Edited after dining at Ama Ama. Fantastic experience.
First time visiting my home resort, and it has been a very nice trip thus far, with one big exception: the dining has been underwhelming, specifically on the resort. We've only eaten at Ulu, Off the Hook and Olelo but the food has been uninspired, bland, and not particularly well portioned. They don't even seem to offer a lot of the signature Hawaiian dishes or the traditional touches that make Hawaiian cuisine such scrumptious comfort food. The service has been good but the management makes a lot of questionable decisions. If I'm ordering a $24 omelet and sitting in your restaurant why am I getting food in a box? If we're paying $30 a plate why am I getting water in a plastic cup?
I'm contrast, we had dinner on Friday at Halekulani's House Without a Key, and it was fabulous. We had eaten lunch earlier at the Maui Airport during a layover at Sammy's, and the Loco Moco was delicious. Breakfast at Pagoda was a real treat, where I had tasty Portuguese sausage served with fried rice and warm delicious taro rolls. Happy Hour at Monkey Pod was divine. They varied in how expensive they were, but they all delivered in terms of value, which is how I tend to feel when dining at WDW resorts as well.
But Aulani is just frustrating me to no end. I just don't want to eat here any more, so we're going to grill tomorrow night, eat at Mekiko the following night, and then try to figure out where to eat at the Marriott and Four Seasons. I do have a reservation for Ama Ama on Thursday, but to be honest I'm thinking of canceling because the idea of spending $500 on dinner only to be disappointed yet again is giving me anxiety. I'm thinking I'll be better off spending that money at Mina's.
Open to any advice folks can give me on enjoying the food here. I really want that aspect of my home resort to be a positive, but I'm struggling to see it that way. There had been a lot of rave reviews for the food here, with some in the Disney media calling it tops among DVC resorts, but right now I've got it ranked last with SSR, and given how big a factor dining has been for my dvc experience, it makes me a little sad that my home resort is bringing up the rear.
First time visiting my home resort, and it has been a very nice trip thus far, with one big exception: the dining has been underwhelming, specifically on the resort. We've only eaten at Ulu, Off the Hook and Olelo but the food has been uninspired, bland, and not particularly well portioned. They don't even seem to offer a lot of the signature Hawaiian dishes or the traditional touches that make Hawaiian cuisine such scrumptious comfort food. The service has been good but the management makes a lot of questionable decisions. If I'm ordering a $24 omelet and sitting in your restaurant why am I getting food in a box? If we're paying $30 a plate why am I getting water in a plastic cup?
I'm contrast, we had dinner on Friday at Halekulani's House Without a Key, and it was fabulous. We had eaten lunch earlier at the Maui Airport during a layover at Sammy's, and the Loco Moco was delicious. Breakfast at Pagoda was a real treat, where I had tasty Portuguese sausage served with fried rice and warm delicious taro rolls. Happy Hour at Monkey Pod was divine. They varied in how expensive they were, but they all delivered in terms of value, which is how I tend to feel when dining at WDW resorts as well.
But Aulani is just frustrating me to no end. I just don't want to eat here any more, so we're going to grill tomorrow night, eat at Mekiko the following night, and then try to figure out where to eat at the Marriott and Four Seasons. I do have a reservation for Ama Ama on Thursday, but to be honest I'm thinking of canceling because the idea of spending $500 on dinner only to be disappointed yet again is giving me anxiety. I'm thinking I'll be better off spending that money at Mina's.
Open to any advice folks can give me on enjoying the food here. I really want that aspect of my home resort to be a positive, but I'm struggling to see it that way. There had been a lot of rave reviews for the food here, with some in the Disney media calling it tops among DVC resorts, but right now I've got it ranked last with SSR, and given how big a factor dining has been for my dvc experience, it makes me a little sad that my home resort is bringing up the rear.
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