Kat's 9 Lives

I have lived in OC all my life and I have almost exhausted all the options nearby. What is a girl to do for lunch? I am getting sick of eating the same old things and too lazy to drive further outside my radius to eat all the time. Recently I was at a loss of what to eat and what I would really want or crave for. So I decided to just drive around Culver and go on a spur of a moment dining adventure. As we were driving in the plaza near the 5, I happened to come across Royal Kitchen. Even though we didn't know anything about this place, we still decided to walk in and try their lunch special. It was quite empty inside and we were seated immediately.
As usual the lunch specials come with their daily soup that happened to be Hot & Sour Soup. It was actually a decent hot and sour soup, which is a good sign because if you can't even make soup then I'd be scared of what is to come. The prices for their lunch special wasn't as low as some other places around but still reasonable. They also offer the lunch special price for the entree late at night. It's good to know that they are open later so that if I am ever hungry or running late at night, I can always come here for a quick bite.
I chose the typical Walnut Shrimp because I love fried shrimp with caramelized walnuts. Unfortunately they were just regular cooked walnuts and no sugar! =*( Oh well. The portion was a bit small, but it tasted fine. My Mom really enjoyed it but I wasn't too impressed. The batter on the shrimp was a bit on the thicker side which changes the texture. Overall it was fine and edible.
My Mom ended up choosing the French-Vietnamese Style Tender Beef Cubes, can't remember what they called it on the menu since we just order it in Chinese. This was actually pretty good and the portion was good. It was a much better choice than my walnut shrimp. The meat was tender and flavorful. It had just the right balance of salt and pepper mixed in with the natural sweetness of the meat. I love eating the raw white onions to help add an extra kick of flavor. Based on this dish alone, I would come back here again for lunch or maybe for a late night snack. O=9

All in all I am glad that we happened to stop by here to try something new. It is always good to add some more restaurants to my site and to try new things. Can't always eat the same thing every day, although if it is really good... I can do it! O=9 Even though this plaza isn't as happening as the one on Jefferey, there are still a bunch of restaurants to choose from to try.

Royal Kitchen
14310 Culver Drive
Irvine, CA 92604
(949) 733-9200