Indulge Your French Maid Fetish

Royal/T Cafe is combination restaurant, art gallery and gift shop specializing in Japanese pop-culture items. It is also the only place in LA that one can meet friends for high tea served by a cute Japanese waitress in a french maid’s uniform. In other words, this place rocks! The food is good, but not amazing; somethings are better than others.  The Crispy Spicy Tuna is a must-have and the Kobe Beef Sliders (served 3 ways: Quail Egg Up, Tomato Chutney and Blue Cheese with Caramelized Onions) are very good.  Beverage-wise, I recommend the Jasmine Blooming Tea, a dried flower that literally blossoms in your teapot.  But you don’t come to Royal/T just for the food.  You come because it is one of the coolest spaces in LA. to hang out for an hour or two.  There is great pop art displayed all around you behind glass walls and a terrific store where you can buy really fun things ranging from sumo wrestler finger puppets to limited edition collectible vinyl toys from your favorite pop artist to hard to find Hello Kitty novelties.  Royal/T also often has a pop-up secondary shop, which recently sold hard to find Tron merchandise, and they host special events like masquerade parties and live musical performances.  Why do the young waitresses at Royal/T dress up as Lolita-esqe French Maids?  Royal/T says they are recontextualizing the underground culture of Japan that celebrates “cosplay” (costume play).  I just think it adds to the fun!   Royal/T Cafe is located at 8901 Washington Blvd. in Culver City.

UPDATE: Royal/T Cafe has unfortunately closed. I think LA could use a Japanese Maid Cafe. Perhaps someone will open one Downtown in Little Tokyo or on Sawtelle in Little Osaka.