Japanese-Western restaurant Royal Host has opened its second store in Singapore at Takashimaya Shopping Centre along Orchard Road, after launching its very first overseas outlet at Jewel Changi Airport in July. Royal Host is known for its extensive menu and quality ingredients, many of which continue to be sourced from Japan. Its new 80-seater outlet along Singapore’s busiest shopping belt makes dining at the eatery much more accessible to non-travellers now.
The Takashimaya outlet currently offers the same menu as the Jewel one, including the recently launched weekday set menu, which is priced from S$16 and offers excellent value. This was our first time at Royal Host and we were excited to try the many signature items, given the positive buzz surrounding the first outlet.
The highlight was undoubtedly the meats. The ‘ROYAL’ Sirloin Steak (S$64.80) was a 250g slab of premium ‘Washu’ beef. The beef was served with a side of broccolini, radish, soy sauce and wasabi, though the latter are not quite needed as the steak was extremely tender and flavourful on its own.
We learned it is not the custom for the restaurant to ask diners what doneness they prefer for their steak, but we saw that the default can be quite pink indeed. Use the photos and ‘deep redness’ mentioned in the menu as good indications. We made a special request for it to be a bit more done given our own preference. This was the best steak we had eaten in quite a while, being reasonably marbled with a deep fragrance from the fat. If you are not having anything else, you can choose a carb like baguette (S$3.40) or steamed rice (S$3.80) to mop up the juices and to complete the meal.
Premium Beef “ROYAL” Sirloin Steak 250g. Photo © Royal Host
The next dish we tried was the ‘ROYAL’ Hamburg Steak with Brown Butter Sauce (S$29.80). Black pepper and WA-FU sauces are also available for this dish if brown butter sauce is not your thing.
Some would say for Japanese-style western food, the Hamburg steak is even more of a classic must-order than regular steak and the Royal Host menu acknowledges that it is ‘arguably more indulgent’. In this case, the Hamburg is crafted from premium beef typically reserved for steaks, using a meticulous meat-mincing process and proprietary kneading techniques. To preserve the savoury aroma, the hamburg steaks are seared at a high temperature for a brief period using custom-designed ovens.
Many of Royal Host’s sauces are made in Japan, as is the Brown Butter, which involves adding fresh cream, butter, white wine and black pepper into demi-glace sauce. As we poured the generous portion of sauce and cut into the meat, it oozed delectably, showing how juicy the hamburg steak was. It was indeed an indulgent dish to be savoured slowly. I made a mental note to return for it for the weekday set lunch, where it is one of the items offered (S$19 for 190g with rice or baguette). Hamburg Steak is also a good option if you like beef that is not pink at all.
ROYAL Hamburg Steak with Brown Butter Sauce. Photo © Royal Host
The recommended pairing for the two dishes, besides the carbs was the Onion Gratin Soup (S$7.80), a Royal Host bestseller featuring a consommé with caramelised onion and topped with a Gruyere cheese tartine. Although the soups are rather small in portions, the onion soup is definitely worth trying at least once on your first visit. The story goes that Marilyn Monroe praised it when she visited Japan on her honeymoon in 1954.
We also liked the Lobster Bisque (S$10.80), a creamy and rich flavourful soup made from lobster shell and topped with tiger prawns.
“ROYAL” Onion Gratin Soup. Photo © Royal Host
Meanwhile, we were taking sips of ‘ROYAL’ Paradise Tropical Iced Tea (S$8) in between. It is an aromatic black tea blended with four kinds of herbs and features lychees within. This tea has been on Royal Host’s menu for two decades.
‘ROYAL’ Paradise Tropical Iced Tea. Photo © Fen Chia.
The last main dish we tried was the omelette rice. We were impressed the omurice dishes use eggs from Japan. I had hesitated at this juncture when ordering as I was extremely tempted by the HIROSHIMA Omurice (S$28.80) of which the picture in the menu was calling out to me with its white cream sauce topped with grilled Hiroshima oysters. However, we dutifully went for the recommended signature ‘ROYAL’ Omurice with demiglace sauce, (S$26.80), which has chicken and some chestnuts within the tomato sauce coated rice for sweetness, and I immediately rued my decision. Perhaps it was partly because I am not too inclined to sweetness in my savoury dishes. But more so, the brown sauce base was too close in taste to the previous meat dishes, while the former’s seafood and white sauce would have been better for a contrast within the same meal.
Royal Omurice with Demi Glace. Photo © Royal Host
Royal Host has a remarkably extensive menu, including Dorias (baked rice topped with cheese), pastas, sides, grilled dishes, Japanese curry, sandwiches, and salads, but by this time we were already amply filled and satisfied. The menu is probably one of the most luxurious I have seen recently, carefully worded and photographed with the history of some of the dishes, laminated and bound in a tan faux-leather cover.
It made me nervous with the number of plates on the table and we set it carefully out of the way of stains and splashes as we moved on to dessert. While the stars are apparently the parfaits (again photogenic and huge), we went for the more prosaic tiramisu (S$14.80), and Basque cheesecake (S$15.80) as my preferred Coffee Jelly Sundae (S$16.0) was not available that evening.
A generous serving of Tiramisu. Photo © Fen Chia.
Our Basque cheesecake and our neighbours’ very pretty Creme Brulee Parfait – Mixed Berries- an eye-watering S$21.80 though. Photo © Fen Chia.
If you enjoy the likes of ‘Japanese Western’ dishes found at Saizeriya, Hoshino and Ma Maison, but have only tried those brands in Singapore before, Royal Host is definitely the place you should also check out. Although it is positioned as a ‘family restaurant’ in Japan, I feel the Royal Host outlet in Singapore is probably the crème de la crème of Japanese Western you can find here currently, offering high quality ingredients, but with the prices to match. Get past that and with the excellent service offered by the servers, among whom we noted a couple of native Japanese, you would come away feeling extremely pampered and well-fed indeed, like how a Royal is probably supposed to feel.
Royal Host
391 Orchard Road
#B2-25/26 Ngee Ann City
Singapore 238873
Tel: +65 6908 1339
Opening hours: Daily 10am to 10pm
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