Big island tacos

At the Polynesian’s casual dining restaurant, Kona Café, lunch offers a variety of options blending the cuisines of Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific. One such option that blends a variety of flavors and textures are the Big Island Tacos, which comes in two forms the Fish Taco and the Barbeque Pork Taco. Fish tacos may seem to be the obvious choice, but the fact that the Polynesian islands also do pork as well as anyone, I couldn’t help but give the barbeque tacos a try!

The Barbeque Pork Tacos are listed as “Pulled Pork Slow-cooked in House-made Barbeque Sauce with Tomato Salsa and Jalapeno-Lime Sour Cream.” The tacos, a serving features a pair of the tacos, are served in a house-made shell with pasta salad and smokey bacon slaw.

Let’s start with those shells. These aren’t your typical corn or flour tortilla, in fact they couldn’t even be classified as crunchy or soft tacos. The shells are a type of fry bread that is chewy and sweet, and is served warm so there is no noticeable temperature shift between the exterior and interior of the tacos.

Moving to the main components of the taco, the meat is tender to the point of falling apart. The sauce the pork has been stewed in is fruity and sweet, which pairs well with the fry bread. The salsa is fresh, but nothing that stands out, and the greens are spiny and crunchy, adding a texture that is not often seen or tasted in Walt Disney World.

Between the tomatoes, pork, sauce, and shell, there is so much sweetness happening here that you would think a better name for the Barbeque Pork Tacos would be candied tacos. However, the Jalapeno-Lime Sour Cream that you’ve forgotten about until now, packs a nice kick that builds the more you devour the tacos. And believe me, you will devour the tacos!

The sides are good, but not great. The slaw is a different mixture than you would normally expect with barbeque or tacos. What I looked forward to most though was the bacon, of which I could find none and not even a hint of bacon flavor in the rest of the slaw. The pasta salad was utilitarian, but I appreciated the crunch of the vegetables diced up and mixed in with the creamy soft pasta.

In spite of the fact that the sides aren’t as top quality as the main dish, these tacos are delicious. They are so good, in fact, that you will forget about the sides and only have eyes for the Barbeque Pork Tacos.