Imu Barbecue

Every time Jeff and I ride the elevator at the hotel we see an advertisement for an authentic Hawaiian style dinner every Saturday night down near the beach at the hotel. The pictures looked fun and we were definitely curious to see the Malaysian take on a Hawaiian tradition. Because Jeff was working such long hours we never had the chance to attend, but the crew recently started working shorter shifts, so Jeff and I made reservations for last night.

The formal name of the dinner is the "Banana Plantation Imu Barbecue." We didn't know what imu meant, but a quick trip to Wikipedia informed us that an imu is an underground oven traditionally used by Hawaiians to cook a pig (based on the pictures that's what we figured, but we wanted to make sure). We were curious as what would be prepared in the imu since Malaysia is a Muslim country and since Muslims do not eat pig.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best last night, so the hotel had to move the party into the restaurant where we eat breakfast every morning. Despite the change in scenery, there was still a festive atmosphere. We were greeted by a yummy tropical fruit juice drink and started to make our way through the massive buffet. The hotel did a pretty good job preparing food you would expect to see at a luau (although of course there were also a few traditional Malaysian dishes just in case you forgot where you are!). The focal point of the whole meal however was the meat prepared in the imu. In lieu of pig, they roasted a leg of lamb, and it was delicious! Of course the night wouldn't be complete without a stop by the very large dessert section. I don't know if it was an homage to American culture or just a coincidence, but there were more desserts there than I have seen the whole time we have been here! I was in a sugar lover's paradise! All in all, we had a really good night and for a moment there it almost felt like we were back in the US at a Hawaiian luau.