Roy's

There was a Roy's Hawaiian in La Jolla when I used to live there. I heard it wasn't that good, so I never went there. Then, my friend's sister and her husband went to Hawaii for their honeymoon. They went to Roy's and raved about it, especially the Ahi Poke. But I was still not convinced enough to go the one in La Jolla. However, I work down the street from the Roy's in Downtown LA (on Figueroa), and so does my attorney uncle. So when he offered to treat me to lunch at Roy's, I jumped at the chance. (The picture at right is one of the selections available, which I personally have not tried.)

As you enter the restaurant, about 5 people say Aloha to you. This might be cute in Hawaii (and I wouldn't know since I've never been), but in LA it's downright annoying. But at least they have made the most with the small space, with a "tropical" decor (bamboo and weird flowers). And we got a kind of crappy table by the kitchen. But I digress. The food should be the centerpiece, no?

The menu changes all the time (so our server claimed) and they have a large variety of fresh fish. I ordered the bento box so I could get a nice sampling of what they had to offer. The first thing I tried was the Ahi Poke, since my friends raved about it. It's fresh diced Ahi, marinated in some yummy soy sauce wasabi mixture, crunchy smelt roe, and avocado (which came in big chunks so it was easy for me to pick out) :-). It was sooo good. The fish was so fresh, and the silky smoothness of the tuna was a great complement to the tangy sauce and crunchy smelt roe. Roy’s calls the smelt roe “Tobiko Caviar,” which is probably Hawaiian fancy schmancy for smelt roe. Let’s call a fish egg a fish egg people.

The next thing I tried was some mild whitefish (probably sea bass) in a weird sauce. It was purple-black and light. It was too light to be pureed black beans, and it didn’t have a lot of flavor. The fish was fresh, but it was so mild and the sauce didn’t have a lot of flavor. So I didn’t even finish it.

The third compartment had a delicious Chinese chicken salad. The chicken was lightly breaded and crispy, and the salad was really like an Asian cabbage slaw in a tangy dressing. Very tasty!

And last but not least, the charbroiled and braised short ribs. WOW. They sure know how to make their piggies taste good in Hawaii!!! The meat was marinated in a yummy teriyaki like mixture, and just FELL OFF THE BONE. MMMM. And my big complaint with ribs is that they are too fatty, but these were perfect, meaty, hearty, and sweet and sour all at once. I’m never going to Tony Roma’s again!

Kabuki Sushi

Wow, this has to be the best kept sushi secret in Los Angeles. Every day, they offer half-off sushi and rolls. The only catch is that if you're eating at dinner, each person has to order 3 things (for lunch it's only 2). So my friend and I ordered 3 rolls and 3 nigiri sushi to share. All this plus a large Sapporo (which was $6.95) brought our bill to about $27. So we spent $10 each on really yummy sushi. A good deal to say the least. There are several locations in the greater Los Angeles area, and we went to the one in Old Pasadena on Colorado.

Now, I know you're going to be kind of skeptical. I mean, if it's half-off, is it still GOOD? Yes, yes it is.

They start you off with free edamame, which were adequately salted, and kept us nibbling before our sushi arrived. And let's face it, nibbling on edamame is much better than wolfing down three pieces of bread with butter.

Then, the sushi came. We ordered three nigiri sushi: albacore, maguro (tuna), and shrimp. The albacore was amazing. It came with this ponzu dipping sauce which made it extra tasty, but the quality of the fish was excellent. It was perfectly seared on one side, and the fish was flaky and melted in our mouths. The maguro was also excellent. It wasn't previously frozen (you can tell from the texture and color) and also was a generous portion of flaky melty goodness. The shrimp was crap, but what do you expect? Shrimp is always frozen, and it's cooked. (Other than sweet shrimp sushi which is just seared, but still raw in the middle. And often comes with fried shrimp heads. Mmm. Crispy.) In retrospect we should have ordered something else. Oh well.

The rolls we ordered were spicy tuna, philadelphia, and shrimp. The spicy tuna was AWESOME. Now, I personally can't handle a whole lot of spice and heat, so this was just right. (I suppose die hards will expect a more spicy roll, but I could not handle it.) It was spicy with a mild heat, just enough to be tasty without overpowering the actual flavor of the roll. I also liked the phildelphia. Something about the texture of the cream chesse with the fresh fish just makes an excellent combination in the mouth. And I don't even like salmon. :-) The shrimp roll was okay. It had thinly sliced cucumber, which added a nice coolness and crunch, but the shrimp just wasn't that good.

The only catch of this great deal is you have to order a minimum amount of sushi, and your choices are limited. The menu has some very interesting rolls on it, but they are not included in the half-off deal. (For example, the lotus roll has baked baby lobster on top of a california roll with eel sauce.) One of these days when I'm flush with cash, I might try one of those full-priced rolls. But, I'll probably just order more albacore. :-)