Polynesian Cultural Center: Alii Luau

Horrible, Horrible Food... 5 Stars for the Ambassador package which included a personal, guided tour (Amanda, who btw did an EXCELLENT job), Great & Funny Shows (Samoa was HILARIOUS)... -4 stars for the horrendous Buffet that was by far the worst thing I've eaten so far on the island (possibly anywhere) & pissed me off considering the amount of money spent for this experience. I assumed we'd get the full show with the Kalua Pig being pulled/served out of the imu but no-go... We DID see the pig (strictly for pictures & who knows where it went afterwards), but the food was already pre-staged on a fairly small buffet table. Selection was horrendous & food was just as bad. Barely filled up my plate & forced myself to eat most of this garbage on a single trip. Only + was the Coconut Haupia cake which was 'ok', but my standards were set much lower due to the buffet which would've been a ripoff, even @ $5 a head. I don't recall ever having a buffet experience this bad (flies on the food were a nice touch btw), even @ the garbage joints such as Country Buffet which in comparison w/ this 'luau food' would rate a perfect score on Zagat. I came for a luau for the entire experience though this basically destroyed what would've been a perfect day. Luckily, Ha, Breath Of Life came in to save the day & more than made up for this garbage meal. Thank God we ate at Hukilau Cafe just before we showed up, otherwise the entire family would've been in an even shittier mood during the long drive back to Waikiki.

The experience just started off bad.  The ticket office person was dismissive and wouldn't print my tickets for the luau until 15 minutes before the luau was to begin.  Not certain why and she wasn't into explaining.  In any case my family was looking forward to an authentic luau, what we got was a decent show that we really couldn't see because everyone is seated cafeteria style at long tables, a cheesy Hawaiian Ryan Seacrest type MC, and a buffet meal consisting of nothing special food.  The pig was pretty good, but forget about actually seeing the roasted pig unless you want to get up from your seat, walk past the stage and around the corner to get a peak at the roasting pig along with every other tourist in Oahu.   Yeah, not authentic and not worth it.  

Go see "Ha: Breath of Life" instead.  The show is better with lots of talented dancers.  But keep in mind it's only a low budget version of the Lion King about  humans instead of animals.

Pretty cool entertainment, however no alcohol since the place is Mormon owned. Food was pretty good, liked the coconut milk fish n pork.