Since he was born and raised in Japan and started his culinary career Stateside, I originally didn’t consider Chef Roy Yamaguchi a local chef in the same vein as Chefs Alan Wong and Sam Choy. I initially placed him in the same boat as the Mavros, Gannons, Padovanis and Merrimans of the local food scene. However, since he’s been on the local food scene for the past 33 years which is more than half his life and since he’s always espoused supporting local ranchers, fisherman and farmers with 10 restaurants spread over 4 islands catering to both locals and tourist alike, it’s about time I refer to Chef Roy as a local boy.
Our First Experience
Way back in the day when Chef Roy opened his first Roy’s in Hawaii in 1988, we were still young professionals who just had to be one of the first to sample his cuisine as Roy already had a following after working at L’Ermitage and Michael’s in Los Angeles as well as starting 385 North with hints of what would become Hawaii Regional Cuisine. Yes, that was more than a generation ago and as Stanley Tucci stated in CNN’s Searching for Italy after stepping into a trendy, underground bar in Milan, “I feel I’m in my 20s again… no, 40 would be good… actually I’m fine with 50”. That’s how I feel being young way back in the late 80s.
But I simply recall food that was okay, not earth shattering and not an epiphany and that the restaurant was loud. Very loud. With tables placed so close together that your dining companion across the table was farther than the couples seated to your right and left. Definitely not COVID compliant in today’s world. So after a 2nd visit, we stopped going to the Roy’s in Hawaii Kai, partly due to the drive (this was when Kalanianaole was still being widened) and partly because other restaurants started opening in the heart of Honolulu.
Revisiting the “Chain”
A couple of years ago during one of our many staycations, we decided to make that dreaded trek into Waikiki primarily because we always wanted to try Yauatcha in the International Marketplace and after both Baku and Yauatcha closed for good, we decided that we better get there before anything else closed for good. So, we did a Happy Hour visit to Eating House, 1849.
Eating House 1849 is Roy’s tribute to Portuguese immigrant Peter Fernandez who is credited with opening the first restaurant in Honolulu in 1849 that he named Eating House which was popular among Oahu plantation workers. As soon as you enter the restaurant, you see a quotation by Peter Fernandez: esposa feliz, vida feliz (happy wife, happy life). I’m sure all married men can identify with that quotation. We sampled several delicious cocktails, several appetizers and entrees that resembled upscale plate lunches (unlike the usual Hawaii Regional Cuisine at Roy’s) and finished with several signature desserts – the esposa usually orders both desserts but discretely places one plate in front of me even if she finishes it. We left totally sated and happy and wondered why it took so long to sample Roy’s cuisine and make a trip into Waikiki.
Just in the Neighborhood
Just after the International Marketplace lost several of its stalwart tenants, Roy was preparing a soft opening of his latest themed restaurant, Goen. While goen also refers to a 5-yen coin, the graphic elements on the coin represent agriculture, fisheries and industry and Roy wanted the name to reflect the agricultural history of Kailua.
So, since that soft opening in late 2018 we’ve sampled many sit-down and take-out meals at Goen. And it doesn’t hurt that we don’t have to make a trek over the Koolaus and there’s a Down-to-Earth right next door for weekly grocery shopping. If we’re enjoying a sit-down meal, I always start with the Nippon 75, Goen’s take on the classic French 75 with Japanese liquor – Roku gin, yuzu and sparkling sake instead of lemon juice and Champagne while Ms. S usually orders the Koolau Sour which again is Goen’s take on the classic whiskey sour except Goen uses rye instead of bourbon, a honey syrup and adds lilikoi to the lemon juice. The egg white adds a frothy “head” to the cocktail.
While we normally start with one of the various sushi plates, we always order the Fry Basket with Portobello mushroom fries with a very crisp batter that doesn’t get soggy as the meal progresses as well as a side of waffle cut fries. The menu also changes on a regular basis which is good and bad – while you always get a new selection of menu items, that also means that the pork chop that we sampled on one occasion may not be on the menu on a subsequent visit and it was one of the best pork chops we’ve ever sampled (12th Ave Grill created the other superlative pork chop). And if you still haven’t received your COVID vaccination(s) yet, Goen is primarily an open-air establishment with Kailua breezes flowing through most of the restaurant. However, even with loosened COVID restrictions to indoor dining, a reservation is a must as most restaurant aren’t allowed 100% capacity just yet and remember that Kailua is just as much of a tourist destination now as the Waikiki of old.
On those occasions where we simply decided to order take-out, again, Goen changes their take-out every couple of months so if something catches your eye, it’s best not to wait and simply make that drive over the Koolaus. On a lazy weekend last summer, we sampled the Beach Tailgate take-out with grilled corn, grilled chicken skewers, shoyu pork belly musubi and flaked salmon musubi which also included a mixed 6-pack of Orion beer from Okinawa and Echigo beer made with koshihikari rice. Of course, since COVID was still in full bloom with no vaccine yet, we simply noshed on our picnic fair on our home walkway watching the waves crash against the shore of the Marine Corp Base Hawaii.
We also sampled Goen’s Thanksgiving take-out box with full fixins including mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and baked dressing that looked like slices of meatloaf since they were baked in a 9” by 4” pan and also opted for the supplemental prime rib and sashimi platter. And as expected, the turkey was very moist and Ms. S was very happy with her prime rib.
And a little over a month ago, we sampled the Family Friday Chirashi which at $85 is the most expensive take-out platter so far but it includes spicy ahi, real lump crab mix, ahi, hamachi, King salmon, tako poke, ikura, ahi tataki and a market selection (our selection was marlin tataki) all on vinegared, sushi rice. They advertise that it feeds 3 to 4 diners – we were both stuffed with leftovers so it definitely feeds 3 regular diners or 4 with lighter appetites. The highlights were the ikura which wasn’t a simple soy-salt cure but also had a pleasing sweetness and the tako poke which was so tender, you could chew it with just your gums.
Though we haven’t dined in-house save for just two occasions since the start of the pandemic, Goen will likely be one of the first primarily due to their location, their open-air seating and most likely because their Lobster Spaghettini and Fresh Mushroom Tagliatelle are only offered for dine-in patrons…
Goen
573 Kailua Rd
Kailua, HI 96734
(808) 263 4636
Monday thru Thursday, 4:00pm to 8:00pm
Friday thru Sunday, 12:00pm-3:00pm and 4:00pm to 8:00pm
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