Roy's Restaurant

575 Mission St. (between 1st & 2nd St.)
(415) 777-0277

Hawaiian Fusion in Financial

This is a very popular restaurant (a CHAIN! gasp!), and shinie and I went not knowing what to expect since it could've been overrated. To our delight, it was pretty good =) The service was really good -- everyone is really friendly and greets you with "aloha." The place is HUGE and spacious. I haven't been to a nice restaurant that wasn't small and intimate in a long time. It was a Thursday night and still pretty busy, and it's probably a popular place for people to go after work. Nonetheless, I still sat alone at the bar (how tragic) with a Hawaiian martini (think strong pina colada) as my only friend. tear =(

Food:
Three of us had a sampler (basically a 3-course prix fixe for $33), which is a really good deal since all of their regular dishes are $25+. Appetizers in the sampler include: 1 crab&something else potsticker (came with reallllllly good butter sauce), 1 short rib (eh), and 1 shrimp (shrimp is shrimp to me, but jess really liked it).

Entrees included the mahi mahi (I thought it was good... especially with the butter sauce... I'm drooling as my body prepares for a heart attack), the braised short ribs (cooked for 16 hours... it was too chewy though), and the butterfish (very Chinese, and kind of salty... nothing special).

For dessert, we had both the macadamia tart (I liked it) and the chocolate souffle (still hot in the middle mmm). The souffle was good and is their signature dessert... but it's VERY RICH. Jess ate the whole thing of hers, but I could only take a few bites because it was too much chocolate for me... but it's good quality =). They also brought out a cute little dessert plate for Val with "Happy Birthday Valerie" written on the plate. Very cute =)

Food-wise, this place is pretty good. Not great. I'd go back for their appetizers, but not anything else. This is a good place for groups and events since they are so accomodating.

- k (+ shinie's input)

** Edit: I've been here multiple times since the original review, and I've decided the food is just average, but very satisfying for non-foodies.