Makahiki is a restaurant that is located on the first floor of the Disney Aulani resort. The restaurant actually serves breakfast and dinner at 2 different times, so this review will be for the dinner portion. Unlike breakfast, there was less of a crowd for dinner, so we were able to walk in with our reservations very quickly. We were seated in the outdoor section under the covered patio around 5:00 PM, which was when the sun started setting.

To get our gourmand fix in, we booked ‘Ama’Ama as our fine dining Disney Aulani reservation. The price for this four course tasting was $125 per person. The menu offers contemporary island cuisine, which has many local flavors. The restaurant iself was designed to resemble a beachside house, and it’s located next to the Waikolohe Valley pool area, just a few steps from the beach. The whole restaurant has a very nice open and chill vibe.

Makahiki is a restaurant that is located on the first floor of the Disney Aulani resort. The restaurant actually serves breakfast and dinner at 2 different times, so this review will be broken up into 2 separate reviews. For breakfast, Makahiki serves as a character dining experience. That means cast members dressed up as some of the Disney characters will come mingle with you while you’re eating. The people at my table simply loved this, whereas for me I’m a little indifferent.

On our first night at Disney Aulani, we went to the Ka Wa’a Luau on property. The Preferred Seating was $204 per adult, and the General Seating was $175 per adult. The difference between the seatings is that the preferred seating is assigned and right by the front of the stage. You also can enter 10 minutes earlier, which means you can check out the side festivities earlier too. Don’t worry though.

Haleiwa Joe’s at Haiku Gardens in Kaneohe is known for its lush, beautiful views overlooking its own tropical garden and koi pond with a backdrop of a breathtaking Ko’olau mountain range. The restaurant opens for dinner nightly at 4 PM, and when we arrived at 3:30, there was already a line forming because they do not take reservations. Fortunately once they open, there are plenty of tables, but it feels that people are trying to get the best view overlooking the gardens.

We had just visited the Dole Plantation, and our next planned stop was to checkout this “word of mouth” BBQ chicken mobile that is similar along the same veins of the shrimp trucks. Be aware that there are 3 locations that this van goes to. This one that we went to is located in a gas station and is open on Tuesdays and Fridays. As a reference point if you are a tourist like me, this is located south of the Dole Plantation.

This shrimp truck is located on Kamehameha Highway towards the north east end of Oahu between Hauula and the Shrimp Shack. As you’re driving north on this highway, it will be on your left side. The truck seems not very mobile, and for whatever reason has very high ratings on Yelp. Because Hawaii is pretty well known for these shrimp trucks, we decided to check this out after our Kualoa excursion.