Today is my mom’s birthday. We came to celebrate. Helaine made the plans from Connecticut, but everything was kept hush-hush.
This afternoon at 4:00, we headed south to Ft. Lauderdale for 5:00 PM reservations at Mai Kai.
What’s a Polynesian restaurant doing in Ft. Lauderdale? I don’t have a clue. Yet Mai Kai has been here for over 50 years. I’m not sure much of what’s there has changed in that time.
The doors opened at 5:00 and we walked in. It was dark… really dark. Quickly, a conversation sprung up at our table questioning whether we really wanted to see the place with the lights up!
Our waiter came, bringing a four page drink menu for each of us. If it sounded South Pacificy and was rum based, it was there. I hate to sound like a wuss (and I will), but I had some sort of frozen fruit melange which Steffie and Helaine both agreed was very tasty.
Next we ordered dinner. Mine was a seafood noodle dish which was pretty good.
The service was attentive and complete. I do hate being asked whether I want bottled or tap water. Tap – the answer is tap water. Can you just pass the word around for me.
We finished our dinner, walked around the tropical gardens (again, all the accouterments seemed like they were installed when the place first opened), then headed back for the Polynesian revue.
Recently, in light of Britney Spears bare midriff performance, a new sensitivity has sprung up around who can and cannot expose their middle in public. Tonight we found one performer who hadn’t heard.
Mostly, the show was pleasantly tacky, with a monotone emcee, four musicians and five dancers. It was what you might expect for a Polynesian show in Ft. Lauderdale.
Seriously though, the show didn’t matter. All that was important was, we were here for my mom’s birthday and we had a good time.
Mission accomplished.