Sunday, June 09, 2013

Maui Eats

Mama's Fish House
799 Poho Pl
Paia, HI

The fish menu at Mama's Fish House changes daily and they strive on providing fresh seafood. It's a popular place and highly rated, and we weren't able to get reservations for the day we wanted to go. However, they do have some tables set aside for walk-ins, so that's what we tried to do. We got there fairly early for dinner (about 5:30 PM on a Wednesday) and at the mandatory valet parking area, we were told that the wait would be up to 45 minutes. Upon checking in with the restaurant hostess, however, we got seated immediately. The restaurant space is expansive, with an ocean side view.

ocean.side.view

mama's.fish.house

I ordered a glass of refreshing riesling ($12) and Andrew had the mango fruit colada ($15) - his drink was amazing and I ended up drinking most of it!

mango.fruit.colada

We started off with lobster guacamole ($20), which may very well be the best guacamole we've ever had. The avocados were creamy and incredibly fresh tasting. The guacamole was served with taro and yam chips.

lobster.guacamole

We both chose mahi mahi for our entrees; mine was stuffed with lobster and crab, encrusted with macadamia nuts, and baked ($52). According to the menu, my fish was caught by Mike Holley along the north shore of Maui, close to Hana. The mahi mahi was cooked to perfection. The restaurant also provides complimentary poi upon request, so I decided to give it another try. It was very bland, as expected. I can handle it in small amounts, but couldn't eat it on a daily basis.

mahi.mahi.and.poi

Andrew's entree was a combination of mahi mahi and ahi tuna in a panang curry ($46). It came with an interesting set of 4 Chinese spoons consisting of crushed macadamia nuts, chili sauce, sliced bananas, and mango chutney.

mahi.mahi.ahi.curry

For dessert, I let Andrew make the selection. He chose the Hana banana macadamia nut tart topped with a scoop of Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream ($14). I found this to be the weakest part of the meal, but only because I'm not really a tart/pie person. Andrew was more than pleased with it.

hana.banana.macadamia.nut.crisp

I was very impressed by our dining experience at Mama's Fish House. The service was fantastic and efficient, and the food was stellar. Though the prices are on the higher end, I thought that the atmosphere, quality of service and food made it worthwhile. If you visit Maui, plan to make this your special meal out for your trip!

5/5

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1279 S Kihei Rd
Kihei, HI

We went to Coconut’s Fish Cafe based on a Google+ Local search. It was pretty good, but we ended up ordering way too much food! We started off with the Caesar salad ($7.95) and a cup of the seafood chowder ($4.99). The seafood chowder was very tasty with a creamy base, ono, mahi mahi, and clams. We ordered one entree each, but in hindsight, we should have just shared one. I chose the fish tacos topped with mango salsa ($11.95). Each order of tacos comes with 2 (which doesn't sound like a lot, but they were heavy on the toppings). Andrew chose the catch of the day ($11.95) - grilled fish over brown rice. He was given a list of fish with very foreign sounding names to choose from, and he selected the opakapaka.

caesar.salad.and.seafood.chowder

fish.taco.and.grilled.opakapaka

We were very pleased with our selections, but couldn't get through eating it all. We tried our best to finish as much as we could, but we ended up having to take the Caesar salad to go. Luckily our hotel had a fridge!

coconut's.fish.cafe

Coconut’s Fish Cafe is fairly small, so they encourage sharing of the surfboard-shaped tables. We sat next to another couple and ended up having a long chat with them. Josh and Abby were from Spokane had just gotten married a few days before on the Big Island and were visiting the rest of the islands. They were going to be in Kauai at the same time as us so they gave use their contact info to meet up with them there, which is what Andrew did as I had to end my vacation earlier due to work conflicts.

4/5

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Costco
540 Haleakala Highway
Kahului, HI

I love Costco, and I had not visited one outside of Canada. Since our hotel was close by, we knew we had to go and check it out! They had a bunch of items unique to Hawaii for sale. We bought some taro and yam chips, macadamia nuts/chocolates for gifts, seaweed salad, and ahi poke. One thing I really wanted to buy was a pineapple. They were fragrant and giant, and only $2.99 each! Sadly, there was no kitchen in our hotel room so that idea went down the drain.

Since we often make a stop at the cafeteria during our Costco visits, we had to see what this one had to offer. We ordered the chicken bake with chicken, bacon, Caesar dressing, and cheese ($2.99) and a berry smoothie ($1.45).

costco.cafeteria

The ahi poke came from a deli counter section inside the store, and it was available in several varieties, both with and without rice. We picked up a small container to eat with our cafeteria findings. We noticed that in this Costco cafeteria, there were ample service lines and a vast eating area - quite a bit larger than the Costcos we're use to in Edmonton. We were also amazed at the low prices here. We did notice that they didn't have fries or poutine on their menu though. Overall, it was fun to check out a different Costco and to sample some of their other menu items!

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Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice
Locations in Lahaina, Kihei, and Kahului

My only experience thus far was from Dream Tea House in Edmonton. I loved it there due to the crunchy ice topped with things like condensed milk, grass jelly, flavored syrups, and red bean. I was told by many people that the best shave ice in Maui comes from Ululani's. Taking their advice, we went. We chose cherry, mango, and coconut milk-flavored syrups for our toppings. We chose to have it pure without any additional toppings (like macadamia nuts, shredded coconut, or tapioca pearls) for our first experience.

ululani's.in.kahului

This shave ice was very fine and snow-like. It reminded me of a snow cone, but much more delicate. While Andrew was pleased with the fine texture, I prefer larger chunks of ice as I enjoy crunching down on ice between my teeth! But I think I'm the oddball, so if you're looking for a sweet treat to cool down, give Ululani's shave ice a try!

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