Kira Conte

Review of Paradise Cove Luau

Short version: this place is better than Polynesia...

Short version: this place is better than Polynesian Cultural Center (and cheaper!).

This is a long review, as I am comparing it to another hot tourist luau Polynesian Cultural Center. Also because it was such a great experience.

You are given a preloaded "gift card" (value depends on which package you buy) that is activated upon entrance. We received fresh orchid leis when we came in and were escorted to take a picture by the waterfall scenery. They have mini shows in different locations to show how things were done in the different cultures. They had a Polynesian "tattoo" station which was fun! Please don't forget to tip the artists even though the service is free!

Heres what they had on the buffet tables: Mac and potato salad, pasta salad, broccoli slaw, and house salad with ranch. Then poi and lomi lomi salmon. White rice, kalua pork, guava something chicken, and fish patty with tartar sauce. The dessert table is where you will find the various sweet potatoes, rolls and desserts of haupia, chocolate pudding, and chocolate cake.

They have a building in the middle where you can buy snacks as well as sodas and alcoholic beverages (you can use your gift card here). On the side of the building, they offer complimentary coffee and water.

My husband and son are the mac salad connoisseurs and they enjoyed it. The broccoli slaw was missing something. The poi was a little watered down. Lomi wasn't too salty and complimented the poi perfectly. My husband LOVED the lomi lomi there.

Rice is local style sticky rice. The kalua pork was on point! It had a lot of great flavor and was perfectly soft. The chicken was nice and moist and had a good hint of flavor in it. I didn't really care for the fish. I am not sure what kind of fish it was, but it was too fishy for me. I'm sure others will love it if you love salmon and other stronger fish flavors like that.

The sweet potatoes were great. Try the Okinawan purple ones, they are my favorite! The haupia was good. It was a nice sized piece and on the firmer side. My husband liked the cake, I didn't really care for it. My son loved the chocolate pudding.

In comparison to the Polynesian Cultural Center, the kalua pork and chicken at Paradise Cove was superior. PCC offers a few more traditional luau plate items (long rice and poke) and have better rolls and way better desserts. But what makes Paradise Cove better in my opinion is the kalua pork coupled with the dinner show.

The MC of the show is funny and engaging. She changed her outfits more times than Lady Gaga to match the dance style that was coming up. The different dances were awesome; very fun and entertaining to watch. I enjoyed the parts with the audience participation, always a good time! I enjoyed the fire dancer, it's always fun and exciting to watch those, but I think I might have liked the fire performance of the one at PCC just a little better.

Another thing I loved about this place was the setting. The tables are set up in the open air so at night when we were watching the show, it was beautiful. The sky was setting and turning all different beautiful colors, we could hear the ocean in the background, and the soft gentle tradewinds were blowing through. Made it feel so tropical and romantic! Bring a jacket though if you get cold easily!

I was able to purchase our souvenir photos with the gift card for $13 (kama'aina price). The gift store was actually reasonably priced though. I saw some things that I have seen at Walmart and such and they were the same price. They had some cute Hello Kitty stuff, local items, and of course Hawaii souvenirs.

Bottom line: This place rocks! The food was super ono and the entertainment was awesome! The experience as a whole was exciting and engaging, even for a local born like myself. I didn't miss the whole tour of the islands that PCC has at all. I thought the little events, show, and food was the meat and potatoes of any good Hawaiian Luau.
From now on, this will be the luau of choice to bring any mainland visitors for me and my family!