Dining Review: ‘Olelo Room Bar and Lounge - Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa (Oahu, Hawaii)

March 2021

Dining Review: ‘Olelo Room Bar and Lounge – Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa (Oahu, Hawaii)

Aulani has several restaurants on property and the ‘Olelo Room is the more upscale bar area – and I say upscale as compared to the pool bar by comparison. ‘Olelo in Hawaiian means “word’ or “to converse” and the interior portrays this in a really fun way.

Since we snacked most of the day, we were not particularly hungry but know we needed something small before we settled in for the night. We decided to try to ‘Olelo Room which was a bar space open to the outside and musical performers each evening. We adored the interior of the bar space – it is wood carvings of the alphabet and common words in Hawaiian so this kept us entertained for our entire meal.

Like dinner the night before at Makahiki, the space was a shared indoor open to outdoor space and we were seated at the edge of both so we got the best of both worlds. There is also live music which was a huge plus – we so enjoy hearing those Hawaiian tunes.

Kevin ordered the Kua’aina Tacos – vegan tacos of red quinoa, plant based protein, black beans, local sweet corn, avocado, fire roasted salsa, and corn tortilla. He still talks about these tacos!

I ordered the BLT Hand Roll (Temaki style) – house cured pork belly, Kula mixed greens, vine ripe tomatoes, and Kewpie mayo. This came out not looking like I expected and I loved it! I wish I could have tried all the hand roll offerings cause this was so yummy.

We also each had a piece of the Pork Belly Nigiri – house cured pork belly, maple glaze, and fried garlic which we both really enjoyed. We ate this up so fast I forgot to get a photo!

I almost wished we were more hungry to have tried more dishes as we both loved the few things we ordered. Heck I had more flavor here than my dishes at Makahiki. We did not order drinks from here so I cannot speak to the bar area. Overall, very fun spot, loved the atmosphere and music, service was great, and cast members were all awesome.