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.
Review Source:The experience just started off bad. Â The ticket office person was dismissive and wouldn't print my tickets for the luau until 15 minutes before the luau was to begin. Â Not certain why and she wasn't into explaining. Â 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. Â 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. Â Yeah, not authentic and not worth it. Â
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.
The Polynesian Cultural Center is great! The activities during the day are a must do. They represent many different island cultures, very interesting and educational. The show at the end of the night is also amazing and makes more sense if you take the time to learn about all of the island cultures during the day. The luau dinner is not good. They do not serve the pig cooked in the ground. The show during dinner is difficult to see depending on where your table is at. No alcohol is served. Fancy pineapple smoothie drinks cost $22.50. Dinner is salad, rice & 4 different meats - pork, chicken, tri tip, salmon. All food tastes good, just not what I expected for the price and at a luau.
Review Source:No alcohol, bad food, and make no mistake this is a Morman-run luau. The food could not have cost more than $8/person to make and worst of all it was DIRTY. I found a hair in my dessert/flan thing and the waiters were taking half-drunk glasses of watered down Kool-aid and soda after people left, pouring it back in the carafes, and serving it to other people that were still there... disgusting!
Also there was steak on the menu, which ended up being individual cubes of dried steak (jerky?) with each cube in it's own individual plastic cup with a lid... wtf? Â I was irritated that they would create that much plastic waste for one dinner (of many), especially on an island. After seeing the "recycling" of the Kool-aid and soda, I wouldn't be surprised if those cubes were from leftover steaks of previous luaus. Â
I totally agree with the reveiwers who said this was like a Hawaiian version of Hometown Buffet. Â Actually, I think Hometime Buffet would have been a step up from the food here.
My husband and I paid nearly $200 for a McDonalds quality dinner, NO alcohol, and watered-down room temperature drinks with other people's spit in them. Â The show afterwards definitely did not redeem the dinner. Â Male and female dancers were chastely dressed and there was an obvious "we're here to sell you Jesus" theme. It was nothing like the sexy ad posters I kept seeing around for "Ha:Breath of Life". Â Overall, a waste of an evening and we felt like suckers. Â We were just thankful we didn't get food poisoning. Â Definitely skip this one.
It was the first trip to Hawaii for my wife and I, therefore our first Luau. Â We don't have experience to compare this to, but from what I expected and what others told me, this one is a bit disappointing. Â We bought the middle package that had the meal/buffet and the show "Breath of Life". Â The meal was so-so, and the show was not very good. Â For $100 a person, I think one that is on the beach and more authentic would have been better.
Review Source:This luau was really not that great. The reason why we opted to have it was because of the kalua pig. Â But unfortunately, when we arrived, the kalua pig was not even ready to be served for dinner until AFTER we were leaving. Â And one of the only reasons why we left was because the staff here was asking people to leave if they had finished their meal to allow other people waiting in line to be seated to eat. Â Apparently the space does not allow for everyone to be seated at one time. Â The food was only okay and there were not a lot of great options. The two outer sides had the same option of food, but the middle had different food.
Next time, if I come back, I'm going for the more expensive dinner without the kalua pig.
Compared to Paradise Cove's luau, this place is almost neck and neck. Â For kama'ainas, it's not about the show, it's about the authenticity of the Hawaiian lu'au food. Â My lasting impression of Paradise Cove's luau food was greasy and too haole-fied because they served fried chicken at their luau. Â I'm pretty the native Hawaiians didn't have fried chicken in their 'imu! Â My lasting impression of PCC's luau food was bland and boring. Â The main dish that makes a luau is the kalua pig. Â When they ceremoniously retrieved the roasted pig from the 'imu, you'd expect to eat that very same pig. Â Oh no. Â That's not what we got. Â I can tell the kalua pork we had was not straight from the 'imu that was just pulled out from the ground just a few minutes ago. Â It was pre-cooked! Â It tasted like it came from a crock pot. Â That's not right! Â Are we being served pre-cooked kalua pig because we didn't pay more money for the other higher priced package deals? Â Did that pig that came out of the 'imu go to the Island Feast or the Prime Dining restaurant? Â If so, there should be a disclaimer for customers when they book their tickets. Â It should say, "The Ali'i Luau is only for show. Â This is how we cooked the kalua pig, but you won't get to really get to eat it." Â For a kama'aina, we want the real thing. Â For tourists, they also deserve the real thing. Â Believe me, real kalua pig straight from the underground oven really tastes 'ono aka delicious. Â PCC's kalua pig is "oh no!". Â If you're a tourist, I'm sure you wouldn't suspect any thing different, but I was disenchanted by the whole luau show and the luau food overall. Â Still, my relatives that came from the mainland enjoyed their first luau and I kept my gripes under wraps... but I'd sure gripe about it on Yelp! Â :D
Review Source:This is the second part of my 3 part review series of the PCC.
Polynesian Cultural Center (part 1): <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/polynesian-cultural-center-laie-3#hrid:uLzfTJoguCaiafct_R5mCA">http://www.yelp.com/biz/…</a>
Ha: Breath of Life [show] (part 3): <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/ha-breath-of-life-laie#hrid:zOKn_TLIBecJPl9FZGkD9Q">http://www.yelp.com/biz/…</a>
The ali'i luau was purchased as part of the package that included admission to the PCC and the show. I chose the luau as my family wanted to try a luau and it is conveniently scheduled between two activities.
You get leid with flowers at the entrance. The flowers were pretty nice. The staff takes a picture which you can find with all the rest of the pictures taken at the PCC... for $18.
There's several long lines of tables with choices of water and soda, which is surprising for a Mormon-run center. There's also their taro bread, a sweet bread which is actually one of their better offerings. Your group waits until it is called to fall in line to the buffet table.
I didn't pay much attention to the entertainment, but the MC was educating about what a luau is and catering to people who were going to Oahu for special reasons. I don't think they brought out the pig.
The foods really are hit-or-miss. This is not surprising for buffet food.
Poi - the first time I've had this liquid purple stuff. Devoid of any taste, I could see why people, even the locals, aren't too fond of it. Supposedly its very nutritious. At least I tried it.
Salad was decent, the thousand island dressing and the sunflower seeds made it better.
Pipi kaula - tastes like beef jerky.
Kalua pork - Decent for pulled pork. I've had much better pork at Filipino parties (whole lechon).
Chicken long rice - the noodle dish. Noodles and chicken were good. Felt like eating soup noodles without the soup. Tasted strongly of chicken boullion.
Island Fish steamed with ginger and garlic - Meh. Didn't even taste like fish. Was wondering what the brown stuff was, didn't taste like ginger and garlic at all.
Lomi lomi salmon - Small salmon with tomatoes and onions. You can't see the salmon, but it's there. Good with rice and along with salad, a good dish that has vegetables.
Teriyaki chicken - The skin was too rubbery and the chicken was overcooked.
Sweet potato - I prefer it hot, too starchy.
Potato salad- lots of potato, liked the sauce. Didn't care for the carrot.
Haupia pie - tasted like pina colada without the liquid and alcohol. Tasted a bit weird.
Island Fruit Pudding - decent for bread pudding. Bread was good, meh for the flavors.
At least I tried the "most authentic luau" in Oahu, so the PCC says. Next time I'll go to another luau or try other restaurants in the area. Out of all the places I ate in Oahu, this was one of the worst places I've eaten. I've had better Hawaiian food at the L&L back in San Diego!
We went to eat before the show. During dinner, they had cute little Hawaiian show going on for entertainment which is pretty interesting. The food on the other hand was alright... It wasn't great and the choices were limited. The show started right on time. Everyone was talented and did a wonderful job. BUT the beginning of the show was quiet boring for me.. (sadly) the best part was probably the end because that's when they played with fire and did a little acrobat here and there. Overall, it was a decent experience.
Review Source:The hubby and I were very pleased to have booked this luau. The customer service was great, the food was GOOD (especially the kalua pork!!), and the entertainment was fun :) My only tip is to arrive early enough so that you get good seats, but the view isn't bad no matter where you sit.
We chose a luau at PCC because we were able to spend the entire day at the park and enjoyed the activities. By luau time, we were ready eat. Then after the luau, you have time to go souvenir shopping before heading over to watch the show - Ha, Breath of Life - which was AWESOME!! I would love to see it again.
Hated it. Â They dressed in moo-mus and didn't server alcohol.
The show was, good they were clearly very good dancers, and the tech they used was nice. Â The outfits were very nicely made, and if you like looking at guys in long skirts with no shirts, while the women wore high necked, long dresses while dancing hula, I guess you might like it.
I can basically 2nd or 3rd everything that has been said prior. Â Your shoved into stuffed table settings, soda and water is spares and warm. Food was ridiculous and actually I was sick on my bus ride back...This is my 3rd luau and I was very disappointed. We also bough the tour guide deal and lunch and it was pretty similar to dinner.
Review Source:I'm really sad to give this place only 3 stars. It is absolutely gorgeous, but there isn't much to do (in my opinion). I did the canoeing, which was probably the most "activity" thing there. It fits 4 in a canoe and you have a staff member guide your canoe while you're rowing. It doesn't require too much physical exertion, so no worries. I also did a couple of games and watch a couple of showings, but honestly, it was boring.
Note: I did the tram ride thinking it would give me a tour of the Polynesian Cultural Center, but it doesn't. It goes to a Mormon temple and you stay there in a room with a huge globe the whole time. It got really awkward when the volunteer tour guides of the tram were trying to talk to us about being Mormon (my family is completely open to and accepting of other religions, but we won't convert). Awkwaaard. Seriously.
I wish there were more activities. I got bored after about 2 hours. You DO have the option of choosing to only go to the luau and not spend the whole day at the Cultural Center. I would recommend going to other places (nut farm, shrimp farm, Buddhist temple, Dole plantation, "top of the world" mountain tops, etc.) that are around there.
This place is BEAUTIFUL, but can only keep your attention for so long. Also, bring comfortable shoes if you're planning on staying here all day. It's a big place!
The Polynesian Cultural Center is a great experience, but this review is for the Luau. Basically, avoid this Luau at all cost. Â The "entertainment' during the luau is very short, the food is on par with a $10 buffet. Â The fish is super dry and just bland, no flavor. Â The chicken teriyaki is gross, its basically plain chicken and they poured the sauce on top, the pork is just mediocre, that was their three main courses, the rest is rice, fruits and salad.
Review Source:Overpriced. Way overpriced. $50? I might pay $15 or $20 max for the quality of the food and maybe $5 for the lei. The "luau" had more of a feel of hometown buffet or dinner at a church hall than a luau. No sand. No beach. One tiki torch. The food was average and limited. Salad, potato salad, poi, noodles with chicken, teriyaki chicken, fish, and kahlua pork. And the entertainment was kind of weak. Not impressed at all and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I've been to paradise cove luau which was much better.
The only benefit for paying for the luau dinner is you get second tier seating for the ha show which is actually very good and worth the $50.
This place is way overpriced! We paid $300 for two people and it has been a very terrible experience. Among many disappointment, the evening fire show was not impressive. It was supposed to be the highlight of the show and it was mediocre at best. I'd discourage anybody to go to this place or sign up for the day-long tour
Review Source:The canoe ride was awesome. Our pusher was great, and funny. The walks around to learn about each tribe was informative, they include you in doing some of the things like weaving and such. I think it'd be fun if you are the type of person who actually wants to go out and do things. If you're the type of doesn't care about much, the walks around isn't worth it.
The Luau was great. The food was alright. Some were a hit and miss but most of it was a hit. The only thing was they do not serve alcohol. I don't personally drink, but my family and boyfriend do. No big deal. The dessert were kind of a miss, I didn't really enjoy too much of it. They great you with Hawaiian Lei's when you walk through the door, and take a nice picture. (truth be told: I wish our picture was with a hotter guy. LOL I'm sorry) Anyways... The picture was rather pricy, if you're a first timer, I'd get it for the experience.
The HA show was great, very touching. I enjoyed the show. Definitely an experience everyone has to do. No cameras allowed, they gotta get they money some how.
As far as pricing... We had a discount, but I did see how much regular price was and it's quite pricy too. I've never been to any other luau so I can't say this is the best. But it was pretty good, I enjoyed it.
All I can say is what crap. If you can avoid going here, please do so. Try the Hale Koa or Paradise cove Luau's. I can't believe that I had such a great experience at the PCC tours, and the evening show, and then almost had this meal ruin it. I swear, I wouldve preferred to eat at McDonalds.
I waited for three weeks to have some roast pig, and I found some crappy bland, nausea inducing Kailua pork waiting for me. I can't say anything more about how crappy the food here is then anyone else already has, but I will say its pretty crappy when the salad bar is longer than the actual food line.
The entertainment was ridiculous, difficult to hear, and not engaging whatsoever.
The closest thing this place has to a redeeming quality is the fact that they serve unlimited Taro bread and super tasty fruit punch.
Definitely stay away from the luau. Even though the price is quite steep, thought it would be a good experience to attend a luau. Boy was I wrong and quite disappointed. Not sure how they claim they are the best Luau in Hawaii. Go to the PCC for the education and interactive activities, go for the HA show, but definitely stay away from the luau. For the money you pay, you're better off leaving the center, grab a bite to eat at a local eatery and then come back for the show.
You're herded in and sat down is overcrowded rectangular tables. Even with the stage shows on going, it's hard to pay attention because you're given instructions on when you can go and get your food. Then there's the climactic fan fare about the roast pig. Everyone goes to take a look and see it being carried to the table. People then go back to their tables and wait to be called to go and get your food. When you finally get to the food, the buffet is terrible. There is pork, but we were quite disappointed that they didn't even serve the pig that was cooked that day. For the price, you definitely do not get the quality of the food. I get it, all the money is to help the students and contributes to the scholarship fund at the school, but come on, make the food at least 3 star caliber!
I've heard from locals and cabbies, try the Paradise Cove Luau or wait until you're in Maui. It's on the beach and it's supposed to be fabulous. I plan to take my family there next time we're back in Hawaii.
I went to this luau several years ago. Â It was horrible. Â
First of all, I knew this was a Mormon-run luau, and there would be no booze. Â Fine. Â As we sat down at the crowded tables, and pitchers of room-temperature soda were brought out, I also realized there would be no caffeine in this camp. Â
The food was beyond horrible. Â Sure, made a show of putting a pig to roast in a pit, on stage. Â But this is certainly not the pork being served on the buffet. Â I can't remember all the details, but trust me. Â It was bad.
This review is for the Luau, NOT the PCC or Ha. Â
I just don't get it. Â How can the PCC, whose mission is to help preserve and perpetuate the more ideal aspects of Polynesian culture, put on this shamefully ridiculous luau and claim it's the "the best luau in Hawaii"? Â The PCC is great and does great work educating Polynesian students and giving out scholarships, the show Ha is also great, but this luau is a slap in the face to the supposed mission statement of the PCC, presenting Polynesian culture as a cheesy caricature and ridiculous over the top stereotype. Â Â It went against everything we had learned about Hawaiian/Fijian/Polynesian culture the whole day. Â
I was not expecting good food, it's a buffet for 200+ people, I know the food is mass produced, bland and sucks.  But the SHOW, OMG, the Chinese kid doing the hula with a voice over from the cheeseball host is really NOT adding  authenticity to my dry Mormon luau.  If William Shatner were a car salesman, and Hawaiian, he would be our luau emcee.
It was so horrific, all I wanted was a drink to make it all go away, but wait, the place is run by the church of latter day saints, so it's as dry as a popcorn fart on the entire property, which just added to the humiliation. Â
So my advice is
1. Â Go to PCC spend the day there - it is a neat place.
2. Â Flask it.
3. Â DO NOT purchase a Luau at the PCC, it's ridiculous.
4. Â See Ha: Â breathe of life and enjoy a good show.
I did enjoy the lei greeting & picture prior to entering the Luau. Aside from that, it was all downhill.
Too many people with not enough buffet lines. There appeared to be 4 different (same food) lines, yet we seemed to spend a lot of time waiting in line. With two little kids that was very difficult. They either need to create two separate Alii Luaus, add more lines (not possible with the lack of space), or sell less tickets to the luau. Please, do SOMETHING about this. We felt like sardines in a can!
The way the tables are crammed together and the randomness of stairs throughout the venue make it very dangerous to juggle full plates, find your spot, all while guiding your kids with full plates--trying to all make it back to the table in one piece.
There were "servers" who came by to check drinks and sell you more stuff--special smoothies and such. I saw them refilling waters at other tables but we seemed to desperately need a refill forever without getting one.
Entertainment--not exciting.
The food is quite disappointing. For the price they charge, it HAS to be better than this! I'm no ignorant tourist--I grew up on Oahu, lived there for 18 years, moved away to the Continental US, and returned for a visit with my kids who have never been to Hawaii. I know good Hawaiian food. This was a terrible disappointment. The Kalua pork was poor. Seriously--I remember my public elementary school lunch kalua pork being better than this. My husband said the fish was okay. Poke was meh. Green salad was disgusting. I can't say I had something that was better than good. I was looking forward to the dessert as I figured no one could mess up Haupia (coconut pudding). Yet, the PCC (of all places) made the nastiest coconut pudding I have ever had. Terribly terribly disappointing.
My husband started to have tummy troubles after eating here that didn't resolve for a few days. Not so fun to end out your vacation that way.
For awesome authentic Hawaiian food for a fraction of the price, visit Ono's Hawaiian food near Waikiki. It's not touristy at all--there's no hula dancers, and it's a hole-in-the-wall. But it is the best Hawaiian food gets. And you'll save a ton of money.
If I come back to the PCC, I'd rather eat dinner at McDonalds adjacent to the parking lot than pay the $$$$ to eat at the Alii Luau.
Easily the dinner highlight of our trip. After a day of touring the area, we sat down for our expected feast and weren't disappointed.
The food itself was grade A. The pork, which they do the whole fire pit thing for, was amazing... the best we have ever had. The fish was also great, while the taro bread was more than just a novelty as it was delicious. The meal was a little slow to start, and the deserts a little disappointing, but the main meal delivered and let you go back freely to stock up on more food (a great feature for the male portion of this review team and his bottomless stomach).
The entertainment during the feast wasn't particularly memorable, but did add to the enjoyment and made the whole meal that much better.
Overall, pricey, but highly recommended for anyone doing a first time tourist trip to the area as it grants a great sampling of some more exotic types of food they might not be familiar with.
The Polynesian Cultural Center is supposed to have the best luau and I can see why. If you're not expecting to be in Hawaii very much and you are would like to attend a luau, this is the one to choose because you'll get the entire experience.
The Hawaiian food is delicious, the service is good, and the show had an entertaining storyline and was a grand performance. You really feel like you're a part of something when you're watching it.
I am so happy to see that I can review the luau separate from the tours/Ha Breath of Life Show.
All I can really say is both my husband and I are violently sick today, and we went last night. Fortunately, we live here and can spend our Sunday sitting on the couch writhing in pain, however, if you are a tourist and trying to enjoy the beauty that Oahu has to offer, I would hate for you to have an opportunity to eat better food that won't have you strapped to your toilet the next day. Â Some people wait their whole lives to come to Hawaii ONCE... why waste your day trying not to crap all over the place when you could have gone somewhere with better food that won't leave your stomach in knots?
The selection was not that great. Â Generally, the food and show at Germaine's Luau was better, but the dessert bar had a wide variety of generally good desserts. Â The keiki dancers were so adorable.
The only thing I can say that I LOVED was their smoothies in a pineapple. Â They were really cute, and at 1 for ten or 2 for fifteen, we tried the pina colada and strawberry. Â They were adorable!
Meh... 2.5 stars from me, but since I liked PCC so much, I decided to go with 3 stars.
I got the Alii Luau as part of my Circle Island + Luau + Show package. Â If I am comparing this to the prior luaus I have been to, this is bad. Â But if you are looking at this Alii Luau as a Dinner Buffet with performers on stage, then it's okay. Â
Food was okay, nothing too special. Â Since it's college students serving at the luau, there's no alcohol at PCC (even during the luau).
Like so many others, I often wish that Yelp would allow for half stars but I can see why they keep it simple.
Because the Husband and I got the Ambassador package, we were quickly ushered in the short line and were promptly seated. The emcee was pretty cheesy, kind of like William Shatner in Miss Congeniality. You can order soft drinks from the many servers who flit around or smoothie drinks. They put a special colored flag on your chair to let the others know what you've ordered.
Because all of the waitstaff are college students, the PCC Luau has a no-alcohol policy.
Before you can eat, there are a couple of mini presentations with small children coming out to show you what you can taste and the emcee explaining how things work and then two strapping youths ceremonially take out a pig that has been cooking in the traditional way and walk away with it.
They let you get your food from the two large buffet stations located behind all of the tables in groups, depending on where you're sitting. We got to get our food pretty quickly and there was a lot of it. Kalua pig, tuna poke, rice and poi, among other things. The food is plentiful and the kalua pig is good. At the end, they bring out large platters of semi-ok desserts (they weren't the best) and then everyone is directed to go to the Ha Breath of Life show.
During the luau, they have a few more presentations, like a royal court showing, a hula competition and then they ask honeymooning or anniversary-ing couples to come onto the stage. They asked how long people had been married and then made them dance to a special song. The Husband and I did not go up there as we are painfully embarrassed by things like that but it was sweet to see an old couple who had been married over 50 years.
All in all, if luau you must, this is an ok one to see and you can hit the PCC on the same day.
I would say that this is a def. must see if you go to the Polynesian center.
The Center offers you I believe two or three places to dine for dinner. This one has a great show and the food is really good.
It's probably better to purchase the dinner with the entrance tickets and the tickets to the show, so that you wouldn't have to run back to the front and purchase them again.
Happy Eatings! =]
I wish I could separate my reviews into two parts, because the dinner and the show deserve different reviews and ratings, but alas, I'll cram it into one and average the score!
We went here for a ladies' night while some out-of-state friends were visiting. We arrived around 500p for dinner buffet and the Ha show that was starting at 730p. So, we had pre-purchased tickets, but had to pick them up at will call. I don't know if it was amateur night or what? but it was such a clusterf**k in that line, that by the time we finally got to dinner, most of the food was gone! This included the diet Pepsi and the sushi...pretty much the 2 things I wanted! Boo! Their desserts were pretty tasty though!
The night show, Ha! Breath of Life, was a different story! We paid a little extra to upgrade our seats and they were phenomenal. I highly recommend paying extra for better seats if possible. The closer you can get to those tan, sweaty, shirtless men...the better! Yum!! :) The show is a journey around the Polynesian islands through a young man's coming of age. They feature dances and customs from all the different islands. I think one of our favorite parts was going down and meeting the dancers afterwards. They're all so friendly and will take great pics with you!
Highly recommended if you have family or friends visiting out of state!
The food was alright - some okay, some better than others, a few good..... However, if you've never been to a luau, you must go to this one. It's a lot of fun!
There was a great deal of food (and a few yummy fish dishes I can't quite remember well enough to describe anymore), but the ones that were most memorable:
* POKE - 5/5 [It's raw, prepared with soy sauce and a little seaweed... and so good I went for seconds.]
* POI - 2/5 [Traditional staple made of taro that needs to be eaten with meat or something else. Starchy...... not the best thing in the world, although I hear it's healthy.]
* KALUA PUA'A - 3.5/5 [Roast pork - wasn't such a huge fan of this one, but the boy seemed to like it a lot.]
* TERIKAYI CHICKEN - 3.5/5 [This isn't really anything unique, and their teriyaki chicken was, IMO, slightly under seasoned that day..]
* CHICKEN LONG RICE - 3.5/5 [I used to have varities of these as a kid, and the ones I remember tasting back in the day was a little better than this one..]
* TARO ROLL - It's a roll.. so I won't rate it. However, it was fun to watch the boy freak out at the sight of "purple bread"..
* HAUPIA - 5/5 [I've always loved these custard-like dessert made of coconut cream... and I loved them that night, too.]
This one was definitely geared towards tourists.. though sliiiiiiiightly less so than the ones I remember being dragged to when I went to Hawai'i at 12 and 13.. I'm determined to go to a REAL luau on my next trip there. For now, though, if you're visiting Hawai'i - make sure you go to the one at the Polynesian Cultural Center!
Good food. Melt in your mouth pork. Poke. Salmon. Salad. Taro roles. Teriyaki chicken. Fish. Beef jerky, which was so fresh it doesn't even seem like jerky. Fresh fruit. Â
Buffet style all you can eat. Great entertainment. Listen for Uncle Bennys version of Louis Armstrong's, "It's a Wonderful Life." You'll be impressed. Â
Dessert a bit disappointing but yummy. Coconut cake. Coconut pudding. Chocolate cake.
Worth the drive out here and experiencing the rest of PCC.
I've never been to a luau before in my life, but I'm very impressed with this touristy geared luau. As being part of the Polynesian Cultural Center, the Luau is an experience that you must partake if you've never experienced oen before. This is where the unexperienced become experienced. The dining hall is outdoors but is covered by a huge canopy. There are many tables and people dining here are excused a couple tables at a time as to not overwhelm the lines at buffet.
The luau is basically a show, so you arrive at your specified time and everyone sits down. You are then introduced by an emcee and the emcee will guide you in the overall experience. There is live music and entertainment while you dine and you are free to leave the dining hall whenever you want. The food is not amazing, but it is pretty good and combined with the entertainment and music it is pretty darn awesome. Oh yea one more thing, the marinated chicken is so good... grab a couple before sitting down.
I highly recommend the Luau, but you can only dine here if you purchase the Luau or Ambassador Luau packages. There are other luau packages, but I'm pretty sure the food and the entertainment is similar to that of the Ali'i Luau with exception to prime rib and crab legs of course.
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