Spreading the aloha spirit

Out front, in a space that could easily have been a car dealership, tiki torches flared. Valets wheeled Jags and Beemers smartly offstage, while a guy idled a shiny black Humvee at the door, checking out the scene at his leisure.

Roy’s, the Hawaiian fusion restaurant concept from Roy Yamaguchi, has opened in Woodland Hills. His Honolulu-based empire includes about 30 restaurants: in the Islands, on the mainland, in Tokyo, on Guam. Now it has arrived in the San Fernando Valley with all the expected razzmatazz.

At the front door, a manager calls out “Aloha!” and a chorus of “alohas!” follows from any of the staff within shouting distance. Nothing much you can do but get in the spirit of things and “aloha” them right back. I “alohaed” my friends as they arrived to meet me for dinner. (Where was my orchid lei?)

In the open kitchen, a crew of chefs was cooking like crazy. The place was packed. On a weeknight in the Valley?

My Valley-born friend looked incredulous. “I almost fell over when I saw how much the valet parking was!” she told me.

“Five dollars?” I ventured. That’s how much it is almost everywhere these days.

“But look where we are! It’s not exactly Ventura Boulevard.” No, it’s Topanga Canyon Boulevard, to be exact.

Somehow the oversized scale of the rooms, the bright lighting, the carpet and furnishings make this Roy’s feel like a Las Vegas spinoff. Our waiter was just as friendly as a Vegas waiter, shouting out a greeting in Hawaiian (with translation) and offering his take on Roy’s best dishes.

Where was Roy? Oh, he was here last week for the opening. And Angelina Jolie too. We looked suitably impressed.

What’s to eat? Roy’s famous slow-roasted Szechwan spiced baby back ribs, coated in a sweet smoky sauce, go down easy. There’s dim sum stuffed with lobster and French Boursin cheese in a fashionable white truffle foam. Maui “wowee” shrimp salad is pretty unimpressive: ribbons of lettuce and shrimp with hardly any taste. The shrimp and pork pot stickers are crunchy and brown, closer to turnovers than anything you’d get at a Chinese dim sum place, definitely helped by the “firecracker” sauce.

The most interesting-sounding main courses are Roy’s Hawaiian fusion fish dishes -- mahi mahi in a macadamia crust, misoyaki butterfish, blackened island ahi. Nothing at Roy’s goes unadorned or unsauced. And many a dish seems to be still a work in progress.

Over at one table, a team of young managers were engaged in some quality control.

They ordered flight after flight of dishes, tasted and discussed and sent some back to the kitchen for revisions. This is a good thing.

Meanwhile, we were making the house coconut ice cream disappear -- and fast.

*

Roy’s Woodland Hills

Where: 6363 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Woodland Hills

When: Dinner 5 to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 5 to 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Valet parking.

Cost: Appetizers, $8 to $13; salads, $6 to $11; entrees, $19 to $32; three-course fixed-price menu, $30.

Info: (818) 888-4801

www.roysrestaurant.com.