Alii Luau

The Polynesian Cultural Center was pretty. I didn’t enjoy the Luau! The food was just «okay». Nothing really stood out. The show was not as entertaining as other Luaus. Customer service was great. Everyone was very nice and hospitable. The seats were extremely close to each other. It was so close that we overheard the fight that the couple next to us was having (a bit awkward) Overall I have this place 2 stars.

My wife and I decided to purchase the Ali’i Luau package as this was only $ 40 more per person than the general admission and we had never been to a luau. This was a fantastic experience for us between a great afternoon learning about the Polynesian cultures and before the Breath of Life show at night.
As you walk in, you’re greeted with a beautiful flower Lei, photo opp, and are taken to your seat. The seating is in a large pavilion that can hold around 500 people with 8 or so chairs at each table. It’s covered which is nice in case there’s rain, but it’s also open to a great backdrop of the outdoor Emu oven behind the stage. The show gets started right away with a great view for everyone seated. We loved our MC, Cousin T, who made us feel like family even in such a large group. He also has an incredible singing voice!
They waste no time sending guests back to the buffet line and it’s amazing how fast everyone gets their food and how it never runs out! Those who pay for the ambassador packages sit up front and are fed first, but we barely noticed the wait since the show was already going. The buffet offers a wide variety of luau delicacies, listed here:
. The fish and pork were my favorites, and my wife loved the Poke as well. The desserts were also delicious. The food as a whole is the only reason I’m giving this four stars as each item was hit or miss, but I feel like it’s hard to make any buffet five stars. We tried almost everything and got seconds (thirds. .. fourths?) of our favorites; don’t forget to run by the tables in the middle that have food you can’t get in the buffet line!
The show is very enjoyable, educational, and interactive. You get to see some glimpses into aspects of the Breath of Life show which help you understand the show that much better, but you also get performance and information not found anywhere else in the PCC experience. All of the music and dancing is performed live in front of you and is of the highest quality.
Overall, we felt we had more than our money’s worth of an experience and look forward to making a visit again the next time we are in Hawaii.

For those looking for an authentic luau where they take the pig out of the imu, have the Royal Court of Hawaii come out & welcome you, dances & songs are genuine about the culture & not Vegasy or Flashy… this luau is for you! Family oriented, they celebrate birthdays, anniversaries & the food is DELICIOUS! The hosts are awesome too! I love everything about this luau!!!

For the tourists that have never been to a luau it is fantastic. We did the ali’i package. I brought my friend here becauae they were supposed to do the imu ceremony. We didnt see it. The true local food like lomi lomi salmon, Poke and poi was at a seperate table and not identified so most people missed trying these local specialties.
The food was tasty. The sweet potato salad was one of my favorites as was the chicken and of course kalua pig. I wish theyboffered iced tea for thoae of us who can’t drink sweet drinks.
The PCC tour was good however we onlyvsaw the shows so I am not sure what we missed. Our tour guide Ali’i was really entertaining. So was the guy at the Samoa village. He was like a Polynesian Steven Wright. Many shows involved audience participation which made it fun.
The evening show was fantastic. So much going on. The performers were magnificent and you could tell thay loved what they were doing. The costumes were amazing. A great way to end the day.

#cousinT was a great host at the best luau. We love the PCC. The luau was the perfect ending to a great day of food, fun, and culture. The live music was fantastic and CousinT was perfect MC. Such a great voice and personality. The dancers of course we’re also amazing. Well worth the drive #bestattraction #bestluau

A ALL day event, parking is easy. Get there first thing and you can beat the rush and go at your own pace. We did the buffet dinner. I have been to many and the food is ok. The night show is amazing. A must do on the island to experience.

bring a flask or ur favorite ‘drink’ ! lol
if u haven’t been to a luau, u can check this one out if ur in North Shore… hella far from Waikiki.
its basically a cheap (but pricey buffet) that seats alot of people in a outdoor setting that included a ‘show’(hula dance and more hula dance and a really COOL fire dance at the end) …all a bit too long in duration, performed mostly by the College kids next door at BYU Hawaii and/​or locals.
…the entire experience is great for 1^st time visitors/​tourists!
my opinion: u’ll be okay if u can’t check this one off your list of ‘things to do’ while on Oahu

We did the whole PCC «Ambassador» package one Saturday in February. This review is just for the lu’au.
The Good:
Good entertainment (especially the keiki)
Flower lei greeting on entry
Taro rolls with butter
The Meh:
Crowded tables (no elbow room)
Confusing when to go get food (a couple seated with us just went when they wanted, the rest of us waited and someone came and directed us to go get food)
Demonstrated to us good tasting poi earlier in afternoon, then served us fermenting poi at lu’au
The Bad:
Really hard, if not impossible, to eat and watch the entertainment at the same time
Food was largely underwhelming and lukewarm
Dessert was at the buffet, then they brought MORE dessert to the table
Another picture for you to sell us, really?
If I were to go again, I’d go see the Cultural Center itself and possibly the Ha show, but would absolutely skip the lu’au.

«The Breath of Life» program was too long, but did have a high production value. Some good dancing, drumming and effects. You really need to be into the Polynesian culture to fully enjoy the show, but the cast works really hard.
The food on the other hand at the PCC was purely and simply HORRIBLE. The price of the show includes this miserable buffet (we had the Island Buffet) and the food was cold, tasteless, horrible selection, undercooked… just simply a complete eating nightmare! PLUS… some young singers (from Brigham Young University) came to our table and started singing to us which was totally annoying and not called for.
This is a Mormon operation, so no alcohol and EVERYBODY is smiling and saying «aloha» at every opportunity. Nice people for sure, but they need to work on their food service operation or put in vending machines which would probably be better than what we got!

If your coming here for booze, stay away. There isnt any. Lol. The luau was fun. My children enjoyed it so much. Its a definite must do luau but I could be saying that because its the only one.

I’m not sure why people are ripping on this so bad. I don’t have any other luau experiences to compare to, but for my first one, I left here entertained and with a belly full of great food… I don’t think I could have asked for much more.
It sounds like a lot of people went here and only focused on the negatives. Of course they had a horrible time.
The Polynesian Cultural Center has a lot of grounds and staff to keep up with, so of course they are going to try to make money and charge high prices for simple things such as pictures and smoothies. Just don’t buy those items… your experience won’t be any worse without a smoothie or a picture taken by the staff (ask another Luau goer to take a picture of you/​your group for free).
We looked at many different Luaus on both the Big Island and Oahu and decided this one sounded the best. We knew we wanted to check out the Cultural Center, so that entry was already a fixed cost for us. Compare the extra fee of attending the Luau and it’s actually cheaper to do a day here than every other Luau we looked at.
Our food was excellent. There were a ton of different options to choose from and you eat as much as you want. I tried almost everything, and like almost all of it (not a fan of Poi).
Go here, make a day out of it, learn about the cultures, watch their presentations, get stuffed and entertained at the Luau, and cap off the night with Ha. There will be negatives to it, like there are everything, but it’s a lot of fun and a great way to spend the entire day/​evening.

So if I were a tourist and only had one chance to attend a luau, I’d be sorely disappointed if this was the one I chose.
Spending the day in the park getting educated about of our pacific island cultures, you naturally develop quite an appetite.
To our dismay, the adjectives used to describe the food was a mixture of the Cold, Stale, Bland, salty, unpalatable. Just to name a few.
Honestly it was a poor representation of what a luau and island food is and should be. The only thing that was any good was the pipikaula.
Another gripe was the seating arrangement. 1. you don’t have a choice on who you sit with. 2. We had the bad luck of sitting next to a set of tourists who were obnoxious and rude. You don’t get much privacy when dining here.
The luau was the low point of our «play tourist» day at PCC.
Save your money, and just come for the park exploration and the show.

Be sure to get there early so you can see them take the pig out of the emu!!! After they bring the pig to the carving station, the traditional entertainment begins and they will begin dismissing tables soon after, a few at a time, to go grab food. If you aren’t baller enough to pay for an Ambassador package, this means you’ll be sitting around a while which is what happened to us :(
The food is basically a buffet plus a pig carving station and a separate dessert table. The buffet has various food, mostly local grindz such as teri chicken, kalua pork, etc. If you like kalua pork I would recommend getting it from the carving station only because the one on the buffet is mass produced like the other buffet foods and is a lot drier. The food was pretty good overall and dinner includes water and soft drinks that they bring in pitchers to each table. There are also smoothies served in cored pineapples but those cost extra so we didn’t get one.
The only thing I wish was different is the close quarter seating at each table, which is really cramped and awkward when you don’t know any of the other parties seated with you. The people that sat with us were kind of quiet and nobody really talked despite having to bump elbows while eating!

First of all WORST luau EVER!
1^st
: I want to start off with the $ 10 parking fee, that’s just ridiculous, they should offer free parking!
2^nd: I do like the free drinks (unlimited compared to $ 4 drinks, ar paradise cove)
3^rd: the food is not good. It’s so simple and
Plain
4^th: super close sitting and no fresh air
By all means go to PARADISE cove!
This luau for ambassador is $ 125 I believe! You’re better off in paradise cove deluxe for cheaper!

This luau was part of our admission package to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Touted as their most popular dining option, seating for the masses was efficient as they brought people to tables of 8 and filled up all seats with other parties. Yes, you’ll have to share the table with strangers so brush up on small talk, put on your happy face and make some new friends.
There’s an MC who runs the pre– and post-​dinner entertainment. Honestly, can’t remember much of the entertainment. That should tell you how memorable it was. Unfortunately, the food was even worse. Living in Las Vegas, maybe I’m spoiled when it comes to buffets, but I was disappointed by the lack of choices and quality of food. They had some shoyu glazed chicken thighs, steamed white fish, and kalua pork that was bland and tasteless, not to mention watery. A salad section with iceberg lettuce, a few types of dressing and basic condiments was a letdown. The ahi poke was decent compared to everything else, but portioned out into tiny plastic cups usually reserved for soy sauce from take out restaurants.
Desserts weren’t much better. The coconut cake with haupia sauce was far superior to an awful bread pudding made up of taro rolls and uninspired pineapple bars.
I can normally down 4 or 5 plates at buffets but here I barely had one and a small sampling of desserts. The PCC itself is a great attraction, but the food needs some help.

Figured I would leave a quick review here as well as on PCC itself.
We just attended this shenanigan and thankfully drove ourselves (paying $ 8 to self park of course) so we could get the heck away from this place upon realizing what a complete farce it is. I’m embarrassed for Hawaii and it’s beautiful people that this ridiculous cultural sterilization center is permitted to conduct such activities. This place is nothing more than a front to employ BYU students and pedal the Mormon doctrine while simultaneously reducing Polynesian history and it’s people to dancing and screaming.
The dinner is appalling for the price charged. For any price this would be unacceptable. I honestly have never had such an awful meal that I’ve had to pay for. The sweet potato buns were the only food item acceptable for human consumption. Like a previous reviewer I saw glasses of punch from tables being poured back into Pitchers. I thought at first this was to facilitate dumping them but then saw the server throw ice in the jug and head back to the tables. This is when we got up and left.
All over the grounds you are pushed to buy cheap knickknacks from anywhere you can imagine other than from a local Polynesian. Cheap overpriced junk is abundant and all the money gets funneled directly to the LDS cult.
The show Ha… Haha… more pathetic cleansing… The men are dressed in, you guessed it… White collared shirts and dark pants. Is this how native Hawaiian men dressed? Of course not but Joseph Smith is familiar with attempts to rewrite reality so why would anything else be expected here, now knowing the truth about this immoral place.
If you are a culturally sensitive, compassionate and moral person I would urge you to stay away from this place.

OK, the show was fun. The food was meh… We had a party of 4, but we were split up because they didn’t have an available table for us. So K and I sat with a group of 6, they didn’t even say hello. Alrighty!
Pork — Was a little dry and salty
Beef — It was moist but tasteless
Fish — Was tasteless and a little dry
Chicken — Moist and actually the good tasting protein
Fruits — Fresh
Poi — It did NOT look good
Taro rolls — Sweet and good
Soft drinks — free refills but the cups are so tiny
Pass on the Luau here.

This review is only for the luau & not the breath of life show.
We had great seats & there were carafes of water & Pepsi on the tables along with taro rolls. We had a lovely time chit chatting with our table neighbors. Then the cheese ball mc started talking. He was better suited for a cruise ship than a Hawaiian luau. After 20 minutes or so we were directed to the buffet. The food was blah. The best part was the $ 15 for 2 piña colada that you could buy. They don’t serve any alcohol here.

Alright… There are a lot of things to review…
THE DAY EXPERIENCE: 4*
The shows are a pretty cool experience and they are definitely a learning experience. If you want to learn about Hawaiian (and other Polynesian cultures) it’s a good place to get a brief history.
The LUAU: 1*
The food is pretty terrible. They try with the entertainment and the showing of the cooked pig, but overall the food is really awful. I hope this isn’t your only or first luau experience.
The HA Show (Breathe of Life): 4*
The show is pretty good, lots of dancing, singing, and a desert serving in between.
The PCC does nickel and dime you for just about everything, and it’s run by Mormons so it is dry and not open on Sundays. If you’ve never experienced it and you have some extra time on the island, I would recommend trying it out once. I grew up on the island so have been as a child with school field trips and have taken my bf as an adult. Either way it’s a way to spend a day on the island learning a little more about the cultures that make up the island population. Go with the right expectations and you’re sure to find something you enjoy.

This is the second part of my 3 part review series of the PCC.
Polynesian Cultural Center (part 1):
Ha: Breath of Life [show] (part 3):
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 piña 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!