It's been 10 days since we got home, my tan has faded but my arms are still peeling. I am still going through Maui withdrawal. I thought I'd share a little food goodness with you.
We've got this routine we go through every year. We arrive, usually on a Saturday afternoon, we pick up our luggage, our car, head on over to the condo to drop our stuff off, and then race back over to Kahului before Costco closes, so we can stock up on enough food to get us through the weekend and a few days after that. We don't go out to eat much, but we do love to barbeque. Oh yes we do. Its our little tradition and the best way to end a beautiful day.
So here we have Luke, patiently waiting with a box full of food, while we try to squeeze our groceries into the car.
The menfolk do the outdoor grilling. A mighty fine job they do. Actually, they do it to perfection, just picture
Bob Wiley "mmmm-ing" around the dinner table . . . that is us. This is our 4th of July dinner, teriyaki beef ("like candy"), and grilled asparagus . . . slightly crisp, which Charley served drizzled with lime . . . ahhhhh . . . . Other weeknight dinner delights were rib-eye steaks, flank steak with an incredible marinade, teriyaki chicken, burgers of course, tons of fresh fruit and salads . . . and some Big D offerings included strawberry shortcake and our eternal favorites Mangoes & Cream ice cream, also Haupia ice cream.
This year we gathered for our meals at the Deans, and Rebecca, the ultimate hostess that she is, would have the table set beautifully, everything was always perfect. I would have just put the food on the counter and told people to help themselves, but she made every meal a special event. (there was more space in their condo for the 11 of us . . . some ate out on the lanai . . . some ate around the table, some ate at the coffee table or on the sofa . . . )
On to the restaurants!*
(*just letting you know that these reviews are our own personal opinions and tastes.)
Aloha Mixed Plate in Lahaina has become our new tradition . . . lunch there after a morning of snorkeling at Black Rock, Honolua Bay, and Kapalua. It's nice and cool, shady, outdoors, and right on the water.
This year I got the straight teriyaki beef (instead of a combo plate) and two scoops of macaroni salad instead of the two scoops of rice. I hate macaroni salad, but their macaroni salad is wonderful. To me, probably not to anyone else. I also traded Luke one of his coconut shrimp for a slice of my beef.
This year's orchid eating experience is not a food trend. Anyone who ordered a drink got an orchid in it. Can't remember who asked the initial question of "can you eat orchids" . . . but I answered "yes, orchids are edible." Or I thought. I hoped they were. (yes, they
are.)
Keith did not try one.
Just one look at Luke's face and you know he wasn't going to try it.
Matt just popped one in his mouth and downed it.
Rochelle nibbled on one. I think Chad ate one too. No comments on the taste.
There are dozens of roadside stands along the Hana Highway that sell banana bread, but this is the first time we saw someone offering mango bread. Just in the last year or two, people have started setting up tables at the end of Keanae peninsula, kind of taking away from the ruggedness of the spot. Anyway, back to the mango bread. It was still early in the morning, and we got her last loaf, perfect for the lunch Big D coming up at Waianapanapa. Oh the bread!! It was super moist and sweet with big chunks of mango in it. I was able to find two recipes for it before we came home. I'll give you a report after I bake some. After all, Luke (also likes to be called "Mango Man") says mangoes are "my source of energy." Oh yep, you can find this bread . . . when mangoes are in season (early summer) . . . at that turnaround at the end of Keanae by the black lava rocks.
Back to roadside stands, we usually end up picking up some fruit along the way, mostly at stands with the honor system, where you take the fruit and leave your money. This year in Kipahulu at Palapala Hoomau church (Charles Lindberg's grave), we were surprised to find a family who had set up an array of fruit for sale. There was a little boy (looking quite like an urchin) who had made a sign saying "money for school supplies" (see photo below). I was totally like "awww, of course I'll buy some fruit to help pay for his school supplies", but *others* were more skeptical (school supplies, right . . . ). I still believed he really was trying to earn some school money. I immediately wanted the two papayas he had left, but ended up feeling all touristy when I said "I'll be right back to get them" since we were going to walk around the church grounds and look at the view from the park next door to it. I was sure he'd heard that line before of people being polite and promising to buy things and then never coming back. I was coming back!
Not only did we get those two (amazing) papayas, we bought nearly all of his passion fruit (lilikoi). Charley loves them (from his mission) and Keith is newly addicted. They'd eat some, go back and buy more. Charley and Keith were calling them (spanish name) "maracuja" but said it more dreamily(?) like "maracujahhhh". Of course the jokes soon followed about being more *passionate* after eating all that passion fruit . . . but we won't go there.
Anybody who's been with us in Kihei the last several years, can testify that every single time we drive by this wine and cheese store, Luke will say "Look!! It's
WHO CUT THE CHEESE!!!" Every. Single. Time. We have never gone inside. But Luke still wanted his picture taken by it.
New to us this year is
Coconuts, about one door down from Who Cut the Cheese at Azeka Plaza.
Oh my gosh, the fish tacos!!! Keith and I agree they are the
best we've ever had. And we've had some good ones. They've got these cute surfboard tables in there too.
Another "new to us" and also new to Maui since last year is Penguini Gelato in Paia. The BEST gelato I've ever had (Kelsey agrees, the best she's ever had, too.) I had read several online reviews and found a blurb in a magazine, so I really wanted to stop there. Wouldn't you know that the day we went there . . . it was closed?? It looked like it was open, its just a walk-up window and there were some people standing there talking to the owner who was inside. But, you have to give a two thumbs up to her for this fact alone . . . in spite of the fact that they were closed, she got out some gelato flavors that she had (everything is made fresh daily from fresh ingredients on Maui) and she served us!
Penguini is next to the Chevron station in Paia, but its part of the
Paia Inn.
I love how cute it is inside their workspace.
There's really no place to sit other than a bench by the window, so they said we could eat inside the Paia Inn's courtyard. This was definitely my kind of place.
Look at this awesome antique carved door at the entry.
I wish my patio looked like this . . . tropical, with lots of indonesian antiques as accents. Oh, the gelato?? Perfect!! You get two scoops, and I got one scoop of banana and one of chocolate.
Heavenly. Absolutely a
two thumbs way up from us and can't wait to go back next year.
Mama's Fish House in Paia is legendary in our family. If we only go out to eat once, here is where we go without fail. It's located on Kuau Cove, the most scenic, perfectly "Hawaiian" little beach. We've been going there since it was still "just a beach house", and over the years they've expanded it little by little (you can't really tell). It still is just as charming inside and out. I love every single thing about it (but Keith
might will roll his eyes at the mandatory valet parking, and yes, the prices are a little . . .
pricey.) You will never taste fish as good as they serve it at Mama's. We've found the perfect time of day for us to go there . . . between 5:00 and 6:00pm. Just right ahead of the main dinner rush. We can take our time eating, and then we're finished with enough time to linger on the beach and watch the sunset.
This is Luke's face when I said I'd order for him, and I ordered the South Pacific prawns in Tahitian vanilla bean and coconut milk sauce. Did I even get a taste? No. Charley was sitting next to him and he got a bite . . . and said it was delicious.
My dinner was the mahi mahi stuffed with lobster, crab, and maui onion, and baked in a macadamia nut crust. That is a little lobster tail on top as a garnish. As incredible as this was, next time for my main dish I'm getting a couple orders of the macadamia nut crab cakes (appetizers). They are unbelievable. Unbelievable! For the Big D I had (again) the banana macadamia nut crisp. They serve it hot with tahitian vanilla ice cream on top, just melting on top. Some might have proclaimed it "too rich", but it is soooo worth it. Soooo good.
Whether colorful or monochrome, the sunsets here at Kuau Cove are always gorgeous.
I lost track of how many weddings we saw on the beach at sunset, and Mama's was no exception. We were intrigued by this guy with the pastel pink pants. We figured he was not the groom, and I'm not even sure he was the best man. But yes . . . if there is anyplace someone could pull off this look, it was here, and it looks completely summer-y.
This pineapple was just sitting on this table in Haiku, in the rain, while Tyler was unloading his bike off the car for his ride up Haleakala. There is nothing sweeter than a Maui Gold pineapple, and that is exactly what they put in the pineapple fritters at Krispy Kreme. I have been craving them
all year.
When I had to go back to the airport to pick up Tyler and Kelsey late Saturday night, we immediately stopped there and got one dozen. Tyler is now addicted too. This is the only place on earth where you can get a Krispy Kreme Pineapple Fritter.
That's all the Maui food lore for this year.
Most people seem to be on vacation or out of town this week . . . check out Tyler and Kelsey's
blog, they're in France right now, and they have some awesome photos they posted from Paris.
