Food Snobs in Maui

I don't think anyone goes to Maui thinking that they will have the best culinary experience of their life.  One goes to Maui for the weather, beaches, and to relax.  However, because it is Hawaii, the human pack members immediately had high expectations, food-wise.  I mean they have fresh fish at their door steps, and how hard is to make fresh fish taste good?  Sadly, the food in general is not that great.  But we did find a couple of spots that we would recommend.  Below are pack member Andrew's reviews. 

Restaurants we recommend: 

1. Da Kitchen

We were told Da Kitchen has some of the best authentic Hawaiian food in Hawaii.  That excited us, but also made us ask, "what is authentic Hawaiian food?" 

We learned Hawaiian food consists of meat or fish that is either fried or lathered with some kind of sauce (or both), placed on top of rice or sometimes mashed potatoes, accompanied by macaroni salad, and served in a styrofoam take-out plate (even if you don't take out).   

We usually aren't fans of heavy food like this, but we both thought Da was great.  The food tastes wonderful and is comforting.  It's heavy, but not in a gross way.  It's worth the calories to take a visit during a Hawaii trip. 

{Natalia's Mahi Mahi with garlic mashed potatoes - left; Andrew's Korean friend chicken and rice - right}

2. Fabiani's Pizza & Bakery

Natalia wanted to go to the beach but I had just finished golfing and wanted a bite to eat first.  First-world problems.  Anyway, we used a first-world solution--yelp--to see what was on the way to the beach and came across Fabiani's.  It was a good find.

We got there right at happy hour, which meant half-off pizza and a dollar off beer and wine.  The pizza was really good.  The crust was thin and crunchy, and the ingredients were simple but tasty.  It went great with the Hawaiian IPA on tap that I ordered (can't remember the name though).

 {Lorenzo's Pizza - fresh mozzarella, mushrooms, prosciutto, fresh arugula, white truffle oil}

Fabiani's also makes its own deserts, so we tried one--a lillikoi roulade.  Lillikoi is a type of passionfruit.  Oh man, this was a great desert.  It was creamy, light, and not overly sweet and had this marshmallow-merengue thing on top that was awesome too.

{Lillikoi roulade}

Restaurants we do not recommend: 
1. Okazuya & Deli Honokowai

Yelp let us down on this place.  Whoever gave Okazuya 4 stars must have been really really really hungry.  It's a Hawaiian food joint, like Da Kitchen, but the food was pretty lousy.  Natalia ordered Ono and it had to be the toughest piece of fish I have ever eaten, and the lemon caper sauce it came with was gooey and salty and overpowered the fish completely.  I got a fried fish sandwich that was missing an ingredient I sometimes refer to as "flavor."

{Natalia's lemon caper ono - left;  Andrew's mahi mahi sandwich and macaroni salad - right.}

2.  Mama's Fish House

Mama's is a Maui staple.  It's the place you plan to have your one nice dinner at when you're in Maui.  The food is pretty good too.  The cocktails, made from fresh local juices (guava, passion fruit, etc...) are also a treat.

So why don't we recommend it?  The price.  We got two appetizers (octopus and pink snapper ceviche) that were pretty good.  But the portions were tiny, and each dish was 20 bucks a piece

That's nothing compared to our entrees, which were about 50 dollars each.  That's crazy.  My fish (opa with carmelized onions and tomoatoes) was decent, but not worth 50 dollars.  I'd think it was overpriced at 30 dollars.  Natalia's pink snapper was fresh and delicate, but disappointingly bland. 

We'd go back to mama's for a few cocktails at the bar and maybe an appetizer or two.  But for a full dinner, it's just not worth it.

{Grilled local Maui he'e (octopus)}

{Opakapaka ceviche - tahitian line, chili pepper, kaffir lime leaf, cilantro, mango}

{Andrew's opah with caramelized Maui onion, haiky tomato, and forbidden black rice cake}

{Natalia's opakapaka (pink snapper) sauteed with hamakua mashrooms, garlic butter, white wine, capers}

3. Cuatro 

Cuatro disappointed us so much that we didn't bother to take pictures of the food.  So I'll tell you a little bit about it.  We got a fried calamari appetizer.  The batter had no flavor and the squid was chewy.  Fail.  We each got fish for an entree.  Mine was "roasted Riviera style" and Natalia's was "Mediterranean" flavor.  I wanted to point out to the server that "Riviera" and "Mediterranean" could be the same place.  But I was not in a smart-ass mood so I didn't.  Anyway, the fish was ok, but it tasted like something I'd cook at home if I was in a rush.  Not bad, but nothing special. 

{Natalia outside of Cuatro.  That lonely table outside was ours.  Which we were perfectly happy with because there were a bunch of brats kids eating inside and probably acting obnoxious}  

Thanks for visiting!