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Roys, a closer look
 Roy's official Website! |
 Roy's Hawaii Kai on Yelp! |
Roy's Waikiki on Yelp! |
Roy's Ko Olina on Yelp! |
11/30/11 - Without a doubt, Roy's is big-time in island cuisine. For most of us who can remember, chef Roy Yamaguchi was the first on Oahu to transition us from stuffy, classic fine-dining to the modern-style of cuisine prevalent here and all over the world today. Nowadays, the best chefs take some of the most inexpensive and humble ethnic dishes in whatever locale they happen to abide in, and transform them into 5-star meals catching the attention of James Beard food editors - something chef Yamaguchi has already done, actually - he was the first Hawaii chef to win a national award from the prestigious organization!
After graduating all the way back in 1976 from the Culinary Institute of America in New York, aspiring chef Yamaguchi immediately went to work apprenticing at both L'Escoffier and L'Ermitage in SoCal, then working his way through various other high-end restaurants in different positions for almost another decade. By 1984, he opened his very first place in Hollywood, California, garnering a slew of regional awards along the way. A few years later, the young chef was back in the islands schmoozing with the likes of also-young and relatively unknown personalities Peter Merriman, Alan Wong, Jean-Marie Josselin, George Mavrothalassitis, and more in developing the core ideas for what is now known as Hawaii Regional Cuisine (although Chef Yamaguchi officially uses "Hawaiian Fusion" for his brand of cooking), a broad and encompassing term with no real boundaries except for the freshest, highest-quality ingredients, the utmost culinary skills, and, perhaps in a more straight-forward explanation - the best and most impressive cuisine anywhere in the state, hands down!
Though the term Hawaii Regional Cuisine had already been showing-up on the outer islands, chef Yamaguchi was the first to open his own restaurant on Oahu utilizing this new and modern style of cooking (whatever name you wanna call it!), opening Roy's Hawaii Kai in 1988. Till this day, Roy Yamaguchi remains a leader in the field, with 6 locations throughout the state, 23 on the Mainland, and one each in Guam and Japan, numbers which will surely change soon!
Here's the original flagship location in Hawaii Kai, seen from the beautiful Gyotaku-printed stairwell:
You may not think of a fancy place like this as bar/grill material, but as far as prices during Happy Hour go, you'll find discounts akin to the lowliest, diviest bar in town! Times vary according to location and menu items change periodically, but it's safe to say if you're looking for deep discounts, such as $3 Kona Longboard bottles and $5 pupus, all with Hawaii Regional Cuisine quality, you may wanna be here during the first 60-90 minutes after opening. Here at Hawaii Kai, that means 5:30pm Monday-Friday and 5pm Saturday and Sunday. Just remember, in order to partake of the relatively small but excellent list of specials, you must dine in the roomy bar area, shown in the next two pics:
Let me say this again - pupus for five bucks, each and every one of them! There's only slightly more than a handful of items, but $5 for this kind of quality is pretty darn insane!
Braised clams
Shrimp skewers with cucumber/wakame namasu
Szechuan-spiced baby-back ribs
Spicy ahi roll
Upstairs, the main dining area is a bit more cozy and intimate, although there's more than a fare share of clinging and clanging in the loud, open kitchen steps away.
Towelettes, anyone?
Yeah, this is the kind of foo-foo that, I must admit, can be kinda nice once in a while. Hey, if you're gonna pay top dollar for a meal, I don't mind being pampered and spoiled a bit with whatever gimmicks the house provides! They actually began as tiny medallions, but expanded like grow-toys after a shot of hot water.
As for regular menu items, a great way to start is with their appetizer canoe samplers, meaning, an assortment of four different pupu items on one platter. Normally serving two or more people, I've enjoyed several different canoes over the years. Unfortunately, I don't have any shots of a full-sized canoe right now, only a mini-sized version, which may contain identical items, but in much smaller portions:
Szechuan-spiced rib, duck egg roll, crab cake, and seared ahi
This canoe is only mini because it's actually the first course of an individual 3-course prixe-fixe meal. Though it was excellent, I can't say I wasn't more than a bit disappointed that 6, 8, or even 15-course meals aren't available here! I mean, with a chef like Roy Yamaguchi, I would love to have experienced a lavish prixe-fixe meal with something more than an appetizer, entree, and dessert. Oh, well!
Here's a larger portion of the same crabcakes found above:
Upon closer inspection, there was actually two things I didn't really care for about the dish. First, panko - I dunno, panko just seems to me a bit crude and overpowering for anything with real crab. Second, the crab itself - there was simply not enough of it! Or perhaps there was enough, but the combination of panko and the prominent Asian-type flavoring, also a bit too strong, only took more away from the pure taste of crab.
Moving on to entrees, lemme begin with perhaps two of my most-ordered dishes when going high-end, duck and lamb, fowl first:
Stellar! A single breast sliced in half to reveal a perfectly light-pink center, there was just the right amount of meat and just the right amount of fat to correctly showcase an exquisite meat like duck. Underneath, a couple of plump ravioli pieces were stuffed with a killer mix of duck, sausage, and Shiitake mushroom that complemented the breast pieces well, as did the rich, yet smooth jus of ginger and port wine reduction.
Spectacular was also the word for their gorgeous rack of lamb:
Thick, full, and huge, these primal cuts were also cooked perfectly, to a medium rare, and was accented brilliantly with a balsamic reduction and starch of kabocha pumpkin puree.
I still have two more dishes to reveal from Roy's Hawaii Kai, but they'll come a bit later on this page for flow's sake (you'll see!). For now, let's check out Roy's Waikiki, at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Beachwalk:
Entrance shot
Outside bar
Part of smaller dining area
Main kitchen and small sushi bar (yep, I did say sushi bar!)
Main dining area
I kinda like the atmosphere here at Roy's Waikiki. Being much newer, it's a bit tighter and cleaner in design, with a slightly more modern, slightly more casual feel than Hawaii Kai. Both, however, are similiar in that they combine an obvious cosmopolitan chic with enticingly warm, island-style elements like surf shots, Gyotaku murals, tropical flowers, and various other types of Hawaiiana.
One of the ways Roy's has evolved over the years is in installing a genuine sushi bar, albeit very small. Haven't been to their Ko Olina spot yet, but this Waikiki location in particular is big on sushi, not only serving new-wave rolls like every other Roy's, but also a bevy of nigiri pieces! No, I didn't try them (couldn't do it!), but I know there's no way they can compete with the likes of Sasabune, Imanas Tei, Gaku, and more, since the rice they use is obviously not up to par (at least up to the date of this post), both in the vinegar seasoning and quality (or cooking) of grain. In such cases, stick with fancy, new-wave rolls like this King crab roll:
Unlike the crab cakes at Hawaii Kai, this roll did push the pure taste of crab to the forefront, with back-up provided by cucumber, avocado, and a sprinkling of tobiko. Very nice!
As for entrees, I can't think of any other dish outside of seared ahi that so embodies island-style fine-dining than braised shortribs. Virtually every Hawaii Regional Cuisine restaurant has their own versions on the dish, and of the many I've personally had, never has one failed to impress me! Slow-braised for hours while infused with Asian sauces and spices like cinnamon, clove, Chinese five-spice, and chili, which provide layers of complexity, they are always fork-tender and tear apart with the grain in moist, flavor-filled, super-delicious strips:
Here in Waikiki (above), it is served on a bed of whipped potatoes, carrot, zucchini, and a beef reduction jus, then topped with an island tomato salsa. Back in Hawaii Kai (next shot), it was served over a kind of scalloped potato, broccolini, and baby carrots. For beef lover's, you just can't go wrong with either!
Kumi went with an order of veal, which came with a topping of batter-fried mini-string beans and side of whipped Yukon Gold potatoes. Once again, very good:
Without a doubt, the most frequently-asked question I get from visitors to this site and at my day job is regarding fresh fish, my standard answer being "You'll find fresh, top-quality fish everywhere!"
I mean, here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, as long as the restaurant is on the higher-end side, you can usually find super-fresh fish of a world-class caliber, and Roy's is no exception. Of course, with two varieties of fish on this individual order, salmon and butterfish, not caught in Hawaiian waters, I guess visitors might prefer opakapaka, onaga, opah, mahimahi, and other such indigenous varieties instead. Still, the entire trio of fish was as delicious as it gets, with the sweet sake/white miso butterfish being a proven winner here at Roy's from the very beginning and the ponzu citrus salmon (next shot) prepared to a tender, flaky, fatty perfection.
The remaining fish type, ahi, is from Hawaiian waters, and is perhaps the most popular fish in the state as far as sheer consumption tonnage goes. Ahi may conjure-up images of poke and backyard bbq's to every red-blooded local boy, but visitors or higher-end diners may instead dream of ahi done in the classic Hawaii Regional Cuisine style - seared lightly, left completely red in the center, and drizzled in an Asian-style sauce. Roy's version comes dusted in a shichimi pepper spice mix and sitting in a spicy soy mustard butter, with a kind of Asian slaw on the side. And yes, it was as fantastic as it looked!
As for you famished sweet-tooths out there, who rarely see me order desserts, boy do I have a surprise for you this time - not one, not two, but three different desserts! First, an order of bread pudding:
Not too shabby. The bread pudding sat under a fruity, tarty, sweety syrup, was dotted with blueberries and sugar-coated nuts, and finished with a single scoop of drizzled vanilla ice cream. One thing I really like about desserts here at Roy's is that every scoop of ice cream I've had is super-chilled, which requires freezers much colder than normal. Nothing ruins my ala mode more than expecting ice cream and receiving a shake, and Roy's does a great job preventing this very thing from happening.
When I was invited by Kawehi Haug and the former Honolulu Advertiser to map a progressive dinner route of my choosing, with a different restaurant and dish each for app's, entrees, and desserts, my last stop was right here at Roy's Waikiki, with their iconic and legendary dish - a melting chocolate souffle:
Why "Melting?" You'll have to break into one to find out!
A staple from the very beginning, an order of this luscious and sophisticated cake should be placed as soon as possible, preferably before entrees arrive, as it takes 30-45 minutes of preparation time. Without a doubt, one of the best and most impressive desserts you'll find anywhere!
However, as great as this particular dessert is, if called upon to chart yet another progressive dinner route, I just may be inclined to change my dessert round! Whaaat? I really didn't think anything could top a Roy's melting chocolate souffle, but a Roy's pineapple upside-down cake just may be my David to slay the Goliath!
Like the chocolate souffle, it requires a prolonged preparation time, and believe you me, it's worth every minute of the wait! The operational word here is sweet - I mean, I'd consider the chocolate souffle sweet, but more in a semi-sweet kind of way. This one, this one is just blatantly sweet in every way, from the spongy-moist cake to the ice cream cup to the caramel sauce so generously provided. The warmth of the cake, being fresh-baked from the oven, also plays a major role, its slightly crusty edge and moist center providing a great base from which to soak-in both the pineapple and caramel sauces. In every way, the dish was absolutely dee-lish! I'm still dreamin' about this one!
What else can I say? Chef Roy Yamaguchi - after all these years, you still got it! For fine island-style dining, Roy's has always been, and I suppose will always be, a safe bet for a truly exquisite meal experience all of Hawaii can be proud of!
Hey, hope you're all having a great and wonderful week!
Take care, and Aloha till next time!
Aku
