat of paint will start a trend away from bland beige walls at strip malls everywhere. The Royale’s kitchen believes in excess the way that Taste and Glory in San Mateo does—try its croffles and buttermilk crispy chicken with a glass of strawberry pink milk.
A stack of buttermilk pancakes ($24) doesn’t come with just pats of butter and maple syrup. Two topping options are available to choose from: an ube sauce with mixed berries or a strawberry matcha sauce made with strawberry compote, adzuki beans, mascarpone and a matcha cream sauce—plus pecan candies and a sweet crumble. To trouble one’s blood sugar even further, The Royale makes ube, thai tea, and lavender and matcha lattes ($6).
An avocado toast ($20) also isn’t a meager offering. Two poached eggs covered in a small mountain of parmesan cheese are accompanied by pickled onions, mustard seed and garlic confit. There are sides of smashed crispy purple potatoes and arugula leaves dressed in a lemon vinaigrette. Only the actual sourdough toast itself tasted store-bought rather than freshly baked. And, unconventionally, the green goddess omelette ($20) was served more like a scramble with the sauteed vegetables placed on top.
The Royale, 2190 Contra Costa Blvd., Pleasant Hill. Open Mon-Fri, 8am to 2pm; Sat-Sun, 8am to 2:30pm; and Thu-Sat, 5:30-9pm. 925.483.2219. theroyaleeatery.com
