During our last visit to Maui (which sounds like we visit Maui all the time doesn't it - I wish), we checked out a number of restaurants, because well, we like to eat. We're strange that way. Like Kauai, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality overall of the restaurants we sampled. First and foremost, we didn't have anything that was truly awful. Oh, there was an occasional mediocre, one or two so-so's and perhaps a couple of meh's. On the other hand we had several meals that ranged from pretty decent to awfully damn good. I don't think we managed to find a meal that achieved perfectly astounding, but then it is an island paradise, it would be unfair for them to have that and spectacular restaurants also.
We did try a couple of new experiences like for instance, dining at a country club. Two, actually. The area we were staying in Maui is absolutely overrun with golf courses, kind of like an infestation. Not being fans of the game, or even remotely interested in it, we find golf courses somewhat bemusing, but since we're not paying for them, what they hey. I do like the funny loud checked pants that appear to be de rigueur on the course though, but Mary refuses to let me get any unless I take up golf too, but that's more trouble than it's worth. So without any attachment to the noble game of smacking little balls with sticks, we have not experienced the pleasures of hanging out at country clubs or the restaurants they contain.
The first country club restaurant we tried, Plantation House delivered a decent though not terribly interesting dinner. We decided to give it another try for breakfast one morning and we're glad we did. It wasn't noticeable the evening we dined, it being dark and all, but to out surprise there was a view. Said view encompassed the golf course sloping to the coast, beyond which was the channel between Maui and Molokai conveniently filled with whales breaching in the morning sun, and the mysterious island fastness of Molokai in the distance. We'd definitely go again for breakfast but we found better places to for dinner.
At the other country club venue we tried, the dinner was distinctly more successful. The Pineapple Grill has no real view, so they had to work harder on the food. Here and throughout Maui, seafood is really the way to go. It's fresh and well, not really all that cheap, but it's fresh. We found that there was an unfortunate tendency to dress the fishies with various coatings like macadamia nuts or pistachios but we were also always able to find something with less external accoutrements and light sauces to make us happy campers.
While staying at the Ritz Carlton in Kapalua we tried pretty much every restaurant the place had to offer except the Banyan Tree, the high end dining venue. Kai Sushi which interestingly enough served sushi, was not too bad, though not as good as the sushi we had in Kauai. The beachfront outdoor café, called the Beach House (restaurant naming policies at the Ritz are not what you'd call adventurous), was really quite good although the menu is limited. The view and overall ambiance was hard to beat. Casual bar/snack/light meals were tendered in the Alaloa Lounge and it was the place to get a fairly average burger. We have no idea what the breakfast restaurant, the Terrace, was like. Most mornings we had a light bite in our room, using the kitchenette. The two or three times we decided to go and get some eggs or other foodstuff that required a stove to prepare, we encountered astounding crowds waiting for the Terrace. We were a bit startled each time since the resort wasn't exactly bursting at the seams with guests. Just bad timing or something. Or maybe the food was so awesome that people came from miles around to try it. Anything's possible.
One night we tried a highly recommended restaurant immediately adjacent to the resort named Sansei. On a weeknight, the wait was over an hour and the noise level in the restaurant approached Kiss concert type levels, so we bailed. Searching through the night, looking for a crumb of subsistence, we found Roy's Kahana. And a mighty good find it was too. Roy's is a chain, with locations around the world now, but the place we sampled in Maui was surprisingly good. One of the better meals we had during our time on the island.
Our one real white table cloth experience was the last night in Maui where we dined at the Lahaina Grill which is located in the historic Lahaina Inn in the middle of historic downtown Lahaina. At least it's easy to remember. The restaurant itself was very attractive and filled with lots of people drinking a lot of wine and speaking in loud voices. To be honest, the pressed tin ceilings, while attractive, aren't the best choice for sound absorption. Everything we tried and we tried a lot since there was a tasting menu was pretty good.
On one of excursions to other parts of the island that were not the west side, we sampled Mama's Fish House, a place that came highly recommended, in virtually every guide you peruse. And it was worth the drive. We had wonderful lunch there on a beautiful breezy day. The restaurant is a massive sprawling place on the North Shore, overlooking a beach framed with coconut palms. The food was horrifically expensive but just about worth it.
Another stop on the day we decided to brave the white knuckle drive up and back down the big volcano was the Haili'imaile General Store. It's out of the way of pretty much everything but busy nonetheless. We were fortunate to arrive for a late lunch and score a table without much of a wait. The food was very nice as was the building itself, that probably started life as something completely different from it's current function. No view, but I guess it's churlish to demand it everywhere on Maui.
On the more casual side we tried some island tacos at Maui Tacos. Nice, nothing all that outstanding but then again we spent a lot of time in San Diego so you really have to excel to charge up our jaded taco taste buds. I finally had a chance to try a banh mi sandwich at a little place in a food court in what stands in for a mall in Maui. Granted, the sandwich probably wasn't up to the exacting standards of the real aficionados since it's not located in Orange County in Southern California. Still I liked it - enough that I'll seek out some of the temples of this venerated sandwich next time I'm on the West Coast.
One really nice place we found was Lahaina Farms at the Lahaina Gateway Center in Lahaina (really, people responsible for naming stuff in Maui need to get out a little more) which was very similar, in miniaturized form, of Whole Foods. If you're staying in a condo with a kitchen this is the place to go for some organic produce as well as some more esoteric groceries. We liked it a lot. It's also across the street from the shopping center with the Safeway so you can load up on all your groceries in one trip.
Another shout out to Lappert's Ice Cream. I resisted manfully Mary's tearful imprecations that we needed to go and get some pretty much every day, but I did break down a few times. It's pretty much the most awesome stuff I've ever had. When it comes to ice cream, Mary could, if she wanted, gain renown as a world class authority on the subject and she says Lappert's is 'teh awesome'.
Overall, we liked our dining excursions on the Maui. It was also nice to have our own kitchen so we could rustle something together from fresh local ingredients, on occasion. As we've seen in our other trip to the islands there does seem to be a few idiosyncrasies in island fare like the attempt to add macadamias or pineapples, or macadamias and pineapples to pretty much everything. We also avoided, this time, any attempts to sample plate lunch cuisine since we're trying to limit starches to only one course per meal. But when you get to a place that's really working hard to serve nice fresh fish cooked just right - well, it's part of the reason they call it an island paradise.
