(This post is a little overdue, but hey, better late than never, right?)
For Pop’s day, the family and I headed to “brunch” (which was really a 1PM lunch) at Roy’s downtown for some Hawaiian fusion eats where “European techniques and Asian cuisine meet Hawaiian hospitality to create a fine dining experience unlike any other.”

The island hospitality starts with you make your reservation.  They are incredibly friendly and are happy to accommodate any special requests (in fact, they ask if you’re celebrating anything in particular) and thank you repeatedly and graciously with a sincere “mahalo.”  The warm and welcoming spirit continues when you enter the restaurant, as you are greeted with an enthusiastic “Aloha and welcome to Roy’s.”

Instead of the usual bread and butter fare found at most eateries, Roy’s starts you out with a plate of edamame sprinkled some sort of seasoning that has an extremely mild spice to it.  I have no idea what it is, but it’s awfully delicious:

What I love about Roy’s is they have a rotating seasonal 3-course prix fixe menu, so I’m always guaranteed a mouth-watering dessert (I’ll get to that later.)  We all started out with different appetizers.

Mom went with an asparagus, mozzarella appetizer (a little too boring for my likes):

Dad went with some cut rolls called “Sunrise on Haleakala” (Tuna, Yellowtail, Salmon, Avocado, Asparagus Crispy Roll, which is another way of saying yummm):

I ordered the Lobster California Roll (which is, as suspected, a standard California roll with lobster in stead of “crab”).  Solid, but nothing mind-blowing:

And the brother ordered Lobster Potstickers.  They’re lobster.  They’re fried.  How can you go wrong?:

The timing between the appetizers and main coureses was running on the longer side (they may be friendly, but they move pretty slowly).  Perfect time for a photo op.  Here’s my lovely parents:

And my uncooperative teenage brother who refused to take a picture with me:

After waiting a little longer than necessary, our main courses finally came out.  My mom and brother both ordered schezwan ribs, served with a side of corn and…pasta with alfredo sauce??  Minus the random side of about 8 pieces of penne, the dish was tasty and the sauce was finger-lickin good.

My dad ordered crispy pork chops that for some reason came with a side of eggs (again with the random sides??).  The pork was OK, but the sauce was de-lish.

I usually like to order new things every time I go to a restaurant, but I’d had this dish before and loved it so much I ordered it again, the macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi.  But unfortunately, I ordered it on the day Roy’s was off its game.  The dish came out looking plenty normal:

However, when I cut into the fish, it was pink and didn’t flake like a good piece of cooked fish should.  I (kindly) let our waiter know about our pink fish situation, and he said it would be taken care of.  I got my plate back a few minutes later, but…the same plate.  With the same fish (that, might I add, I had already chopped up into several pieces to make sure it wasn’t just one part that was pink).  Though the fish was cooked through this time, it didn’t have the right texture a well (and correctly) cooked fish should have.  Not wanting to send it back yet again (I was starving at this point), I just ate the mediocre fish and was put at ease knowing I had this coming my way…the molten chocolate soufflé:

R-I-C-H doesn’t even begin to describe this ooey gooey chocolatey masterpiece.  Check out the piping hot chocolate oozing out:

My mom, dad and I all ordered the chocolate soufflé.  My brother ventured off the beaten path and ordered himself a guava chiffon cake:

which essentially is the polar opposite of what I had.  Light, fluffy, fruity and not sugar coma-inducing like the chocolate soufflé.  A perfect summer menu item.

Overall, Roy’s gets a B- from me, solely based on this particular trip (I’ve had better from them before :/).  Bonus points for the friendly atmosphere and killer appetizers and desserts.  Thumbs down for the slow service and reheated mahi mahi.

Question: have you ever had your same dish reheated at a “nicer” restaurant?