Hearts in Hawai'i
Our Trip to Maui (2012)--Day 10
5/1/2012
Today was Lei Day in Hawai`i and also the day we attended the Feast at Lele. But first, we walked the beach for about 1 1/4 hours in the morning, following that up with another half hour walk in the afternoon. Got a couple hours of sun in, also. Nothing new there, right? 
Morning on the beach--perfect
They just built our dream house!
Me on the beach in front of our resort
Feast at Lele
After dressing up in my new Aloha shirt and my best Dockers shorts, we headed over to 505 just after 6 p.m.. After checking in, we got our admission tickets. Having some time to kill, we wandered about the 505 shops, including some very expensive art galleries (does an inexpensive art gallery exist here? We haven't located it yet) and stopped to check out the menus at Pacifico and I`o. Pacifico looks good, I`o not quite so. This is noted for future reference.
They began letting us into the venue at 6:30 for what is going to be a three hour event. We shook our heads at a lady just ahead of us slightly abusing the couple she’s taking a picture of, and I’m wondering “Jeez, this is how they treat the guests??”. Turns out, she was one of a group of ten people. And had apparently been hitting the alcohol just a bit prior to getting to the Feast. Later on, as she was trying to take a pic of their entire table, she backed up and backed right into Patty’s chair, and then turned around like “oh, what are you doing here?” I gave her an unmistakable look of disapproval, which in her inebriated (by then) state, went right over her head. Idiot.
As we were led to our table, the hostess said “you must have done your homework! How early did you reserve this?” We were seated right in the front row, just left of center! We had one of the two best tables in the house. Sweet!
By now, the sun was setting, and everyone was up and walking about, heading down to the beach, taking pictures of this sunset. It was a happy, festive mood which would only get better as the night progressed.
First they brought the appetizers. We would be served by two people tonight, one man, one woman—can’t remember their names. The appetizers were banana, taro and sweet potato chips with a ginger and ogo seaweed salsa. Very tasty!
By the time they started the first course (Hawai`i), the sun was slipping beneath the horizon. The Hawaii course as excellent, featuring Kalua pork which had been seasoned with what appeared to be sea salt and ginger. I’m not exaggerating when I say this was the best Kalua pork I’ve ever tasted. We were also served Pohole fern shoots and heart of palm salad, along with fresh island fish (it varies from night to night but tonight it was swordfish) with mango salsa. Not being much of a seafood lover, I was somewhat repulsed by the flavor, but Patty certainly enjoyed it.
The show featured a Hawaiian hula dance, and lasted roughly fifteen minutes, as each show did.
After a break and clearing of plates, on came the second course; Aotearoa (New Zealand). This was my least favorite of the four courses, as I couldn’t handle more than one bite of the Maori Fishcakes. The sea bean duck salad was passable, however. The roasted mushrooms with orange sweet potatoes, onions and garlic were excellent.
The Aotearoa show was better than Hawaii—-I love the music of that land and the face paintings. The poi balls were also very entertaining to watch, making me wonder how long it took someone to become proficient in the use of those.
Next up; Tahiti. This was my favorite show, with the sensuous dancing. Watching that made me want to take Patty back to the hotel and….well, you know...
The dinner portion which preceded it was good; steamed chicken and taro leaf in coconut milk along with raw fish marinated in coconut milk with cucumbers, cilantro, carrots, Maui onions and tomatoes. The baked scallop on the shell? Blech. Patty enjoyed it, however, as she does most fish items.
Finally, we reached Samoa. This was the culinary star of the show, in my opinion. We had grilled steak with soy, ginger and guava glaze. Wonderful! Then there was shrimp with avocado and papaya in passion fruit dressing. If there is a fish I gravitate to time after time, it’s shrimp and this was excellently prepared. The Palusami (breadfruit cooked with taro leaf in coconut cream) was forgettable, however.
Desert was also served as part of this show; caramel macadamia nut tart, chocolate truffles and mango, strawberries and papaya.
The show devoted to this happy land featured a slap dance and fire knife dancer. It was quite the intricate display of danger, and incredible to watch.
By the time we walked back next door to our resort, we were happily full and entirely satisfied with the entertainment. We each had a cup of coffee to top everything off, and took our time leaving after the end of the show, watching as others hurried out. Maybe they had a bar to go to?
We got back to the hotel just after 9:30. The coffee kept me awake until after midnight, a slight error in judgment in hindsight.
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