Roy's hawaiian fusion on topanga blvd

A bud at work told me about this place he passes on the way to work, what gives?, is it tiki or shi-shi??

http://roysrestaurants.com/docs/index.html

shi-shi (but damn fine food).

On 2004-02-02 07:55, Johnny Dollar wrote:
there's a roy's in, of all places, baltimore maryland. my wahine went there last nite for our 1st anniversary. it's not tiki in the least unless you derive some vestigal aspect from the split bamboo backlit light fixtures.

but boy is it tasty!

if a touch of pretention bothers you, though, beware.

as pablus mentioned in an older post, the hawaiian martini is great. i usually have issue with a drink that has ingredients other than gin, vermouth, and olive being called a martini, but i let it slide in this instance. de-lish! and the appetizers and the molten chocolcate cake are the word.

mahaloz, j$

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=830&forum=1&vpost=74019

Extremely shi-shi and real expensive, real noisy. Drinks are real expensive. But the food was real good. Not tiki, there were some torches outside, inside was decorated with lots of bamboo.

and the staff wear aloha shirts. that recieves high points from me :)

SF Roy's was one of three places in my whole life where I've sent a drink back for being intolerable. I usually suffer in silence, but this was so bad, I couldn't do it, especially for $10 or whatever it was.

The number one worst drink, however, was a place that thought Peppermint Schnapps was a good substitute for mint in a Mojito. Blech!

we've eaten at Roy's in San Diego, and were grateful that we were not paying the tab! its more pacific fusion-y food than hawaiian, expensive bad drinks ~ definitely a place running on Roy (whoever he is)'s reputation.

the Seattle Roy's just closed, to the jubilation of the locals (who all seem to hate outsider Chef-chain restaurants)

ITs OK. In the begining they where all pretty good. The Hawaiian restaurants where excellent and I think Roy had more of a handle on it. Now that they have expanded the food has gotten worse. And you are correct the Mai Tai's are probably the worst I have ever had. I sent mine back for a Corona beer. Thats how bad it was.

On 2005-03-03 09:34, Pacific Andy wrote:

Now that they have expanded the food has gotten worse.

Yes, he sold the chain sometime ago to Outback Steakhouse.

That very likely explains the decline in quality.

On 2005-03-03 06:47, martiki wrote:
The number one worst drink, however, was a place that thought Peppermint Schnapps was a good substitute for mint in a Mojito. Blech!

Was this a Christmas Mojito, aka a "Christmojito"?

For our 28th wedding anniversary, my wife took me to Roy's on Topanga Cyn in Woodland Hills. First let me say that we are parents of 4children and going out to Mickydees is an expensive outing, we rarely go out to eat, we both are way above average cooks and if we do go out its usually with a coupon. (Bucco de Beppos is high dining for us, we get to take doggy bags home and we waddle back to our car.) All of that to say that "fine dining" is above us. Back to the dinner. The service is incredible, everyone says a credible aloha. I ordered the Mai Tai, and I know there was only 1/2 a jigger of rum in there, very sweet, $9.00. I ordered a 3-course meal; the appetizer was 1 small pot sticker, 1 med shrimp and 1 small baby rib. It did not appetite me, it only taunted me. My wife asked what the meals come with and he assured her that vegetables and a starch came with each entree, for $28-30 we should hope so, hers had 1 1/2 small spear of asparagus, 1 small carrot and a medium piece of fish over 1/4 cup of mashed potato. Mine had some bean curd and a couple delicate sprouts; my salmon was over the same 1/4 cup of rice. They were very nice and gave us a small scoop of ice cream and a mousse to celebrate our anniversary. The bill came to $85.00, we stopped at a fast food place on the way home. To some, that dining experience is a wonderful treat, we must be a couple of country bumpkins, but hey, it suits us. Its all good, been there, done that, did not buy the shirt, they only had extra small.

I hate this fusion BS. Roy's is NOT Hawaiian food at all.

If they want to call it something else, fine. But it's not Hawaiian food. Geez, give me lau lau, lomi salmon, rice and mac salad. That's Hawaiian.

Maybe I'm a purist, but I don't like people f*#(ing with an original idea.

(Don't even get me started on sushi made palatable for red necks to eat. i.e. California rolls, spicy tuna blah, blah, blah)

The Roy's on Maui near Kehei was a beehive of activity. The service was excellent but the environment was very loud to the point that conversation was impossible. I have to say their meatloaf was the best I've ever eaten and, as you would expect, less expensive than most of their entrees.

On 2005-05-21 12:23, Tiki_Bong wrote:
I hate this fusion BS. Roy's is NOT Hawaiian food at all.

If they want to call it something else, fine. But it's not Hawaiian food. Geez, give me lau lau, lomi salmon, rice and mac salad. That's Hawaiian.

Maybe I'm a purist, but I don't like people f*#(ing with an original idea.

LOL. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?

My gut agrees with you, tho. You ever try what Roy's passes off as poke? Auwe! Where's the sesame oil and limu and what's with the martini glass?!!! :) Maybe it's just me, but poke ain't poke if it isn't ladled into a tupperware container and served with the cute little plastic fish with the red nose cap and the shoyu inside.

Too funny about the mac salad - I'd really give Roy props if he served macaroni salad in a martini glass, though.

That said, I can respect Roy for what he's doing and using his roots to come up with some really tasty items. His restaurants apparantly do well back in the islands. And as far as the mainland goes, I honestly don't think that lau laus and squid luau would be a hit. They're great foods yeah, but require an somewhat of an adventurous palate.

On 2005-05-26 06:19, ainokea wrote:
My gut agrees with you, tho. You ever try what Roy's passes off as poke? Auwe! Where's the sesame oil and limu and what's with the martini glass?!!! :) Maybe it's just me, but poke ain't poke if it isn't ladled into a tupperware container and served with the cute little plastic fish with the red nose cap and the shoyu inside.

Hey, if it ain't Poke, don't fix it! :lol:

I have heard that Roy's places in Hawaii are much better, since he actually has something to do with them.

So what's in Roy's Hawaiian Martini they show on their web site?

On 2005-05-26 08:14, freddiefreelance wrote:

I have heard that Roy's places in Hawaii (on vacation)are much better, since he actually has something to do with them.

hey, just being in hawaii has something to do with being better. so far, thats been my experience with other chain restaurants on the mainland (Sam Choys {san diego} and Waimea Brewing Co {seattle}) are not even close to the real thing on the islands.

Anyone been to the Roy's in Downtown LA?

Actually the Downtown one isnt all the bad and the last time I was there the Mai Tai's where pretty good.
Not too bad. I dont eat at Roy's anymore because the food to me sucks. The Appetizers are good but thats about it. Unless it seared Ahi Tuna I want my fish cooked. They always insist on undercooking the Mahi Mahi. I always tell them cook it through and I was get the same comment. "The Chef prefers it that way". My response "then please have the chef pay for my meal if he likes it that way".