BISTRO ROYAL (Park Royal in West Vancouver)

While I was picking up an HDMI cable at Park Royal today, I stopped by the food court for lunch. I almost went Chinese, but a man beckoning me over with a sliver of chicken on a stick got my business. BISTRO ROYAL is a newer Euro/Internation food shop there, trying to entice customers with good pasta and chicken/meat dishes.

The Sweet Basil chicken sampler he handed me was beautifully cooked and very juicy. On the spot I decided to eat there, and ordered the Sweet Basil Chicken chicken with 2 sides, for $7.99. They also had some Salmon or Basa as a meat main, and quite a variety of sides to go with all of these, including 4 types of salads, 3 types of pasta, and various other veggie dishes. This being my first, (and accidental!) blog post, I didn't take any photos of the establishment or the menus, but this will be an ongoing thing as I plan for things like this ahead of time.

Now, onto the food. It was pretty good for food court fair.  The Pesto pasta I had as a side was perfectly cooked, the sauce was creamy with good flavour, but not too overpowering. Most food court shops tend to under season, as the customer can always season to perfection but can't un-season if it's a bit too much. 

The salad I had was crisp and fresh, with just the right amount of light dressing on it, something close to the flavour of a Greek salad dressing and some nice parmesan on top. I drove like a maniac on the way home, so my salad got tossed. No, not like that, like this:

The chicken was dripping in the Sweet Basil sauce. It was tender,juicy, and just the right amount of seasoning and pepper. I even dipped some of the pasta into the excess sauce for a bit more kick. However, it was a tad too sweet for me, I'm a spice guy and by the time I made it to the end I wasn't too down for anything with sugar, but that's just me.

There was also a small home-made bun that came with the meal, only a couple bites worth but a nice addition to the meal. The bun got a bit of sauce on it in the travels home, but after the first bite I couldn't stop and ate it up, it was great and reminiscent of buns my Mom made, just the perfect density and slightly sweet. 

The owner and his wife are very friendly to the customers, and they told me they just opened up in January this year. There wasn't a line-up or a lot of people eating here yet, so here's hoping his promotional tactics continue to draw in customers like they did for me today. Good, fresh food at decent prices in a food court setting. Next time I feel like a meal cooked at home I'll have to swing by. 

3.5/5