A Fantasyland of Culinary Riches

Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki may be renowned for many things — having its own 27-hole golf course, for example — but one of the best is its unparalleled all-you-can-eat seafood buffet. The hotel offers a wide variety of restaurant offerings, including a lobby lounge, Japanese restaurant and poolside snack bar. Its third-story restaurant Prince Court is its own particular heaven for buffet lovers, with full-scale, endless offerings for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The crown jewel of Prince Court’s restaurant service is the seafood buffet, featuring a dazzlingly diverse array of dishes for the grazing.

By popular demand, Prince Court’s seafood buffet now is available six nights a week. The buffet is priced at $52 per person, which buys you an all-access pass to innumerable culinary delights, including three different types of crab, sashimi, poke, half shell mussels, lomi lomi salmon, clams and baked oysters, as well as a sushi bar with salmon, ika and ahi nigiri, maki rolls and made-to-order temaki (hand rolls). Prepared seafood dishes include karaage calamari and poached mahi mahi with bay shrimp and lobster sauce.

For those who wish to venture beyond the sea, there are hot entrees derived from various international culinary roots. A soba station, salad bar and prime rib with au jus round out the offerings. If you’ve managed to keep your second stomach empty for dessert, the temptations include a Christmas Yule Log and Chocolate Macadamia Nut Pie. (FYI: It’s advisable to pay a visit to the buffet when there are no pressing responsibilities to follow, because this sort of adventure ride may require serious rest afterward.) There’s no need to worry about food going to waste, either, as Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki donates its leftover food to Aloha Harvest to be redistributed to the needy.

Experiencing this culinary marathon takes planning, as reservations are required — the restaurant can fill up weeks in advance. Another can’t-miss buffet extravaganza is Saturday’s Hawaiian lunch buffet, which features an array of dressed up traditional dishes, including a saimin station, lomi lomi salmon, kalua pig and more.

As if its buffet offerings weren’t extensive enough, Prince Court recently introduced a new line of a la carte, signature breakfast dishes. For those who know what they want — and have the discipline to restrain themselves to one dish — the new breakfast items are a must. Stuffed French Toast with Mango Cream Cheese and Raspberry Sauce ($18) features perfectly crisp-fried sweetbread smothered in fruit glaze with a rich fruit cream filling — the jelly doughnut definitely has grown up. For a unique take on a signature local dish, the restaurant presents Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf Loco Moco ($22) with two eggs atop a thick slice of bacon-wrapped meatloaf, with savory Hamakua mushroom sauce dripping over fresh rice. Last but not least, is Kalua Pork Benedict ($19) with poached eggs and savory pork all piled on a lavender-colored taro English muffin. The tangy barbecue sauce offers a hint of sweetness and a delightful contrast against the moist, salty pork.

At Prince Court in Hawaii Prince Hotel, there’s something to please everyone. In this fantasyland of culinary riches, it’s simply impossible to go wrong.

Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki

100 Holomoana St.
Reservations at Bird of Paradise: 952-4784

Prince Court (third floor)

Reservations at Prince Court: 944-4494
Breakfast: Daily, 6-10:30 a.m.
Brunch: Sunday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Lunch: Monday-Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
Dinner: Monday-Thursday, 6-9:30 p.m.
Seafood Buffet: Friday-Sunday, 5:30-9:30 p.m.

Hakone (third floor)

Reservations at Hakone: 944-4494
Dinner: Wednesday-Thursday, 5-9 p.m. Friday-Sunday, 5-9:30 p.m.
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