Hawaiian culture and food come together at a Luau and when you're in Hawaii it's a wonderful place to get to know more about the native Hawaiian culture. Come along and see what a Luau is like at Honolulu's newest luau, the Marriott's Pāʻina Lūʻau.
A luau is a Hawaiian party with a feast accompanied by entertainment and it is a popular activity when you're in Hawaii. The Marriott Hotel's luau offering is one of the newest on the island starting in June 2023. A Pāʻina is a small dinner party and the luau here is a smaller, more intimate gathering (relatively speaking of course, some luaus have a huge number of people). You can either book the show only for $130USD a person or with the buffet meal where regular seating is $178USD or VIP seating is $209USD. There are discounts for military and Hawaii residents or Kamaaina. VIP seating gets you a seat at the first couple of long tables although you will want to arrive earlier than the allotted time to ensure that you get the best seats at the front. They've also got raised platforms in the centre of the dining section for performers so that non-VIP diners also get a view of the performers.
We hear the sounds of the band playing mele or songs as we round the corner to the luau. Upon arrival every guest receives a beautiful fresh orchid lei and a welcome Mai Tai plus drink vouchers for a range of cocktails. Once everyone has taken a seat to they offer people the chance to visit the stands at the front where you can have a fresh orchid bracelet put on your hand. Next to this you can join the queue to get a temporary tattoo drawn on your arm or wherever you please.
My artist asks what I would like: a flower, turtle or fish and I pick a flower. He skillfully draws a gorgeous frangipane freehand with a sharpie with two octopus tentacles at each end. He shows me his octopus tattoo and explains that the octopus is scared to his people and is considered powerful and intelligent. I leave a tip in the tip basket and go back to the table excitedly showing Mr NQN my tattoo.
Afterwards each table is individually called up to dine from the buffet. The friendly local women sitting next to us give us a tip. "Get a bit of everything!" they say giggling and we make sure to. There is one main table with the same food on both sides so the queue moves quickly and they replenish food promptly so that you never miss out on anything. I accidentally filled my plate up too much and then I got to the prime rib carvery but it was no problem as the chef grabs another plate and puts my prime rib on it.
There are a range of salads like Island greens with ume-lilikoi vinaigrette, Kamuela tomatoes, Japanese cucumber and Maui onion, watercress and tofu Maui onion salad, furikake potato & macaroni salad, lomi lomi salmon salad as well as Hanalei poi and sliced fresh Island Maui gold pineapple.
The meats include Huli Huli chicken, above ground smoked Kalua pork, seared Island catch with an ume & yuzu beurre blanc, Molokai style purple sweet potatoes, Island fried rice, taro and Hawaiian sweet rolls with butter while the carving station has 12 hour roasted prime rib, smoked au jus and horseradish cream.
There are three desserts on offer: a coconut crème chiffon cake, haupia (coconut pudding) and pineapple upside down cake with Koloa Rum with the option of Hawaiian Paradise Kona blend coffee, decaffeinated coffee and Taylor assorted teas.
The food is really good especially for a buffet and the prime rib and Huli Huli chicken are my favourites along with the furikake pasta and potato salad and taro roll. The prime rib is so tender and served perfectly pink and it's especially good with the horseradish cream and our delighted table companions give this luau a resounding thumbs up for not just the food but also for being the only luau with prime rib.
The drinks vouchers are more than sufficient and we actually don't end up using all of them. I don't drink much but I love the Lava Flow cocktail with silver rum, coconut cream, pineapple and a swirl of strawberry puree. Mr NQN has four cocktails which is fine because he doesn't need to drive anywhere to get home.
There's plenty of food and we were so full that we don't need to go back for seconds but others do. At 7pm the lights dim and they start the main performances. The host explains the tradition of luau and how Hawaii came to get its own unique identity from traditions brought from different Polynesian countries like Tahiti, Tonga and Samoa.
Hula dancers move fluidly with their graceful hands and they sing songs like the song of Kuhio beach, that was first written decades ago. Dancers perform Samoan hand leg slapping and then the performances culminate in Siva Afi or Samon fire knife dancing.
They erect a net between the stage and the audience and first a 10 year old boy performs it showing that the tradition will live on. Then the five time world champion comes on stage and spins the fire sticks so quickly that it's a blur, twirling one and then two simultaneously.
The night ends with the performers going through the audience to grab willing participants to perform the hula and dancers. A gentleman from Japan is so excited that he rips off his short and dances with abandon on the stage, not an ounce of self consciousness.
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever been to a luau?
Paina Waikiki Luau
https://painawaikiki.com/resort/
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