Fine dining?

Hello and Happy Easter from the day before last day for us on Big Island Hawaii. Thinking we should have a trial run at packing our suitcases today.  We both bought new carryon cases here!  This seems to be my normal practice so I was very happy to see my partner in crime, Barb doing the same thing!!  Actually, Barb had bought hers first, and has already done her trial run and hopes everything is going to fit!  I also bought a gorgeous Hawaii pattern backpack so it's my just-in-case bag!

Tonight we are going out for dinner again, with real dishes and cutlery!  Such a disappointment last evening.  We had made reservations at Sam Choys and arrived promptly expecting it to be what we enjoyed in past visits.  Gee!  Not many people so far…..oh but the view up there is gorgeous looking over Keahou Bay below. And the sunsets phenomenal.  We were told sit wherever you wish.  Awesome, and we ordered a couple of pina coladas, virgin ones which were so fantastically delicious.  

The menu has shrunk and the offerings are not what I recalled.  The waiter, an older man, brought us napkins and cutlery.  Cutlery with no weight behind it!!   What?  Unravelling it from the napkin we discovered silver plastic cutlery. 😳. Ok, well…Barb and I looked at each other, and because the island has been so hard hit after the pandemic, tourism almost zero, we thought perhaps they've had to regroup and downsize.  I said to Barb, jokingly, if the food comes out on paper plates, we will know!  

😱😱😱😱😱 this can't be Sam Choys!!  What the heck has happened?  Did Sam pass away?  Did he leave the restaurant? Did he sell?  Where is all the good stuff?  I generally check reviews before I try restaurants, but heck I'd been here several times in the past…..I noticed on-line that it was closing in March, but they must have changed their minds?  It's April and still open.  Not many diners either.  I must consider how to kindly word a review.

We noticed Key Lime Pie on the menu…..previously, when we ate at the upper level restaurant across from Kona pier we had key lime pie.  For $10 it turned out to be a tart sort of dessert.  And not in flavour, size. 🫢. Well……let me tell you, the key lime we were served almost made up for the paper plates and plastic cutlery…..see below!  

 Key lime pie a la paper plate!  Damn it was good though.  I was miss piggy and ate most of mine, Barb at least had the good sense to bring half of hers home in a paper container.

As mentioned earlier,  the view from the restaurant is second to none!  I snapped a series of photos as the sun was setting, which anyone who is familiar with the tropics knows happens very quickly!

M

Now it's time to have a 'go' at the suitcases…..our flight tomorrow night leaves late, a red eye trip, arriving in to Vancouver in the morning.  But….because west jet only has two flights daily coming to the island….Vancouver island that is, ours isn't until 7 ish at night.  Given my gimped right hand and trying to manoeuvre luggage if we decided to ferry it over, we will wait.  There are all manner of shops, restaurants, bars, cell phone and iPad plug in places in the airport and besides, we have cards!  I'm starting to think that my luck is as gimped as my hand!  Barb even has to shuffle cards for me!  At least I can manage to pull up my own undies!!!  See, there is always a ray of sunshine somewhere.  Maybe we should check into the Maple Leaf lounge for the day!!!  Cheers all, maybe one more post tomorrow!