Arby’s King’s Hawaiian Fish Deluxe

Today, we’re reviewing the Arby’s King’s Hawaiian Fish Deluxe Sandwich, one of several fish sandwiches Arby offers during the Lenten season. Many Roman Catholics and some other Christians refrain from eating meat on Fridays throughout this period. In response, numerous restaurants provide special meatless options, particularly various fish sandwiches.

Arby’s introduced the King’s Hawaiian Fish Deluxe Sandwich in late 2014, created by an employee named Brandon Morris through a company-wide contest. As the name suggests, the sandwich features a King’s Hawaiian bun, known for its sweetness. This offering has primarily been available as a limited-time item during the Lenten season.

For 2025, Arby’s offers three fish sandwiches.

Crispy Fish
Fish N Cheddar
King’s Hawaiian Fish Deluxe

Forrest and Leroy Raffel founded Arby’s in Boardman, Ohio. Today, it is a part of Inspire Brands and has 3,472 U.S. restaurants, many in Canada, Costa Rica, Egypt, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Turkey.

Arby’s was established as a fast food chain with a unique focus, distinguishing itself from other burger-centric establishments (though they do offer burgers now). The brand is best known for its signature menu item, the hot roast beef sandwich. In the 1970s, Arby’s famously promoted itself with the slogan, “Arby’s – America’s Roast Beef, Yes Sir.”

The Construction

Fried Breaded Alaskan Pollock
King’s Hawaiian Bun- Lightly toasted
Cheddar Cheese
Shredded Lettuce
Tomato Slice
Duke’s Tartar Sauce
Length: 5 1/4 inches
Weight: 10.5 ounces
Sandwiches Eaten: 2
Location: Indian Trail, NC
Price: $5.69

The Experience

For this assessment, the scoring was similar to what we did with the Bojangles’ Bojangler.

Fish: 4 points
Bun: 2 points
Condiments: 2 point
Intangibles: 2 points

Fish

The Arby’s King’s Hawaiian Fish Deluxe features a fried-breaded Alaskan Pollock filet. The breaded fish is quite tasty and not overly greasy, which is a positive.

Score: 2.5 out of 4.0 points

Bun

As mentioned, the King’s Hawaiian bun is sweetened. If you like a sweetened bun, the King’s Hawaiian bun will satisfy you. The bun itself is lightly toasted. Despite the toasting, this was still a limp bun, which wasn’t a positive.

Score: 0.75 out of 2.0 points

Condiments

The King’s Hawaiian Fish Deluxe features a mild variety of cheddar cheese, which is partially melted. This is a common practice among many fish sandwich offerings from chain restaurants. Milder cheddar melts more effectively, so this choice makes sense. The cheese has buttery and creamy flavors, accompanied by a subtle sweetness.

The tomato slices had a nice ripeness and added some sweetness to the sandwich. The lettuce was shredded but was not very plentiful, and it was pretty limp. The tartar sauce was spread on the bun’s top and bottom. Unfortunately, the pickle flavor in the tartar sauce was overshadowed by the mayonnaise, which I didn’t enjoy. Additionally, there was an excessive amount of tartar sauce on the sandwich.

Score: 0.75 out of 2.0 points

Intangibles

Weighing in at 10.5 ounces, this sandwich is quite hefty. The positive aspect is that it will definitely satisfy your hunger. However, the combination of a heavy sandwich with a limp bun and an abundance of tartar sauce resulted in a messy experience, which didn’t earn high marks.

The fish itself is good, but the sandwich leans toward the sweeter side due to the King’s Hawaiian bun and the sweet notes from the tomato and cheddar.

One intangible I look for is whether or not the sandwich experience is greater than the sum of the parts. In the case, it was not the case. While the fish was good, the bun and condiments did not elevate the experience.

Score: 0.75 out of 2.0 points

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

The King’s Hawaiian Fish Deluxe was one of the more unusual fish sandwiches I’ve tried from various chains. While Arby’s does a nice job with their fish sandwiches and offers a filling meal, it fell short of my expectations for the overall experience. I hoped the sandwich would elevate my enjoyment, but unfortunately, it didn’t. Perhaps the fish is better served on a platter instead.