Aulani Dining - 3 meals per day?

[gregf71]

My family of three is beginning to research an August 2018 visit to Aulani. As it stands now, we have a family timeshare already booked for a week on the Big Island, which we hope to add 5 nights at Aulani the week before. The Big Island, which will be a first time visit for us, will be the "rent a car and explore" portion of the vacation, with Aulani being the relax and enjoy all that the resort has to offer part. My wife and I have a previous visit to Oahu, so limited if any island exploration is being considered, though this will be our daughter's first ever trip to the islands.

So, given this, if we were to stay at the resort the vast majority of our time, is there enough quality and variety in the dining offerings to keep us there...without blowing up our wallets? I really don't see us hitting the buffet more than once...maybe once for breakfast and again for dinner.

If not and we didn't have a rental car, which we would very much like to avoid while on Oahu, are there any good dining places within walking distance of Aulani? If not, what options would we have?

Thanks!

 

[Gorechick]

There's not a lot of variety at Aulani itself and meals can be pricey if you are dining at AMA AMA or Makahiki. There are some restaurants at the shopping plaza down the road and dining at the hotels next door. We ate at Monkeypod which is excellent and the Mexican place which was good. http://koolina.com/experiences/dining/

 

[crystal1313]

We stayed at Aulani last summer and did not explore the island at all (except for me one day going to Pearl harbor) and we had the best vacation ever! You can see my trip report in my signature. We only rented a car for one day, to go to PH and a Costco run.

We ate at Ama Ama a couple times for breakfast as buffets are not really our thing. For breakfast the other days, we ate muffins or cereal. Lunch, we typically made in our room, but a couple days we tried lunch at Off the Hook and Ulu cafe. We loved dinner at Monkeypod which is walking distance across the street. It had a wide variety of choices for all of us, even the kids. Plus a great bar. There is also a pizza place across the street that I have read has great reviews. We never got around to trying it! We also wanted to try Roy's, which is walking distance, but never got to that as well. Hoping to hit all those up on our next trip. =) Oleo room at Aulani is wonderful as well and has an awesome happy hour which we enjoyed. We never tired of the food at or around Aulani.

Monkeypod: https://www.monkeypodkitchen.com/dine_ko_olina#menus
Roy's: http://www.royshawaii.com/roys-ko-olina.html

Ko Olina shopping center: http://koolina.com/experiences/dining/

That being said, budget wise, the Costco run really helped. We had a two bedroom villa because my parents joined us, and we made good use of the kitchen. We are planning on returning in 2018 and only renting a studio, but we plan to still go to Costco and buy food we can prepare in our room without a stove/oven. It was nice to eat in the room some nights and get a break from eating out as well. I am hoping to get some dinners that are pre-cooked so we can just warm them in the microwave, along with lunch food and probably some muffins again. I am thinking I might pack my large soft sided cooler for extra cold storage in the room since we can go get ice to fill it.

Hope that helps!

 

[gregf71]

Let me throw one more question your way....if, oh let's say, my wife and daughter hit the spa for a mom and daughter experience, leaving poor old me alone and sad (kidding). And I, being a big tiki bar fan, wanted to get over to the La Mariana Sailing Club in western Honolulu (about a 30 minute drive away from Aulani) for a drink (and a mug) and perhaps a lunch, what would be the best and most cost effective way to do that...and get back? Taxi? Uber or Lyft?

 

[crystal1313]

We found that Uber and Lyft were few and far between in the Ko Olina area.....but things might have changed now. Maybe someone who lives in the area can shed more light! I know some of the cabs will do a flat rate to certain areas....Tiki bar sounds awesome! And love your avatar.

 

[Midoria]

Let me throw one more question your way....if, oh let's say, my wife and daughter hit the spa for a mom and daughter experience, leaving poor old me alone and sad (kidding). And I, being a big tiki bar fan, wanted to get over to the La Mariana Sailing Club in western Honolulu (about a 30 minute drive away from Aulani) for a drink (and a mug) and perhaps a lunch, what would be the best and most cost effective way to do that...and get back? Taxi? Uber or Lyft?

Most Uber and Lyft drivers don't hang around the Ko'olina area. If you're in/around town, it'll be easier to get someone to take you back, though. I personally hate the price of taxis here. A 20-minute ride can cost you upwards of $50.

 

[gregf71]

Most Uber and Lyft drivers don't hang around the Ko'olina area. If you're in/around town, it'll be easier to get someone to take you back, though. I personally hate the price of taxis here. A 20-minute ride can cost you upwards of $50.

Yikes...would be it be less expensive to rent a car (can I do that at Aulani) for the day and drive myself? Maybe I could rationalize a 1 day rental with a CostCo run for a few food items for the room.

 

[Angelaann]

We were at Aulani for 6 days and mostly ate at the resort. We frequently had whatever was the plate of the day or a flatbread from ulu for lunch, and then traded off between the other restaurants at night. For breakfast, we mainly had leftovers, save for one day when we ate the character breakfast at Makahiki.

We went to Roy's one night, but thought it wasn't as good as the resort options, so we didn't return. Meant to try Monkeypod, but we didn't make it. We had a car, but weren't feeling very motivated to leave Aulani, so I guess the options on site were good enough for us.

 

[crystal1313]

Yikes...would be it be less expensive to rent a car (can I do that at Aulani) for the day and drive myself? Maybe I could rationalize a 1 day rental with a CostCo run for a few food items for the room.

Yes, I rented a car from the Alamo at Aulani just for the day, to avoid paying the crazy parking fee. Worked out great =)

 

[Midoria]

Yikes...would be it be less expensive to rent a car (can I do that at Aulani) for the day and drive myself? Maybe I could rationalize a 1 day rental with a CostCo run for a few food items for the room.

If you're going to be around the kalihi area, I'd do a couple hours at Bishop Museum and then go to the tiki bar for drinks and a meal. Make the most of your time. Bishop is only 10 minutes driving from sand island and is a great place to learn about Hawaii. There is a planetarium, science center which has a "lava show" which is really fun, and the main museum has a lot of different cool things. My favorite is dressing in kapa cloth to see how you'd look.

Also, there is a Costco 10 minutes from the Bishop Museum so you can actually stop there and load up on your way back to Aulani.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

There's also a Target within about 10 minutes, just in case you don't have a costco membership. We usually do breakfast and lunch in the room, then eat something out for dinner. We have gone to costco to pick up a pizza for dinner and ate it on the beach. Pretty good dinner for $10.

 

[crystal1313]

We don't have a Costco membership, but had a Costco giftcard and they let us in to shop without any issue. =)

 

[Minniesgal]

The only place we really liked to eat at Aulani was ama ama and we tended to eat there for breakfast as it was cheaper than the buffet. We had 1 dinner at ama ama. The rest of the time we went across the road and got food there. Monkeypod was great, the supermarket had options we had take out pizza etc. Our best meal of the trip was at Roy's

Have to say if we could only eat at aulani we wouldn't have been too happy

 

[nkereina]

I'm in the camp that no, there is not enough variety to eat only at Aulani. If you stop for groceries and have the means to make some of your own meals if staying in a villa then maybe you could make do, but otherwise, I say no. Ulu Café is of a lesser scale than a WDW resort QS location, IMO, and Makahiki is pricey and only worth doing once. Also can be tough to get into without a reservation. Same for AMA AMA. As mentioned, Monkeypod, Just Tacos, Pizza Corner, and a sushi place are all in walking distance across the street. We spent 6 nights at Aulani with 3 dedicated resort days and ate at Monkeypod twice, so that should speak to the variety in the area - not a ton. The Marriott and Four Seasons also have some viable dining options if you don't want to get in the car and leave Ko Olina. They are both walking distance as well.

Kapolei, which is the next exit up from Ko Olina, has multiple chain restaurants and some local spots. That's the next closest place, but would be driving distance. If you plan to venture off into Oahu at any point, your best bet would be to plan a meal wherever you will be. We ate in Kailua on our Kualoa Ranch day and we ate in the North Shore when we visited there as well.

 

[PasadenaJacket]

Sorry to be late. +1 to the Monkey Pod recommendations. I think it's a silly name, but the food is quite good, and it's easy walking distance.

For my family, it's usually 2-3 nights eating dinner out. All other meals we make ourselves from Costco and the local groceries. If you're like me, you'll pack some things from your kitchen that the resort might not carry, like an extra sharp knife, instant read thermometer, and spices that you don't want to buy at island prices.

 

[im4pacers1]

Another vote for Monkey Pod. DH and I had a car and we went there for dinner/drinks several times. They have (or had when we were there) happy hour specials on drinks and appetizers. They also have live entertainment out in the patio. The drinks were yummy and noT syrupy stickiness. Like real drinks with natural ingredients. We also ate at the pizza place and Mexican restaurant in the shopping plaza. Both were good. If you are staying on points, parking is free and you can get good rates on rentals from the airport. Our car more than paid for itself. We ate one meal at the resort and that was enough for us. Don't forget there is also a luau within walking distance that you could do one night.

 

[Midoria]

Sorry to be late. +1 to the Monkey Pod recommendations. I think it's a silly name, but the food is quite good, and it's easy walking distance.

Monkey Pod trees are actually very beautiful!

 

[RichVIII]

Three visits to Monkeypods (two dinners and one lunch). The Four Seasons had a happy hour special for burger and milkshake for $20 bucks overlooking the pool and water. It was an awesome meal at a great price. I am in the no camp for enough on-site. We did breakfast in the room, sometimes lunch and dinner typically out. I don't mind paying for really good meals. The food at Aulani was okay.

 

[pamelaj]

I would strongly recommend renting a car. We have been to Aulani twice. Once for 7 nights, once for 8 nights. Each time I rented a car for about $100.00 total. Their is a discount Hawaiian car rental website that has great deals. If you use DVC points (even rented) you get free parking. I did a ton of research and it was cheaper for me to rent the car than to pay just to get to and from the airport, and this gave us the freedom to buy groceries, check out other restaurants, and sites around the island. We loved having the supplies for some meals, snacks and cocktails from one of the local stores. If I had to pay $35/night parking, that may change the math.

The food is decent and we also liked the restaurants that are an easy walk away, but you won't likely want to eat at only Aulani for 5 full days.