We celebrated my mom's birthday at Roy's Ko Olina, an upscale restaurant known for its exquisite Hawaiian fusion cuisine and fine dining experience. Roy's, inspired by award winning master chef Roy Yamaguchi, has several locations throughout the world and continues to be one of Hawaii's top restaurants.
Thanks to my wonderful sister, my family was able to eat at Roy's for virtually free because of the lovely gift cards she gave us. If not, I would've felt guilty eating there, as the bill was nearly $220 for the four of us. Ouch!
When we first entered Roy's, the service was excellent from the begining. The staff is incredibly friendly and professional.
The setting in Roy's is much more romantic and relaxing at Ko Olina. The restaurant overlooks a lagoon near the golf course. Inside the lights are dim for a down-to-earth ambience, while the decorations simple and refined. I thought the tables were a bit too small, especially for the size of some of the plates (which were humongous!) though.
As an appetizer, there are edmame seasoned in sesame oil. They are highly addicting and inspired me to make my own at home.
We ordered a family size sashimi platter. The fish was incredibly fresh and the presentation beautiful. I couldn't believe they actually served shiso leaves, which are edible by the way! I can't believe how fresh the fish was. I wanted to savor every moment.
I ordered the Classic 4 as an entree. I had a chance to try four different types of fish, such as seared Ahi, misoyaki butterfish, a macadamia crusted fish and one that had a cilantro pesto sauce. I wish I could remember all the names of each fish, but I honestly cannot.
I also had a chocolate souffle. As you place your fork into the souffle, hot chocolate slowly flows from it, so be careful because it's easy to quickly dig in. It can be hot! With a scoop of ice cream on the side, the two items compliment each other in the most perfect way.
Since it was my mom's birthday, they kindly gave her a dessert to enjoy. It was nice.
Besides the "Classic 4" and the souffle, other things I ate were from the dinner plates of my family!
The ribs were fantastically spicy and sweet. The shrimp was excllent too.
Spicy Ahi sushi anyone?
It was nice at Roy's, celebrating my mom's birthday. Rarely do I get the chance to enjoy such a nice restaurant, but everything tuned out as great as can be and I couldn't have asked for more.
For those of you with gluten allergies, Roy's is one of few restaurants that has options for allery sufferers. Enjoy!
Oh, I'm so hungry now!!!
ReplyDeleteI actually went to the Roy's at Hawaii Kai two Fridays ago with my grandparents and my visiting aunt's family--it was in celebration of my grandfather's 90th birthday (actually at the end of the month, but that was when my aunt was in town).
I ordered off the prefix menu, so I chose ahi poke (by far the best poke I've ever had), macadamia encrusted fish, and chocolate souffle (of course!). My aunt got a fish platter with three different kinds and let me try this one that had I think "jade pesto" sauce, and it was so delicious!
The dishes are small, though it means I don't have to worry about wasting any of it. And each thing is so delicious and interesting that I don't care. It is pricey, though. Worth going to for special occasions.
I know what you mean! The portions are small, but at least they are flavorful and fill you up. Yeah, it is pricy for sure, but for special occassions, it's the perfect place. =) I actually tried what you did too and it was good. I couldn't remember all the names though. hehehe
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