Mala Ocean Tavern - Our Aloha Meal....and Mahalo.

MALA OCEAN TAVERN
1307 Front Street, Lahaina
On the Island Of Maui, Hawaii 96761

http://www.malaoceantavern.com/

Lahaina is a quaint town that used to be the capital of Hawaii. I've heard that it's rocking and it has a Hard Rock Cafe and a few other chains that might lead you to think that it's THE party place. I drove through at 2:00am on the way to my fishing trip and it was so quite you could hear a pin drop. Regardless, it's home to a few good restaurants right along the ocean. Mala Ocean Tavern is one of them. It came recommended by an old friend who'd been here before.

They start you out with salsa and hummus. I liked the volcanic rock mortar it is served in along with the house-made chips.

This was my last Mai Tai of the trip, and one of the better ones. Cheryl had a Spunky Monkey. The kids got a kick out of that.

We started with some calamari. It came with Mojo Verde and fried lemons. Nicely done.

I had the Hoison glazed ribs with purple mashed potatoes and a peanut/edamame/coconut sauce. The ribs were more lean than I'm used to but very tasty.

Cheryl had the Big Fat Greek salad with some Mahi Mahi. Great presentation and very big.

Mugging for the camera....you can tell they were road-weary and ready to head out. We were actually on our way to the airport and Lahaina was our last stop. Note the lack of a roof...this is a cool place.

We were all full, and tired, however, we couldn't pass up this dessert. The description hooked us. Vanilla Macadamia Nut brittle ice cream with house-made caramel sauce. What's not to like?

And so ended our culinary tour of the 50th state to join our union. It was a grand adventure. I hope you've enjoyed reading about some of the great restaurants we visited and if you do happen to go to any of them, please tell them where you read about them.
Aloha and mahalo.

Star Noodle - Ramen in the Islands

Star Noodle

286 Kupuohi St.

Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii 96761

http://www.starnoodle.com/

2nd in the series on my gastronomic tour of Hawaii.

 This is the sunset you'll be treated to at Star Noodle. It sits on a mountain side in Lahaina. You'll have lots of time to enjoy it if you don't use their unpublished call-ahead seating. We waited an hour and 45 minutes for seats. Even after the departure of their Top Chef contestant Sheldon Simeon they still pack them in.

 Here are the boys...waiting without causing too much trouble.

We started out with some steamed pork buns with shitake and cucumber. These were a good start. The pork was from the big island and was a bit leaner than you usually get on the east coast.

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Alex got the Hapa Ramen. 

 Nice presentation. Not as much body as some I've had, but plenty tasty.

 Cheryl had the hot and sour. Lots of tasty bits in there with smoked prosciutto, shrimp, chili-lime dashi, fried garlic, and cilantro.

 This was the fixin's plate. Fried garlic! Nice touch.

 I got garlic noodles. Fresh and fried garlic, garlic oil, and scallions. This was not as "wow" as it sounds. It was on the dry side. 

Last but not least, by far, the Filipino Bacon and Eggs. Pork belly, tomato and onion with a 62 degree egg. My egg was much warmer than that, but I got the point. It was a good dish. I'm sure you run out of 62 degree eggs when you're as busy as this place was.

Overall, a thumbs up. To wait that long for dinner was a killer though. If you go, make sure you call ahead for seating. 

Let them know where you read about it!