It’s wedding anniversary time, good excuse to try a new “Fancy Restaurant”! This time my wife and I thought we would try Roy’s in Waikiki. We’ve been to the Hawaii Kai one, but not to this one.
Zagat says: 26 food, 22 decor, 24 service, well within our “Fancy Restaurant” parameters.
Street view of restaurant
The street view from the opposite corner.
Outside
Closer view….
Back entrance
The back entrance is just as nice.
Lounge
You could almost bear the wait in this lounge.
Decor
Decor is modern and comfortable. This is the view toward the kitchen. Again, we were the first customers. I guess 5:30pm is not typical.
Edomame
Instead of bread, we get Edomame (Soy Beans).
Menu
Now to the menu. We love the set menus, so we both went Prix Fixe. My wife went with the Salmon and Chocolate Souffle (Red Arrows). I went with Mac Nut White Fish and Mac Nut Tart (Blue Arrows), yes double Mac Nut for me. Of course we ordered the matching wine.
1st Course
Starting from the left, the Blackened Ahi had a paprika dusting, and came with a wasabi cream sauce. The short rib was “fall off the bone” and sat above green aoili. The chicken spring roll was crispy on the outside and tender moist on the inside.
Roy’s paired this dish with a Prosecco, which is an Italian Sparkling wine. To me, it tasted like a dry sparkling Riesling.
Prosecco
The interesting thing about this pairing is how the wine seemed to fit with each of the dishes in the trio. With the Ahi, it seemed to give off a sweet pineapple taste. As you move toward the ribs, the wine started growing more tart and went grapefruit-ish. Finally with the spring roll, I got more citrus (lemon) coming at me.
Now for the main course…
Salmon
My wife had the Salmon cooked medium rare. This had an oriental flare with the namasu (pickled cucumbers) and a citrus ponzu sauce. This dish came with rice.
Perfectly Cooked
The fish (as expected) was grilled crisply but the center was moist, tender, and slighty rare.
Riesling
Roy’s selected a dry Riesling, which matched the tart teriyaki flavor of the citrus ponzu sauce.
Mac nut crusted white fish
My dish was the Macadamia Crusted White Fish (Mahi). The sauce on the left tasted of sweet tomatoes (like tomato bisque soup), the sauce on the right was the “Maine Lobster” sauce, which was light, buttery and creamy. I loved the lobster sauce and ran out too quickly. The fish was crispy & tender.
Chardonnay
The Chardonnay went well with this dish, but the lobster sauce was the highlight.
Dessert Time!
Chocolate Souffle
Ooze
Nothing beats a warm, moist, Chocolate Souffle.
Mac nut tart with short bread
But my dessert was more picturesque. The short bread crust and macadamia nuts was a winner.
Dessert Parings
The Les Clos de Paulilles is made from Grenache, but was not aged like port. Although still sweet, it was a lot lighter than other dessert wines. With the chocolate, it tasted like cherries.
The Muscat with the mac nut tart came out tasting of passion fruit.
Bill Time:
Bill
Not too bad if you consider the wine paring.
Kitchen
On the way out, we took a peek at the kitchen. Maybe next time we can eat at the bar and watch them cook.
If you feel in the mood for fish, this would be an excellent choice.
