A dinner in Hawaii offers a multiethnic culinary experience. Whether you dinner at your hotel, resort, in town, or even on a cruise ship you'll find flavors from many countries, but the main dishes contain the special flavor of Polynesia.
Restaurants from Hawaii run the gamut from five star international restaurants to 24-hour air-conditioned coffee shops. Steaks and local seafood can be found in most restaurants, but the specialties of the Hawaiian cooking heritage are also available anywhere. Most hotels and luxury resorts offer specific culinary nights, beach or poolside barbeques, and many of them offer also the Hawaiian best known cooking experience - the luau dinner. A luau dinner features an underground oven of heated rocks cooking a variety of foods which are ready after several hours of cooking and have a delicious smoky flavor!
People from Hawaii love to throw a party. Wherever you go in the islands you'll find many festivals with all types of food, entertainment, games and more. Some festivals are big, some are small, but each one offers the warm spirit of "Aloha". The largest festival happens each June on the Oahu island. The food festival of Honolulu is a three-day event that showcases food samplings from more than 25 of the island's top restaurants. In addition to the great food, there's live musical entertainment, cooking demonstrations, wine tasting, a beer garden and family exhibits.
A similar festival takes place on Maui each September. It's a two-day event at Lahaina Recreation Park offering samples from more than 25 restaurants from Maui - from mahi-mahi over jasmine rice to spaghetti and meatballs. The event's benefits go to several youth groups from the island, including schools and athletic organizations. The Wailea resort area has its own food festival. Part of Maui Film Festival, the "Taste of Wailea" features the participation of the best Hawaiian cooks and their dishes are accompanied by some of the world's finest wines.
Food and wine experts from all over the country head each summer to Kapalua for "Kapalua Wine and Food Festival". Regarded as Hawaii's most prestigious and longest running food and wine exhibition, this four-day festival features exclusive wine tasting and cooking demonstrations of some of the most famous chefs.
On Big Island the "Kona Coffee Cultural Festival" takes place each November. The 10-day festival features more than 30 community events, including coffee tasting, art exhibits, recipe contests and more.