Hawaii Restaurants: Roy's Hawaii Kai, Still Ono After All These Years
Where: Oahu || Grouped in: Oahu Kids, Oahu Nightlife, Oahu Food, Oahu Romance || Tagged:
In 1989, Roy Yamaguchi opened his flagship eatery in Hawaii Kai, then a solidly middle-class newish neighborhood in East Honolulu. Roy was from California and so was his restaurant. It had a big display kitchen with flashy flames and pots and pans. The din in the eatery was awesome, reducing intimate dinners to inadvertent shouting matches. The crowds went wild, in part due to the excitement the space generated but also due to the extremely innovative (for the time) food churned out by that factory kitchen. Roy was probably the first true fusion chef in Hawaii and he nailed it with fish preparations that melded ponzu or miso with beurre blanc or béchamel. His appetizers, however, ranged more towards the Asian side of the aisle with fabulous plates of hoisin ribs and seared slabs of sashimi grade ahi served with tear-inducing Chinese mustard. Yumorama!
The good news and the bad news is that Roy’s Hawaii Kai is essentially the same restaurant. The open kitchen, the din and the hustle and bustle remain the same. The big entrees have the same French inflections coming from Roy’s French training. The pupus hew closer to Hawaii or Asian standards with more shoyu, ginger and lemongrass flavorings. A little secret. If you want a quieter, more sedate version of Roy’s, take the outdoor seating. The traffic noise is minimized by the earthen berm that segments this outdoor oasis from the road. For families with kids unnerved by noise, this is a huge blessing. Roy’s waitstaff are generally crackerjack, fast and intuitive. Before we could request anything they brought out toys for kids, children’s seats, and smaller plates for the children. Right on. Now, what to eat? The black-and-blue seared, spicy sashimi remains a top dog, as do the ribs (whatever type Roy is preparing, its good). The celeb chef is rarely in the kitchen but this restaurants tends to have crackerjack food, regardless. The chocolate souffle is hardly Hawaii but its a must.
Roy's Hawaii Kai
6600 Kalanianaole Hwy / (808) 396-7697 / honolulu@roysrestaurant.com / map
Advertisers, reach Hawaii |
