Yet another trip to Maui where we ate amazingly well.
Perhaps the best meals we’ve ever had on the island after nearly a dozen trips with Merriman’s, Lineage, Koast, food trucks, and poke shops all in the mix.
KAHULUI
Aunty Lia’s - They didn’t seem to be at the Saturday Swap Meet this time around. Truly hope they have not closed. It’s often hard to tell with these small businesses that don’t have much of an online presence.
Faithful Grinds - Finally got a chance to grab their squid luau which is only served on Fridays (and not every week). Yes! Served with white rice and mac salad and some lomi lomi salmon on the side. Husband got the kalua pork plate. Wonderful people working there and delicious local-style food. We got takeout, as all the tables were full. Definitely check their IG for their specials every morning! I love how they just take a pic of their white board. Plan ahead if you want to visit them!
Maui Nord Farm - They were offering free samples of their banana breads at the Swap Meet. The standard banana bread flavor was tasty. The lilikoi was also good but they use both lilikoi and banana in their recipe, whereas I prefer Aunty Lia’s, which has much more lilikoi flavor and leaves the seeds in.
Maui Oma Coffee - Got our usual: a bag of Haleakala Sunrise (ground) and some Jaws to give to friends. Really nice folks there.
Oki’s Seafood (inside of Foodland) - When people say Foodland has good poke on Maui, I truly hope that they are talking about this specific spot, which is run as a separate business inside of the grocery store. Really wonderful poke with many varieties you won’t see elsewhere like bluefin tuna or ogo shoyu or lipoa or aku. The fresh poke here will run you $23.99/lb and up. Not cheap but the quality is worth it. Definitely holds up from previous trips. Wish we could have gone more than once this trip.
Tin Roof - A ritual after picking up the rental car. Mochiko chicken was delightful as usual. Since it was a Friday, my husband got the special of the day, a pork belly and shoyu chicken plate lunch. Very well done and I really enjoy TR’s mac salad (which isn’t always the case when I’m on island). Delightful. I wished we could have had more than one meal here!
KAPALUA
Merriman’s - If you’re going to drive from South Maui to West Maui to eat at one place… make it Merriman’s. High quality food, drinks, service, and views to spare.
Our server Brandy was amazing and steered me towards that night’s special of perfectly cooked, tender ono served with a pork siu mai on the side and seared local bok choy and ali’i (king oyster) mushrooms in a spicy butter sauce. The kalua pork and sweet onion quesadilla appetizer, served with kimchi, was my husband’s favorite dish of the night. He declared he could have eaten two or three more of them, washed down with a very tasty 1944 original recipe Mai Tai. He unfortunately had to make do with his entree of harissa-spiced clams and scallops, served with gnocchi, za’atar roasted zucchini, and fresh segments of citrus, which was delightful.
The lilikoi pot de creme was also a dessert to remember: a wonderful fruit relish and Tahitian vanilla bean whipped cream, with white chocolate crumble on the side. Probably the best dessert of the whole trip.
We savored the tropical flavors, lingering at our table as we wrapped up dessert, just as the staff came around and raised all the awnings around the open air restaurant, literally just in time for the sun to set; and, off to the side, I noticed a small wedding was happening on the beach adjacent to the venue. Just. Beautiful. Looking forward to coming back here again (and again). My husband doesn’t want to go to Mama’s Fish House as our fancy Maui splurge any more, by the way. He only wants to do Merriman’s!
KIHEI
Aloha Prime Eatery - A food truck with a somewhat eclectic menu at the South Maui Gardens. We had two poke bowls, a Hawaiian and a Shoyu, and they were both excellent. Very fresh poke served on top of a mixed greens salad with two scoops of white rice, topped with furikake.
Suns Out Buns Out - A bao focused food truck located in the pod behind Azeka Plaza. We got a variety of buns and shared, plus a side of tater tots. The Little Piggy had pork belly with pickles, jalapeno, and cilantro, kind of a take on a banh mi. The Island Piggy was kalua pork with BBQ sauce and topical salsa. They also have a buffalo fried chicken bao, a Philly cheesesteak inspired bao, and more. The best out of the 5 we tried was clearly the Duck Duck Goat – with duck confit, goat cheese, and an onion/fig jam – even though the Little Piggy gets the social media buzz because it has a purple ube bun.
Kihei Caffe - We prefer the original location and make it a point to stop here at least a few times on a trip. They had a gluten free mochi pancake “strawberries and cream” special that was delightful. My husband also got his fave a few times, the surfer sandwich with egg, bacon, avocado, and cheese, on a brioche bun. If you’re getting a sweet breakfast, don’t miss the coconut syrup they have on the tables, either.
Kihei Fish House by Maui Grill - A rebranded version of the Maui Grill Truck. Their fish tacos and coconut shrimp are quite satisfying, especially on a hot day. They also make a house-made POG (passion fruit, orange, guava) drink. Yum! Conveniently located right by Reef’’s Ice Cream and a Kraken Coffee.
Kitoko Truck - Glad to see these folks are still at the South Maui Gardens, next to the Blue Door bakery. We shared a gorgeous looking platter of ono poke with ginger and coconut, served with purple potato chips. Their lilikoi meringue tart is also excellent as is their fresh pineapple lilikoi banana juice, served in a jar. The juice is so good we ended up getting it multiple times when we were at the Gardens (which was a big hit to the wallet as well).
Kraken Coffee - They have two coffee stands and kept us fueled the entire trip. Luckily for us, one of the locations is in a pod on S. Kihei Rd. next to Maui Fish House and Reef’s Ice Cream!
Outrigger Pizza - This truck used to be right up against the road in the Kukui Mall parking lot but has been forced to move further in, so they’re not as visible from the street as they used to be, though they are now next to a donut truck as well. They didn’t seem to be terribly busy when we stopped by but the lilikoi pork pizza really hit the spot.
Reef’s Ice Cream - New Zealand style fresh fruit ice cream. Think Dole whip, but more natural. This was fantastic. We got the coconut base with lilikoi multiple times. You can tell they use high quality fruit. The owners are very nice and this is a brand new business for them, I hope they stick around.
Sparky’s - Also located at the South Maui Gardens. I really liked their smoke meat, served with two scoops rice and mac noodle salad. Their mac noodle salad is a bit on the quirky side, as they use long noodles (not elbows) and add some tuna fish in there. I personally am not a huge fan of that, but I’d go back for the smoke meat and to try some of their Hawaiian food which is served only on Fridays.
Sugar Beach Bake Shop - Delicious lilikoi malasadas and fresh hot coffee. Stopped here around 6am on the way out to the Road to Hana, and stopped again on a different morning. Get there early, as they can sell out of pastries very quickly.
Tamura’s - My favorite combination poke/liquor store. Get some snacks, some poke by the pound, a side of white rice with furikake, and some boozy drinks, and you’re good to go for a picnic or hanging out on the lanai.
Ululani’s - Our favorite place for shave ice. The Kihei location is always a bit chaotic. They must have had some sort of computer failure because they were handwriting all the orders (?) and completely forgot ours. I recommend the large size with mac nut ice cream on the bottom and a snow cap on top, add on toasted coconut flakes, with pina colada, pineapple, and lilikoi.
Vidad’s Local Kine Grindz - If you can’t make it all the way out to Wailuku or Kahului for local food, their Hawaiian bowl is pretty good, with Kalua pork, lomi lomi salmon, and some ahi poke. I also really like their lilikoi lemonade. I keep meaning to try more of their Filipino dishes!
Yee’s Orchards - Golden Glow mangoes are really the best. You can ask the person working what is ripe versus needs a few days of time. So fragrant, so tasty. No fibers!
WAILEA
Ka’ana Kitchen - We really enjoy the food, cocktails, and atmosphere here, but did not realize that a large company had bought out the Andaz Hotel, so the crowd around us turned out to be very corporate! Hilarious. We had the ahi tataki with tomatoes and lilikoi gelee, the watermelon salad, and shared the beef short rib pasta. The last one was not especially Hawaiian but my husband really wanted to try the dishes. Portions are huge IMO so we didn’t have any room for dessert (again, sigh). Cocktails were fantastic, as usual, with the Kona Squall (rum, bourbon, macadamia nut orgeat, mole bitters) and Ka’ana Old Fashioned (El Dorado 12 year, Plantation 5 year, Smith & Cross, demerara, bitters) being just as good as we remembered.
Our server was also amazing and I think we were some of the only folks there not associated with a conference who had bought out the hotel so that may have helped, ha.
KOAST - A brand new restaurant in Wailea from celebrity chef Chris Cosentino. They didn’t have their liquor license yet but were going over the top with a huge variety of non-alcoholic drinks on the menu. We had a non-alcoholic Jungle Bird and loved it. The raw ahi appetizer special involved avocado puree, dollops of chimichurri sauce, and a small segment of bone marrow and was delicious but on the small side. We really enjoyed the fried pig’s ears and calamari, served with some bitter greens and herbs, and the two proteins seemed to be a very good match when they are both battered and deep fried! Crunchy!
The “ham” burger was delicious, a fatty concoction of pork, cheese, onions, arugula, and dijon mustard, reportedly inspired when the chef’s son asked why hamburgers didn’t have ham in them. The star of the show here, though, is dessert: a hollowed out pineapple, filled with coconut ice cream and lilikoi curd, with a toasted meringue on top, served with roasted pineapple rings and caramel sauce on the side. Photogenic, delicious, and very filling. We shall be back.
Lineage - We ate here twice. There’s no view. It’s not in a resort. But the food and cocktails are phenomenal. Best meals we had on the trip though Merriman’s is up there as well.
The ahi poke here is served as single bites of tuna on a fried seaweed cracker with a tiny piece of fried Spam on top and a wonderful wasabi aioli. The Cantonese lobster noodles with buttery XO sauce were so flavorful and rich. And their 6 oz. A5 Japanese waygu ribeye was a steal at 148 USD, given that it comes with pickles, truffled scallion ginger sauce, fried garlic rice, and bone marrow. Our server gave us the great tip of alternating bites of the A5 with the pickled daikon to cleanse your palate. On another night we got lucky with the aji tamago special - due to the egg shortage they don’t always have it. Dashi soy marinated hard boiled eggs, served with whipped mashed potatoes, chives, and furikake. Phenomenally savory. And I loved the steamed fresh local fish of the day, served with black truffle, fermented black bean, ginger, and scallion. I definitely had a Ratatouille moment with the fragrant, flavorful fish dish. Absolutely wonderful.
Their cocktails are also great, with our favorite being the Makule Kiawe: Elijah Craig Small Batch, kiawe bean gum, house orange bitters, kiawe smoke, which is poured tableside and all of the smoke drifts out of the bottle at your table. If you’re more of a mocktail person, the Daily Double is fantastic: lilikoi honey, lemon, and pickled strawberry. Basically a lemonade with pickled strawberry puree on top (our server said he sometimes like to add tequila). Not to be missed.
Monkeypod Kitchen - I have a soft spot for this restaurant in Wailea since we’ve been going to it for many years. The Monkeypod Mai Tai remains excellent and I do like the poke tacos (add an extra for an even number as it only comes with three) and the pork and jalapeno pizza (which we tend to split). And save room for strawberry cream cheesecake pie! Even after all these years, I still dig the vibe here.
Tikehau Lounge - Possibly the best cocktails we had on the trip. Do not miss this spot if you are a cocktail fan. (It is also conveniently located downstairs from KOAST.) We tried some of the regular menu and some of the high roller menu.
If you love cocktails, you will love their version of the classic tiki cocktail, the Polynesian Pearl Diver: Diplomatico Reserva & Planas Rum, allspice dram, Tahitian vanilla, fresh lilikoi, Makawao orange (from the manager’s yard, we were told!), brown butter, lime, and Angostura bitters. It is served with a handmade cocktail pick with a real Tahitian black pearl and you are presented with the sleeve of picks to choose the one you want.
The Hawaiian Samurai was also delicious and more of a take on an old fashioned: Nikka From the Barrel, Nikka Yoichi Peated, Averna, charred pineapple Demerara, black walnut bitters, and – just like the Polynesian Pearl Diver – you’re presented with a sleeve to choose your souvenir katana sword garnish. Both were delicious but if I had to choose, I would give the Polynesian Pearl Diver an edge, but only very slightly.
We also enjoyed their version of the 1944 Mai Tai (though it wasn’t quite as delicious as Merriman’s, but that is a high bar) as well as the Thousand Peaks: Mezcal, grapefruit liqueur, ginger, pineapple, lime, blue spirulina, and jasmine sea bubbles. That’s right, a bright blue drink with a bunch of sea foam on top. Quite tasty and clever, and the Thousand Peaks comes with a tiny surfboard garnish for you to keep as a souvenir!
WAILUKU
Kaohu Store - A tiny convenience store with barely any parking and possibly the best poke I’ve had on the island. Extremely fresh. We got ahi shoyu poke, salmon poke, and hamachi poke. $25.99/lb and up. Only open on weekdays, so plan ahead. (RIP Eskimo Candy and Poke Hale Grindz).
Ululani’s - Less picturesque and charming than the Kihei branch but seems to be more organized. The Sugar Beach Bake Shop side that used to be in the same location has turned into a burger joint, which looked tasty (we didn’t have time to try). This Ululani’s has started doing 3 mini shave ice flights as well.
ROAD TO HANA
Aunty Sandy’s Banana Bread - The line may be long but it moves quickly. The banana bread loaf we bought was still warm so we devoured it on the spot.
Coconut Glen’s - Vegan ice cream and a nice way to cool off on the way back to South Maui. I have a slight preference for their tropical flavors but my husband liked his mint chip and chocolate well enough.
