I'm going to guess then that you got all of those to go at OTH? We were just there last month, and unless they changed things all of our sit down meals at OTH came on regular plates, glasses, metal utensils. Only when we got them to go did they come in boxes and plastic utensils and cups. Even poolside came on regular plates. My observation with anything to go at OTH is the food is better when eaten there.
Character Meal Breakfast at makaheiki is not Goofy’s kitchen or whatever they have in Florida. Yes the characters come around and you can interact, or just wave and say hello, bypass Mickey and Goofy if you don't want a photo op. We often do breakfast there at least twice, and usually bypass Mickey and Goofy the 2nd time around. The food portions though are huge, often leaving us with left overs for dinner. The Kalua pork omelet is packed with pork as well. Spam Musubi can be found occasionally at Ulus. Oddly enough we found the fish and chips at the snack shack horrible. Maybe it was the catch of the day they were using, but they were dense and dry....one of the few disappointments (well, and the shave ice, found better off site)
I think it’s also important to remember that Aulani is a family resort, and their menu is also going to reflect that. It’s also very pricey cause it’s Disney! It’s definitely in line with dining at DLR.
They aren't competting with Hawaiian Drive Inn or L&L though. If you want a plate lunch go across the street to ABC or Zippys. We found Longhis over at the Marriot was about the same as Aulani food wise. The eggs benedicts were better, but they really didn't outshine Aulani on comparable dishes, and there were less Hawaiian elements there than at Aulani! Same with Four Seasons. Great food, good fish, but no fried rice or coconut rice anywhere, Portuguese sausage or Kalua pork to be found at either...so maybe they're also not up to par for Ko Alina dining.
Monkeypod was great, but the Mexican place over there just ok, maybe it's good for hawaii, but with the plethora of mexican food places around us in Nor Cal, it's hard to beat those.
Want good local food, talk to the staff. We inquired about several places offsite and they gave a number the thumbs down....."Haole food" (they didn't say that to me, but did tell my local in-law relatives). Want some great Oxtail soup? There's a little hole in the wall place over in Pearl Ridge. Don Quijote over in Honolulu has a number of good local eateries inside.
