roy’s restaurant / downtown – san diego, ca

I sometimes wonder how I get invited to certain things.

I was recently invited to come to Roy’s Restaurant for a media event with wedding professionals. I don’t do wedding stuff (anymore, I used to write for San Diego Wedding Insider) and I’m not a planner or anything. But, I’m not one to turn out the prospect of trying new things. I dragged Jake with me and warned him beforehand about it, but there was no worrying needed. There was a nice bit of food laid out, a dessert table, and hot appetizers were floated around the room. They also had some pretty tables set up with potential wedding decor as a sample of what they could do. And I have to say that hosting a wedding or reception here would be great just for the view alone. Check it out below!

This was the first thing I saw. A table filled with CHEESE.

I smiled gleefully at Jake. I’m pretty sure he rolled his eyes at me. I’m such a sucker for cheese.

There was a good spread, too. Nothing was really labeled but I saw a brie, a cheese ball and a variety of hard and soft cheeses. There were also walnuts, honeycomb and fruits alongside a big tray of various crackers. Cheese heaven.

Next to the cheese was this gigantic spread of cured meats. I don’t remember what they all were, but it was a good selection of salami’s and more. They didn’t have any little signs up for this either, but it was all delicious paired with the cheeses.

These were little spoonfuls of carpaccio.

There was also an oyster bar and sushi station.

I can’t imagine myself eating a raw oyster.

It seems like it would be really slimy.

One of the hors d’oeuvres they had were these little sliders. Beef sliders with a little slaw mixture on top with a sweet sauce on a soft bun. These were tasty.

These are pork belly dumplings – Jake and I snagged a few of these because they were so good! They were both our favorite appetizer of the night. Sweet and succulent pork belly inside of a nice wrapper with a good sauce. Really tasty.

I checked and they don’t have these on the regular menu. Sadness.

I also tried the lobster potstickers – they had a good amount of lobster in a crispy shell. Our other favorite item were these handmade pretzels with cheese fondue. I must have been in la la land because I didn’t take photos of those items.

They also had a whole table filled with Roy’s Island Mai Tai’s. I loved the color on these Mai Tai’s! I only drank (and only needed) one of these. Jake ate my boozy pineapple, too, since I dislike the texture of pineapple. He thought it was excellent.

There were about three different cupcakes spread out and these S’mores Cupcakes were the best of the bunch. The chocolate cupcake was very moist and chocolatey. It was topped off with a marshmallow frosting that was lightly torched on top. Normally I don’t like marshmallow, but when it’s fluffy (like this) then I like it. Super sticky frosting, but it was good!

Chocolate covered strawberries make me feel like I’m eating a healthy dessert because it’s mostly fruit that somehow negates the chocolate.

The other cupcakes were a Banana Walnut cupcake – which really just tasted like a really dry muffin to me (on the left). I don’t remember what the middle one was, I just remember that I didn’t like it either. It was also dry and had a weird flavor.

That little glop on the bottom right is panna cotta. There were no spoons out so I remember thinking, “How am I supposed to eat this?” I ate it in tandem with some of the cupcakes. It was okay.

The s’mores cupcakes and the chocolate covered strawberries were the best of the bunch!

Here’s an example of a pretty, pretty table set up with the beautiful marina view in the background. Roy’s is located down on the bay in between the Marriott towers next to the convention center so the view is stellar.

Roy’s also had little gift bags for us to take home. Inside there was a bunch of weddings stuff – business cards, a little magazine, and other ads. There was also a martini glass with the Roy’s logo etched into the glass. The logo is so pretty and abstract looking that it took me awhile to figure out what it was! There were also some chocolate coconut cookies (very fudgy and delicious) and a gift card to come back to Roy’s for a future visit.

While this was primarily geared towards wedding stuff, there are other events that can be hosted here (parties, meetings, etc.) and you would be very well taken care of.

I’d like to come back in again soon and try out the regular dinner menu after trying out the appetizers and other goodies!

This was a media event. Thank you to Blaze PR for the invitation! All food was complimentary. I was not paid for this review. All opinions are my own.