Didn't meet expectations; there are better luau's -- skip this one

Posted on: 2024/02/27

Decided to try this luau after researching luau options on the big island, and unfortunately it fell short of expectations.
There are three main areas I judge in a luau, and I'll expand on each category for this place; location/setting, food/drinks, and entertainment.
First the location setting. Although located at the Fairmont orchid resort, a beautiful and well kept property, the luau itself was "makeshift" utilizing cheap plastic chairs and tables and placed between the golf course and tennis courts, over a mile away from the coast with no sunset or real ocean view. Most other luau's I've been to are more like restaurants with permanent structures set right on the coast.
I had read rave reviews about the food, and while it too fell short of expectations - it wasn't all bad. I'll definitely give it credit for a large selection and variety, but the food was overall "meh." The poke, fish, shrimp and chicken were good but the beef and pork were awful. There was no actual hog roast; the pulled pork they served was clearly not from a recently dug up roasted pig - and it tasted disgusting; this was the biggest let down as you expect amazing pulled pork when you goto a luau. They lacked variety in drinks, so not much to choose from in terms of wine (only "red" or "white") or beers (a few cheap varieties in cans, no IPAs), and the mixed drinks were also limited in ingredients (for example, they couldn't make me an old fashion), but they had the basics to make most decent cocktails. My biggest complaint with the drinks is that the line was long and clearly a bottleneck only having 2 bartenders making drinks for the entire group. Other luaus I'd attended always had the basic drinks ready to go so you could grab a basic drink at anytime if you wanted.
As for the entertainment; also very meh. Not a big production (again, due to the "makeshift" nature of this luau), but it contained all the basic elements to not fall completely short.