jen "the kid" d.'s Profile

I had the green papaya salad and VT coffee here, which was OK. Peanut amount was insane, but it was OK and a large portion, and not bad for a food court area. Then we went back and I tried the Pho ga (chicken), my typical pho choice as I don't regularly eat beef. HORRIBLE. It smelled... chemical-like. You could see the powder mix floating on the top of the broth. I can't really describe it, but it was so many shades of terrible - avoid. My man and I both had stomach aches afterwards. The roti (to make up for it) was tasty, but I'm not how anyone could mess up fried+sweetened condensed milk.  (all other rotis I've had are much better, but even at it's worst this dish is tasty!)

Also, very awkward to get your own basil and sprouts and lime - you have to sort of pluck and rip the vegetables at that side area or put it all on a napkin to carry back to your table. And they were blaring both transformers and background music at the same time. Transformers would die down for whatever scene and then you'd notice blaring music from some other source. All very manic and confusing.

I went back for Pho, but I wouldn't go back again. I'm guessing this is why there were lines at the japanese place and panda but not here.

My new favorite frozen yogurt of all the other many places I've tried. Why?  It's blended. That makes it not the same as most other yogurt spots (it's no Pinkberry clone). And they give you TONS of toppings. Absolutely fabulous, sweet, creamy frogurt.  The decor (and chairs) are a little odd.

Their little candy-mint-things at the till are also very good (try blueberry).

Makes me proud to be Canadian, to boot.

Holy hell was that slice of red velvet cake a-freaking-mazing. Dot can cook. Dot can make icing. Dot uses the absolute correct amount of icing (like... the cake is a vehicle for icing.. important, and you cannot go overboard, but that cake is mostly a vehicle for icing). Most places canNOT make icing that tastes like this, and if you're not in east bay it's worth the trip. And the extra 5 days at the gym. The best icing I've had not made by my mom. Cake is good too.

OK, went back after being away for quite some time, and it just wasn't what I remembered. Food was still pretty good, and a great deal for the amount we got (couldn't finish everything at all). But really fatty piece of lamb, and although the meat parts were really tasty the potatoes and sides just weren't as good as I remembered (but still very good).

This is the second luau I have been to - the first being on the Big Island.

Pros and cons:
+ The entertainment, definitely the best part of the luau. It was pretty spectacular.
+ The atmosphere, which is laid back and friendly
+ The location right on the water near a beach on beautiful grounds.

- The food, which was really really mediocre. Very bland, luke warm, not much above cafeteria. Drinks were very watered down. Even the desserts, where I'm very easy to please, were lackluster at best.
- Cost, considering the food grade, was very high.
- Parking was weird, as they didn't seem set up well for people coming from outside the resort. The desk-lady acted put off with us asking to pay for parking (the deal, we needed to pay even MORE and get our ticket validated), and sent us all the way over to the very-far-away main desk to get the parking ticket validated (that guy at least was friendly).
- Co-spectators around our table were very annoying on several sides - kids running around, very loud and rude remarks about very talented performers, and so on. It saddened me, as the performances were great and it was very distracting and rude.

I'm not sure I'm in for another luau - I'd much rather take the high premium paid for these things and invest in a very good meal with view and casual entertainment (dude on a guitar or whatever). I'm sure that's easily possible on such a beautiful island, and probably more enjoyable.

All three stars alone are for the performers and beautiful Hawaiian atmosphere.

Decent food, service, and camp atmosphere screaming "you're back in canada again" but it's new and clean. I remember it a lot better than it actually is. It's like one of those places that excels in memory. But then you move to San Francisco, and sort of suffer a bit of disappointment when you go back home and go to your favorite chains and stuff and are all "what the hell happened to me". Am I some food snob now?  I hope not. I mean I still like this stuff, and I eat cheap food all the time, I just don't find it worth $15 or $17 each or whatever it was for a meal and soda from a step-above-fast-food restaurant.

The chicken wings are what we remember, and they were OK. My rotisserie 1/4 chicken was good, salad and steamed vegetables mediocre. The boys food was OK. I think in general the prices need to come down a bit for it to seem fair and then it may end up tasting better :)

Reasonable prices, but the quality just isn't there. I got a nice belt, but some running tights ended up ripping in the wash the first time they went through. Selection isn't bad, was better than the Nike store in the outlet.

Dinner here was very tasty. However they or their supplier uses that ingredient in their food (most likely a preservative on their vegetables) that I'm allergic to and requires me to lifetime ban  :(  Too bad! It was a good dinner! Those dosas are pretty incredible.

Wait can be lengthy and you're really crammed in there. Service was good though.

My mom's is the best in the world, but this could be second. This is hella delicious banana bread and warm when you buy it. The drive is pretty insane, so I'm not sure it'd be worth driving out specifically for this bread, risking death-off-cliff-thanks-to-reckless-kids-in-a-white -jeep.

Maybe.

Certainly worth my 500th review!!!  =)

It's really not all that bad, the drive (the driving the car part of the drive). If you get car sick, be the driver if you are able to - I know I woulda been ill if I wasn't. But really, driving this isn't nearly as bad as some of the other roads on the island (like the one around the north part), or some of the roads around California for that matter.

But please remember to use the pullouts if someone is on your tail.

Scenery is pretty great, obviously. Make your stops on the way south, by the way. Since you're on that side of the road and it's that much uh easier.

And be wary of slippery rocks.

Road was closed after Hana due to a broken bridge. So be sure to talk to locals before heading out if you're planning your day trip (so you can spend more time at areas BEFORE hitting Hana if your idea was to do the seven sacred pools instead of those and then couldn't). And such.

Drive safe.