Hawaii Travel: Fresh Fruit, Fire and Rum

You have to wonder how I am going to tie these three items together, fruit, fire and rum. Fruit can be mixed with rum to make a delicious drink…or maybe set the rum on fire to make a yummy dessert. In this instance the fruit was eaten, the fire was being thrown and the rum was drank in sweet Mai Tai goodness. The Kilohana Plantation is an all-day event for those looking to experience a historic and tasty experience on Kauai.

The Fruit

We started at the Plantation Railway which took us past livestock and a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables that are grown on the grounds. We were with Tasting Kauai as part of their farm to fork culinary tour and got to experience half of the railway tour at Kilohana, but got off early to taste some fruit straight from the trees. Most of these fruits and veggies are used in the onsite Gaylord’s restaurant, which is a great example of how local produce is used all over the island.

The Rum

Pepe from Kilohana invited us to come back after the tour for the luau. Since we had some free time after the tour we walked over to the Koloa Rum tasting room (It’s 5 o’clock somewhere). Here we learned how to mix the perfect Mai Tai. We were able to taste the white, dark and spiced rum, mixed into a Mai Tai which was deliciously dangerous. Especially for Josh and Tony who managed to screw up the recipe and ended up just taking straight shots of rum. The tasting was quick and left us wanting more. Luckily for us the spiced rum was one of our favorites and can be found all over the island, including at Costco… 🙂

The Fire

After the rum tasting, it was luau time. It started with the pig being taken out of the imu, the underground oven where the pork is slow-cooked all day. Dinner started with some dancing and entertainment while we stuffed our faces with politely and maturely indulged in the kalua pork and drank our fair share from the open bar. After eating, it was time for the fire to come out. The Kilohana Luau had begun. This was a full blown Disney-style production, with a love story, history lesson and of course, fire throwing was involved. I’ve attended a few luaus in the past and this was the most similar to a Broadway show. There were multiple stages, theatre lighting and performers running through the aisles.

We had a great table right next to the main stage, which allowed Meg and I to get up and hula with the luau dancers!

My favorite part of any luau is the fire dancing. I love watching them sling the fire around, sometimes dangerously close to their body, something I could never do. Josh on the other hand loves the luau food. Some of our favorite foods that you must try while at a luau are the Kalua Pork, Taro bread, Lomi Lomi salmon, teriaki chicken and poi (not our favorite but you have to try it).

I won’t ruin the luau ending for you – do the lovers finally find each other? Do they have a baby? Do Meg and Tony fall into a food coma?

Tips for Successfully Crushing a Hawaiian Luau

1. Come hungry. Plan for a huge meal.
2. Meet your table. You usually get sat with 4 – 6 additional people and luaus instantly become more fun if your entire table is partying together.
3. Don’t pass over the poi. Poi is an important food in the Hawaiian history and while you most likely won’t like the taste, when you are at a luau mix a bit with your kalua pork and give it a try!

What’s your favorite part of a Luau?

 Thanks to the Kilohana plantation for inviting us to enjoy their luau.