Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine

641 East Colorado Boulevard
Pasadena, CA 91101 34.145885 -118.137098

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Neighborhood: South Pasadena

www.roysrestaurant.com

Years in business

Established in 2008

Last updated 5.03.12

Category:

Restaurants

Parking:

Street Parking

What People Are Saying About Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine

Featured Review

Contributor

Contributor

In Short – Roy Yamaguchi opened his first restaurant in 1988 in Honolulu, Hawaii, blending European cooking techniques with locally produced ingredients and Asian spices. Today, his Hawaiian-fusion cuisine is served in a sophisticated atmosphere with dark woods, Asian accents and contemporary, island-inspired art. In addition to "Roy's classics" like Hawaiian-style misoyaki butterfish and the popular melting hot chocolate souffle, each location offers daily specials prepared by the local chef, all of whom are trained personally by Roy.

Editor's Tips

The Extras:
Roy's has private dining areas that can be reconfigured for just about any size group, from large business meetings to smaller family gatherings.
Save Money:
Mainland locations offer a $30 prix-fixe menu featuring Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Sampler, a choice of a meat or fish entree and a choice of dessert
ambiance
100.0% positive
  1. The waiters are friendly and it's a comfortable environment.
  2. This place is good if you just want good atmosphere.
  3. Overall, the wait was a bit much, the food was nothing special, but at least the ambiance was inviting.
dessert
100.0% positive
  1. This one feels a lot more like a mid-tier cookie cutter chain restaurant like PF Chang or Cheesecake Factory, whereas the Vegas branch felt more upscale and private, but the food was equally good.
drinks
100.0% positive
  1. My wine was very nice.
  2. Our waitress took our drink order, gave us menus and after bringing the drinks she vanished causing us to order our food and a second round of drinks from the bartender.
food quality
100.0% positive
  1. Our waitress took our drink order, gave us menus and after bringing the drinks she vanished causing us to order our food and a second round of drinks from the bartender.
  2. This one feels a lot more like a mid-tier cookie cutter chain restaurant like PF Chang or Cheesecake Factory, whereas the Vegas branch felt more upscale and private, but the food was equally good.
  3. The Korean kalbi skewer appetizer was my favorite part of the meal, but my crusted salmon entree was also pretty awesome.
  4. The service was friendly, the staff not snooty and the food was flavorful, if a bit rich for my tastes.
  5. Overall, the wait was a bit much, the food was nothing special, but at least the ambiance was inviting.
menu variety
100.0% positive
  1. Our waitress took our drink order, gave us menus and after bringing the drinks she vanished causing us to order our food and a second round of drinks from the bartender.
  2. The menu was interesting.
overall
0.0% positive
  1. Its a shame such a nice looking place so close to our home can't provide reasonable service.
service
80.0% positive
  1. The service was friendly, the staff not snooty and the food was flavorful, if a bit rich for my tastes.
  2. Our waiter was great and very attentive as well as the rest of the staff.
  3. The waiters are friendly and it's a comfortable environment.
  4. Our waitress took our drink order, gave us menus and after bringing the drinks she vanished causing us to order our food and a second round of drinks from the bartender.
  5. Its a shame such a nice looking place so close to our home can't provide reasonable service.
value
100.0% positive
  1. Not bad tasting, but nothing worth talking about.
2 Star Rating: Below Average

02/04/10

Good Atmosphere/Average Taste

by Jennanana

This place is good if you just want good atmosphere.

The waiters are friendly and it's a comfortable environment. My wine was very nice. They were thoughtful enough to bring me a birthday dessert at the end and took a picture of my boyfriend and I to take home with us.

However, my meal took 45 minutes to come out and when it did, it was lukewarm. In addition, the taste was average. I had a white fish with a shiso leaf on top. The tepid sauce around the fish tasted like it had furikake (A Japanese condiment that is sprinkled on rice) in it. I could easily make a similar tasting dish at home.

My boyfriend's steak was also lukewarm. Not bad tasting, but nothing worth talking about.

Overall, the wait was a bit much, the food was nothing special, but at least the ambiance was inviting.

  • Pros: Romantic, Dim Lighting
  • Cons: Nothing Special About the Food
4 Star Rating: Recommended

04/04/09

fun pre-fixe menu

by sungsays

I've been to Roy's in Vegas a couple times, and this was my first time to the Pasadena location. This one feels a lot more like a mid-tier cookie cutter chain restaurant like PF Chang or Cheesecake Factory, whereas the Vegas branch felt more upscale and private, but the food was equally good. The $35 pre-fixe menu is very similar to the one I tried 5 years ago. It's a cool date night restaurant, and certainly not cheap, but the pre-fixe keeps the price at around $100 including tip. I think it's a pretty good deal considering the quality of the food.

The service was friendly, the staff not snooty and the food was flavorful, if a bit rich for my tastes. My girlfriend loved it though. The Korean kalbi skewer appetizer was my favorite part of the meal, but my crusted salmon entree was also pretty awesome. Make sure to opt for the molten chocolate cake desert. You will feel very guilty about it later, but some things are worth cutting months at the end of your life for, including this piece of chocolate decadence.

  • Pros: everything tastes good
  • Cons: not so good for you
1 Star Rating: Poor

02/01/09

New Pasadena Restaurant with Pricey and Salty Fusion Food and Snooty Hostess/wait Staff

by circpeach

My friends and I were excited to try this new fusion restaurant in Pasadena. We dined on a Tuesday night at around 5:30pm. The place just had a handful of people when we arrived but we had to wait 10 minutes to be seated even though there were empty tables everywhere. Also we were given a table at the very far end near the restrooms where the wait staff rarely came by thus resulting in water glasses not being re-filled and even my friend's leftover not being returned (made me think that they threw it away!) until the wait staff had to be reminded to bring it back. The menu was interesting. Our group tried the prix fixe menu which had a variety of selections. When the food came, be it the appetizer or main dish, my friends and I noticed that everything (we all ordered different items) were very salty. As a healthcare professional, I strongly caution individuals with hypertension, heart, kidney problems, etc. to stay away from this restaurant unless they want to suffer from the food's high salt content. Our over-all experience was just not very good, it was memorable but for all the wrong reasons!

4 Star Rating: Recommended

11/30/08

impressive...

by LAsun33

I'm usually not into resturants with the word 'fusion' but Roy's was surprisingly good. Our table ordered from the pre-fix menu and everything was above par. There was even food for the kid at the table with a dessert at no extra charge. Our waiter was great and very attentive as well as the rest of the staff. Our water glass never got below halfway and the food itself was very flavorful. I would definetly go back.

  • Pros: decent price for its location and food selection
  • Cons: parking (unless you like $7 valet).. recomend to park a few blocks down and walk.
1 Star Rating: Poor

10/27/08

Food was OK, but the lack of service ruined the experience

by BRWebster

We visited the new Roy's in Pasadena last night and sat in the bar area. Our waitress took our drink order, gave us menus and after bringing the drinks she vanished causing us to order our food and a second round of drinks from the bartender. I informed the bartender we were being ignored, but he took no action other than refill our drinks. I paid the bill to the manager less any tip and informed him we would not be returning. Its a shame such a nice looking place so close to our home can't provide reasonable service.

  • Pros: looks good
  • Cons: lack of basic service

The Details on Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine

Place Categories:

  • equally good food
  • not reasonable service
  • attentive waiter
  • surprisingly good roy
  • great attentive
  • very nice wine
  • not bad tasting
  • inviting ambiance
  • good atmosphere
  • just not very good overall experience
  • comfortable environment
  • interesting menu
  • good place
  • pretty awesome crusted salmon entree
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