The Ultimate Life List: The best food I've ever had

E’AI KAKOU

The very first thing I ate at Kona Village....wasn't exactly a shabby way to begin our vacation.....

A few days ago I told you about my favorite place in the world and decided there was no way I could describe this unique slice of heaven in just one post....it's going to take a few. I chose to start with the food we were fortunate enough to indulge in at the Kona Village Resort. Though, I know I will not be able to convey the absolute deliciousness of the food we enjoyed at the Kona Village Resort on the main island of Hawai'i, but I'm going to give it the ole college try. I guess I ought to start by saying, this was the best food, presentation, and service I've ever had-the bar will forever be set awfully high. I know I will see more beautiful places in my life, eat other meals that are enjoyable and stay at other luxury resorts....but I cannot imagine any of them will surpass the tremendous quality I found here.

Here's how the meal plan worked-(with our package anyhow)

All 3 meals were included in the price of our package.
This included an appetizer (for both of us). 2 meals and 2 deserts.
If you were going to be out for the day they would pack you a meal or provide you with vouchers for selected restaurants. We preferred to eat at Kona Village since the food and scenery could not be beaten and we had quickly fallen in love with the employees, but at the same time it was nice to be able to experience some restaurants in Hawaii.

Oddly, I have some sort of disorder where I cannot for the life of me sleep while I'm on vacation! While we were in Hawaii, I was ready and rearing to go by 5h a.m. which means that I was easily wide awake by 4h. I'ts like my body is pumped so full with adrenaline it doesn't want to waste a moment sleeping. Of course I was not going to wake my husband and force him to start having fun so early in the morning. Luckily hot coffee and pastries were prepared and laid out for the early risers. I would grab a cup of coffee and a little treat and sit on the very quiet beach or just leisurely walk around the village. I am always looking for places that would be 'a great place to drink your morning coffee'...clearly sitting on the warm beach in Hawaii watching the waves roll over the sea turtles on the beach is at the very top of the list and I did not take a moment it for granted!

We were always the first to arrive to breakfast which awarded us the best seat in the house...or outside rather. We could chose from the buffet or we could order anything we wanted. I always went with the buffet. I'd get one plate just filled with fresh fruit and then one with eggs and bacon-bacon like I've never had in my life, thick and tasty...then I'd dip it in coconut syrup! On our table was our own coffee pot which was hugged in a Hawaiian floral print fabric. I could have sat there all day drinking coffee, staring at the ocean and listening the peculiar call of the franklins...the goofy little while birds walking around.

This was our view from our table every morning at breakfast.

For lunch there were several options that we took advantage of since we wanted to try out everything. Once or twice we ate at the 'Talk Story' hale (a bar type hut at the Village)-while also enjoying our afternoon mai thais. We preferred this location because while the food and drink were terrific, we also had the pleasure of being entertained by the bartender Chad.

That's the Hale Talk Story behind Joel.

On two occasions we used the lunch vouchers given to us by the resort when we were out seeing the island. The first restaurant was a mile outside of Volcano National Park. The restaurant called Kilauea Lodge did not wow me in ambiance but it was on a volcano which was good enough for me. In my opinion, doing anything on a volcano is totally noteworthy. Another time we ate at this very 'Hawaiian' restaurant called Huggos on the Rocks-and it was ON the water. I loved this relaxed atmosphere, the servers were bare footed, wore their bathing suits and definitely exuded the 'Aloha spirit'.

Just a stunning painting inside the bathroom at Huggos on the Rocks....no biggie.

It was fun to experience these other restaurants but our favorite, as far as the food itself was concerned, was the buffet style lunch on the Village grounds. I have to be honest I am not typically a fan of any sort of buffet....but a Kona Village-it's not a buffet, it's a work of art and an experience rolled into one. Their version of a 'buffet' is one of which every buffet in the world should be modeled after, for theirs includes fresh crab and just picked coconut. I loved the idea of having sliced coconut every day with my lunch and ate as much coconut as I get my hands on while I was there. Not to mention, the very lovely way in which this buffet style meal was prepared adorned with fresh orchids made my heart swoon. As a floral designer I can assure you that it is quite a luxury to decorate your food with one of the most exquisite and expensive flowers in the world....and on a daily basis no less!

Location of the buffet style lunch.

There was also several dinner options, 2 nights were dedicated to the pig roasts with luaus following. Again, the food was out of this world! The buffet was long and offered all sorts of different dishes including a whole table of traditional Hawaiian dishes. My wooden platter was more than full by the time I reached the pig servings but I ended up with a heap of meat that somehow managed to stay on the plate on the walk back to our table. The pork and crab were delicious but forget all that...there was some sort of macaroni salad that was so tasty that I went back more than once for a refill! And then Joel got me some another time.

The pig roast.

Then one evening they held a paniolo night was right held on the lawn in front of the ocean. After we ate dinner that evening we got to see manta rays swimming around the rocks on the shore.

A manta ray.

We only ate at the more quiet/romantic Hale Samoa once, it was wonderful...however unfortunately that night I was stupidly wearing a pair of linen pants that were a littttttle too tight. So I ate quickly and lite because I eager to get out of my bottoms!

These were the frightfully tight pants that did not allow me to enjoy my dinner! Since I've lost so much weight this same pair of pants was actually so big this summer that I ended up just donating them. I completely missed the window where these actually fit! I'm not complaining....I could have worse problems than my pants being too tight while we were at our luxury resort in Hawaii and that I've lost about 25 pounds since then so now they're too loose....yes, I could have problems that were much much worse.

The other two evenings we ate at the same Hale Moana (restaurant on the Village grounds) where we had breakfast each morning. I have had 5 savory meals in my life that are totally UNFORGETTABLE-this is where I had one of them-duck, with a shrimp appetizer. We loved this Hale not only because of the insanely yummy food but the view was-perfect.