Roy’s Waikiki

I love Roy’s! I came here on two occasions, my boyfriend’s birthday and my college graduation celebration dinner. Their food is very tasty and delicious. My favorite appetizer is the potstickers. They did a really great job at making both occasions very special.

Food lacked balance and the wow factor. Dishes were either too salty or lacked that perfect seasoning. I usually give 4 – 5 stars. But I usually go back to the original in Hawaii Kai. I will stick to old school next time.

I know the food in this restaurant is fantastic, being that I’ve been to the Hawaii Kai, Koolina and Kauai restaurant. And when I was parking my car in the Embassy, I got the chance to see Roy Yamaguchi himself, getting into his black Beamer. Bonus!!!
But the hostess, I think she was in a striped dress, has got to go. My friend was leaving the island and I wanted to take her to Roy’s but at 11am, the only seats are outside, and the entrees are pupus. The hostess said all this information pretty rudely, I think because we interrupted her putting things away in this cabinet or whatever. Gotta learn to do 10 things at once at Roy’s, and with a SMILE. I told the hostess we were not going to dine there and she looked at me with a deer-​in-​headlights look.
My friend and I went to Yard House.

I just ate dinner there tonight. Me & my husband celebrated my birthday. I had giant scallops with two types of sauce. We had a sampler appetizer boat beforehand. My husband had the filet mignon. It was excellent! Then desserts, they were the BOMB ! Pineapple upside Down cake with vanilla bean icecream. My hubbys dessert was chocolate fudge lava cake warmed with a scoop of vanilla bean icecream. Oh, I didnt know they would give me a slice of choc. ganache with raspberry sauce for my bday for free with a candle on it. Sweet! We had like 4 waiters over seeing us.

This restaurant is fantastic!
The environment is relaxing, comfortable, and also classy. The good is innovative and excellent. The butterfish and scallops were especially delicious. Though, the chocolate souflé was stellar.
Roy’s is pricey, but well worth the dollars.

Disappointed was a great song by the band Electronic and it’s also the word I’d use for my experience here. For the price, the food here is very average at best. It has history and that’s why I chose it as the last meal, on the last night in Honolulu. Epic. Fail. Felecia. #EFF.
It’s not that the place was bad, it’s just that expectations for the food based on it’s history and hype from people on this island were super, duper high. Well, like prom, that first job (post college) and growing up, it’s overrated.
I didn’t come here looking for the wheel to be reinvented. My tongue did come here looking for a better version of the familiar. The entire dining experience is on par with most average joints of this caliber that are just going through the motions. If going through the motions is great for you, then look no further. If you are looking for something you can’t get on the mainland, prepare for disappointment.
I’d describe what I had, but I have to get back to work and don’t want to fall asleep again. See my awkward pics for a glimpse into 1D boredom.
Considering service in Hawaii (islands in general, actually) tends to be the kind you can never find or slower then peanut butter going up hill in the dead of winter, service here was great. It’s what stood out the most. Professional, friendly and on point, it was fine dining service that went with boring food from a place called Snoozeville.

I went to the Roy’s Hawaii, waikiki at Honolulu on 24^th May at around 8:45 pm. Ordered a salad and noticed that it had Live Worms in it. I brought this to the server’s notice who quickly took it away. The manager came and casually gave the excuse that because they use organic products with no pesticides, pests can sometimes be present.
Are you kidding me???
And he never showed up after that, we just paid the bill n went away. The least he could have done was to waive the entire bill as an apology.
I wish I should have taken a picture and sued them for this blunder.

Came here around 8:30pm, the girl said it’ll be a out 10 to 15 minutes. We waited about 20 minutes & the food took almost 55 minutes!
We was seated outside, had a nice view of the streets (we like to people watch) and a little more intimate.
Our food was amazing! I ordered the appetizer, ribs which was delicious! I forgot what my main dish was but apparently it wasn’t as good as the appetizer, lol.
My boyfriend ordered the filet mignon 6oz & he loved it. He said the steak was really good, juicy and has a lot of flavor.

So the world renowned Roy’s… I don’t understand the hype. In my honest opinion it is overrated and over priced… way way over priced — $ 28.00 for a hamachi appetizer that was 6 or 7 small pieces of yellowtail covered with some onions and ponzu sauce on a fancy plate… The beet salad was delicious even if it did only come with 3 pieces of greens lol. The trio of fish I had, 2 of the 3 were swimming in heavy sauce and my girlfriends chicken was dry, over cooked and sauced to death as well. Would you like some protein to go along with that sauce? Yuck! I had better dinners at Titas Grill on North Shore (the best garlic shrimp on the island!) and Atkinsons Grill right there in Waikiki.
I will say service is impeccable, thank you for that.
The location is meh, you get a choice of a street view by the bar or a super loud and obnoxious dining room. The best part of the meal was the free soufflé (aka lava cake, now where near a real soufflé) provided by checking in on the Unilocal App… Way to go Unilocal!!!Save your money and tastebuds and find a local spot that serves honest and unpretentious food! Sorry Roy’s but we won’t be back…

Roy’s was the perfect way to end our food adventures during the last night in Hawaii. While service was a bit slow, our server was super friendly and very helpful in explaining the menu.
We started off with a bowl of free edamame. It was mixed with a delicious spicy sauce and was so addicting! We asked for seconds because it was so good.
For entrees we tried the trio which was a sampler of their salmon, butterfish, and swordfish. Every piece of fish was cooked perfectly and had its own unique sauce and flavors. We loved this dish!
The other entrée we got was the black peppered onago (red tailed snapper). This came with a mushroom risotto. The piece of fish on this dish was huge! That said, we felt the flavors were a bit too overpowering and didn’t enjoy this dish as much.
If we were to go back we would definitely re order the trio and also get a normal order of butterfish.
By checking in on Unilocal we got the free soufflé for dessert. It was a great way to end the meal.

I’ve been to several other Roy’s locations, but I think Roy’s Waikiki takes the cake.
Amazing service — and a relatively large dining room (make sure to make reservations!)
I opted for the trio this time, and couldn’t have been happier with my selection. The trio included 3 small portions of 3 different fishes — perfect for my indecisive self. The trio included the butterfish, salmon, and mahi mahi. My favorite was the butterfish in the misoyaki sauce, but my sister loved the mahi mahi in butter sauce.
The BF ordered the black peppered kampachi and loved it as well!
Make sure to check in on Unilocal to get your free souffles. My table (of 6) ordered 5, as you get one per entrée. It’s delicious and amazing and worth it!

Absolutely stunning!
Impeccable service.
The only negative would be that it can get VERY loud. When my boyfriend and I first sat down, it was quiet and romantic… After the app came out, the room filled quickly with bodies and voices. We both felt like we had to yell to each other across the table to communicate.
The food was fresh and pleased all palettes. A must if you’re in the area!

My wife and I went here for a double date with some friends of ours. It was his birthday, so we decided to splurge a little bit. Upon our arrival (we had a reservation), we were immediately seated. Our waiter took our drink orders, but it took him about 10 – 15 minutes to bring our drinks to the table. We would have been better off ordering at the bar. On top of that, the mixed drinks we ordered left a lot to be desired. One of our drinks (a mojito) needed to be sent back twice because the taste was just not there. It didn’t taste like a traditional mojito. Here’s the deal on the drinks. Keep it safe and order wine. You should really be coming here for the food anyways, so here goes…
While we were looking over the menu, they brought out edamame which was warm and flavorful. Our waiter brought out three plates of it for us! Yum!
Instead of ordering from the traditional menu, I asked our waiter to ask the chef if he would be willing to do a chef’s choice meal. He came back and asked what our budget was and then the waiter presented us with a 4 course meal (chef’s choice).
Amuse-​Bouche: Kampachi Crudo
Appetizer: Pickled Red Beets
Main Course: Rice Crusted Hapu’upu’u & Peppercorn Crusted 8oz Filet Mignon
Dessert: Chocolate Soufflé’ or Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Of course being the wonderful couple that we are, we both ordered different main courses & dessert (so we could try each others’)!
So the Kampachi Crudo was a combination of light oil, pepper, fish, jalapenos, a creamy sauce (a hair spicy) and greens. The combination of flavors was a perfect start to our meal. The crunchiness of the jalapenos was balanced by the softness of the fish. Even better, the spicy part of this dish paired perfectly with the creamy sauce. Just look at the picture ;)
Next were the Pickled Red Beets. I’ve never been a Beets person, but these beets were extremely delicious! The beets were served with a couple of brussel sprouts in a light sauce topped with more greens. The flavors were such a good combination of sweet & savory.
The best part of the meal was the Rice Crusted Hapu’upu’u paired with the Peppercorn Crusted 8oz Filet Mignon. I’ll let my picture do the talking, but this pairing was perfect! The filet was cooked to perfection and the fish was so tender and flaky. I cannot begin to describe the perfection in this pairing!
The last part of the meal was the Chocolate Soufflé’ and Pineapple Upside Down Cake. You can’t go wrong with either. Obviously the chocolate soufflé’ was very rich and sweet, but when you pair it with the ice cream, the flavors blended together so nicely. The pineapple upside down cake was beautiful. It tasted even more beautiful! I think this is the dessert to order at Roy’s.
The bottom line on this restaurant is they are good. The chef provided us with a beautiful menu of variety and taste. This was exactly what I expected from this kind of restaurant. You will not be disappointed.
If you have never done a «Chef’s Tasting» or «Chef’s Choice», DO IT!

Have been here 6 – 7 times. Definitely one of my favorite restaurants in Honolulu. This time around we were blown away at the amazing new appetizer dishes on the menu but the main courses weren’t as outstanding as our last visits.
Roy Yamaguchi along with Alan Wong and 10 other Chefs are credited for the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement which focuses on using local fresh ingredients to create dishes that represent the ethnic diversity of Hawaii. In addition Yamaguchi founded and with Alan Wong chairs the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival.
Roy’s Waikiki is located at the Embassy Suites by Hilton. You can valet park at the hotel. Be sure to make reservations because the restaurant is always busy.
We went there on a Monday night for a friend’s birthday. Our reservations was for 6:30. At entrance the hostess greeted us immediately with a friendly smile. We were seated right away and walking towards our table I noticed that the restaurant was packed. Seems like this place is packed no matter what day of the week.
The waiter and his team greeted us very soon after being seated. The service was impeccable throughout the evening. Polite, friendly and efficient.
We ordered 2 sushi rolls and the Escargot for appetizers.
The Orange Dream Roll– Tempura pork belly, caramelized onions, Kampachi, orange marmalade. This was so delicious and absolutely the most unique sushi roll I’ve ever had. The tempura pork belly is actually the outer wrap of the roll giving it a crunchy-​crispy pork skin like texture as you bite down.
The Passion Roll– Unagi, cucumber, big eye tuna, lilikoi kung pao sauce. Fresh ingredients and loved the sauce which added a sweet citrusy flavor.
Baked Escargot– baked in a garlic soy veal reduction with Madeira Nako herb butter. Very delicate and subtle flavors. Not as garlicky and buttery as the traditional French version. The garlic soy veal reduction is nothing less than «eyes rolling to back of head delicious». Especially when incorporated with the toasty French roll.
Main Course
Miso Crusted Hawai’i Ranchers 14oz Ribeye with roasted garlic polenta, fresh wasabi steak sauce and topped with a fried egg. Good cut of steak. They could have trimmed more of the fat away. A bit on the salty side for my taste but it could be that I’ve cut back a lot in salt. For $ 53 I think you’re better off going upstairs to Ruth Chris.
Yama Mama” Meatloaf Dijon Horseradish Jus, Tempura Ewa Onion Rings.- We weren’t going to get another meat dish but curiosity got the best of us. It’s an uptown meatloaf with shiitake and button mushrooms, garlic, red and green bell peppers and onions. Very good for a meatloaf. The shiitake and Dijon horseradish jus really elevated the dish to uptown status. Wouldn’t order it again but didn’t regret ordering it.
Black Peppered Kampachi Gingered Risotto, Oxtail & Local Cremini, Soy Mirin, Spicy Truffle Palm Salad– Didn’t care for the soy mirin. Thought it pushed the dish to the salty side. Loved the gingered risotto. Also there was a pretty big blood line on the fish filet.
Will definitely come back as the menu constantly changes. Love Roy’s innovative intermingling of ethnic flavors that makes eating such an adventure.

Life. Changing. Meal! This place exceed all my expectations!
First off, completely LOVE that you get a free Chocolate Soufflé for checking-​in! You know I live for dessert! Also, love that they give complimentary edamame too!
I went to Roy’s last night with a friend visiting from Kauai. He’s never worked at Roy’s but does work at another ‘sister’ restaurant called The Eating House. Roy’s gave us 50% off all food and a couple of comp appetizers just because he works at The Eating House. That’s pretty awesome that Roy’s supports and gives benefits to workers of different restaurants.
Everything we had was amazing! For appetizers we had the vegetarian style bao bun which came with tempura zucchini on toasted bread. (I really loved this one! So simply yet so much flavor!) Next we had their kampachi cuzo. Raw fish with hot garlic oil poured on top. I don’t like raw fish but since the oil was hot, it cooked it a little and the fish wasn’t slimy or fishy. Then we had crab cakes which was sooo perfect, crispy on the outside and moist and not fishy on the inside. The sauce it comes in was amazing! We also had escargot. It was my first time trying it and it wasn’t bad at all. Loved that the bread it came was piping hot. You could see the steam coming out as you broke it apart. YUM!
Now, onto the entrees! I got the Beachwalk Trio which came with Miso Butterfish, Grilled Salmon, and Mac Nut Crusted Mahimahi. I’m an indecisive person so when I saw that I could try 3 different dishes in one, I was so there and I’m so happy I got it! I loved all of it and I loved that everything was small portions because I was pretty full from the appetizers! My friend got the 14oz Ribeye which came with a sunny-​side up egg, mashed potatoes, asparagus, and a tangy sauce that had a similar taste to cocktail sauce. It went well with the steak. He ate about…12oz of the steak. It was SUPER tender!
Lastly, dessert! We got the Pineapple Upside Down Cake and the Chocolate Soufflé. They both take 30 minutes to make and our waiter was really great. He asked us as we were eating our entrees if we wanted to order either (or both) of those because they both take 30 minutes to make. It came out at just the right time! Our plates were taken away and minutes later dessert came! Love that they both come with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. The soufflé was crispy/​chewy on the outside and moist on the inside. This dessert is SWEEET so the tart raspberry sauce really compliments the dish. The Pineapple Upside Down was super amazing as well, it was sitting in a pool of caramel and it really well with the cake. YUUUUM!
Service was definitely on the ball. I literally couldn’t even drink ¼ of my water before it was refilled. We didn’t feel rushed at all. Our waiter asked us multiple times if our food was okay. It was all around really great!
I’ll definitely be back again with the boyfriend! My only comment about this place is, it’s realllyyyy noisy for a higher end restaurant. We could hear the chefs yelling out orders and overall the noise level was pretty loud in the dining area.

It’s Valentines Day! Time to splurge! Why not? Love is in the air, it’s another beautiful day on the island, and a romantic dinner for two sounds like the perfect way to start the night off (if you’re early birds like us).
We called just the night before to see if they had any openings for Valentine’s Day dinner. 5, 5:15, or 5:30pm were the only times available, so we chose 5:00pm. The young woman who took my contact information was warm and friendly.
Parking is available at Embassy Suites for $ 6 (4-​hours free with Roy’s validation). Just head through the hallway and Roy’s will be on your right hand side.
The menu for the night was a 5-​course dinner with your choice of entrée. Waa-​waaait a minute. Where’s the rest of the menu? Gulp. Yep, this is it. 14 choices of entrees (5 of which were non-​seafood) and then everything else was fixed. Here we go…
I decided on the Hawaiian Style Misoyaki Butterfish for $ 83 and the hubs ordered Roy’s Trio Combination for $ 78. The price of your entrée becomes the price of your «fixed» meal.
For starters, they’ll provide a complimentary dish of edamame.
1^st Course: 3 slices of Big Eye Tuna prepared with spicy avocado relish, Hawaiian chili pepper soy, spicy aioli, and micro cilantro. Wow! The flavors were robust, like a party in my mouth. Excellent!
2^nd Course: Nalo Baby Romaine was a nice plate of fresh greens topped off with coconut shrimp (heavenly!), Vietnamese macadamia nut nam pla, pickled radish and anchovy dressing. I loved how refreshing, crunchy, and healthy this course was!
3^rd Course: Shinsato Pork belly was made with crown noodle bao bun, sesame plum, pickled red onion, and coriander. Reminded me of how duck is prepared. Not my cup of tea, but I did take a couple bites. My hubs was happy I didn’t want the rest. He loved it and wished they offered more.
4^th Course was my Misoyaki Butterfish made with sweet ginger wasabi becurre blanc. Ding ding. Winner winner! It was phenomenal! Beautiful presentation with amazing sauces. Best Misoyaki butterfish I’ve had on the island! Hands down. The small bed of black rice and greens were a nice touch.
5^th Course: Dessert for 2 consisted of White Butter Cake topped with red velvet mousse and strawberry prosseco sauce. It was topped with a heart-​shaped sesame wafer. Everything about this was heavenly!
But wait! There’s more for dessert! Because we checked in with Unilocal,we earned a free dessert: Chocolate Soufflé with vanilla bean ice cream. OMG! W O N D E R F U L! Thank you, Unilocal!Thank you, Roy’s! If I could, I’d have this every night for the rest of my life!
Service was outstanding! From the host, waiter, server, and runner, everyone was professional, courteous, and just on point. My hubs excused himself from the table at one point and a server came by to pick up his napkin and re-​folded nicely on the table. Our entrees were perfectly timed for delivery and our finished plates were snatched the minute our forks were placed down. Bravo! Everyone worked like a well-​oiled machine.
You’re a Class Act, Roy’s! So looking forward to our next visit!

I had a very delicious meal when I came here with a friend! One of us got the set menu, and the other one of us ordered a full entrée and appetizer and we ended up sharing everything anyway.
Everything was delicious, but my favorite was the butterfish! Will definitely come back next time I’m in the area!

After receiving the worst welcome ever in my life (bratty girl on the front kiosk, on the phone, almost shooing me to a table), this place isn’t too bad, tho not deserving of its 4.5 Unilocal rating.
It was 4pm and they didn’t accept the check in chocolate soufflé — which was a bit disappointing. In their place I was given a free bowl of edamame COVERED in chilli oil which was good but a little too oily for my taste.
Ordered the crab cakes (good, nothing spectacular at all) and the «frying dragon» (very good, but covered in batter and VERY filling, don’t be worried if you don’t like wasabi, you can barely taste it).
I feel bad giving this a two. But that girl at front desk seriously needs a lesson on customer service. Just awful.
Food was ok. Nothing to go a second time for though. They play football on a screen above the bar, if you’re into that.

I am not sure how the indoor seating is but we enjoyed our table outside. The drinks menu offers a lot of options and they have some catchy drink names such as Pimm’n Aint Easy. The misoyaki butterfish was so silky. The chocolate soufflé is a winner but when is it not?
Crispy Chinatown Chicken Spring Rolls Pineapple Sweet & Sour with Spicy Mustard
Misoyaki Butterfish Sweet Ginger Wasabi Beurre Blanc
Slow Braised Honey
Mustard Grilled Beef Short Ribs Nalo Herb Lyonnaise Potatoes, Lomi Tomatoes
Roy’s Melting Hot Chocolate Soufflé Raspberry Coulis

After finding a house in Oahu, we went to Roy’s to celebrate. We had a reservation for 4 on a Saturday night, and were seated on time. We initially had a table outside, but my picky and pushy mom insisted the server move us indoors despite the gorgeous evening.
We started with the complimentary Edamame, and ordered drinks. I opted for the house cocktail, a gorgeous Spiked Martini pineapple drink that was as smooth as it was deadly ($ 12.50), and my husband went for his go-​to, a Gin + Tonic straight up with a twist. My mom chose the Lychee Sangria, and seemed to love it as much as we loved ours.
As an appetizer, we shared the Frying Dragon roll ($ 17), which is not my style, but the moms loved it. We gained a free Chocolate Soufflé for checking in on Unilocal,so we put that order in too. For dinner, I went for the Japanese Sweet Potato Soup and the Beet + Goat Cheese Salad, both of which were decent but small on portion. My husband ordered the Glazed Butterfish (MP) and the moms had the Boardwalk Trio ($ 43) which looked excellent.
For dessert we had the complimentary soufflé which was out of this world and perfectly cooked, the moms split some gelato which was pretty icy, and they brought us out a congratulatory torte slice with writing on it which I thought was a lovely gesture and very thoughtful. Service was prompt but not super friendly, and I thought prices were high but you’re paying for the name and the reputation. I think the star players were the drinks and dessert, and everything else is ok, but not exceptional. It’s a common theme along the Waikiki boardwalk, but food like this elsewhere on the island would be at least 30% cheaper or more. Stay for drinks and dessert, but go elsewhere for your meal.