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.

Mama's Fish House - Yes, it's as good as you've heard.

Mama's Fish House

799 Poho Place

Paia, Hawaii 96779

http://www.mamasfishhouse.com/

Third installment of my culinary tour of Maui.

This was one of the two recommendations that I received most when I asked people what restaurants were not to be missed in Maui. It was a good hour drive from our villa, and I was kind of kicking myself for making reservations that far away and expecting something awesome...no good can come of that. Right?

Anyhow, when you pull into the driveway there is valet parking. Nice touch for a little island joint. Turns out this wasn't your average island joint. There is an inn as well as the restaurant, and there is a nice beach area to hang out on while you wait for your table.

This was the hostess area. Neat stuff.

Pretty table setting...which they mostly removed once they saw who was dining there.

I don't remember exactly what this was, but I remember it was tasty. I tried pulling up their drink menu online, but no dice.

This was a Lava Flow. Pina Colada with pureed strawberries. Nice touch. This beverage is not unique to the restaurant, but it is neat to look at.

Cheryl had the ubiquitous Mai Tai. From the second we got on the Alaska Airlines flight from SeaTac people had been throwing these at us. This was the best of the trip. No overly-sweet crapola flowing here.

They started us out with a freshly baked loaf of bread, still warm. Always a good way to get the ball rolling.

The amuse' was a tomato bisque. Nice kick to it.

Fairly quickly after that we were served our appetizers. This was a seared black pepper tuna. They don't get much fresher.

Same with the Tuna Sashimi entree that Alex had. It was getting dark at our table by this time so the light balance is a little off in the picture, but it was the reddest tuna I'd ever seen. The pickled veg was obviously home-made and very nice as well.

Hamachi Sautéed with Hamakua mushrooms, garlic butter, white wine and capers Hawaiian Snapper caught by Stanley Bascar in deep sea reefs off Lana’i. Seriously. They tell you who caught the fish. The kitchen has a way with fish at Mama's. It was the second best piece of fish I've ever had. The first being at Roberto Donna's now-closed Galileo III.

Mahimahi Stuffed with lobster and crab and baked in a macadamia nut crust Caught along the north shore of Maui towards Hana by Mike Holley. Mike and Cheryl both got this dish. Once again, excellent execution.

Kuau Chocolate Pie 

Baked in a caramel cookie crust  Not too shabby for an ending. The kids inhaled it but I did get a bite.

Liliko’i Crème Brulèe

I don't know about you, but I'm a purist when it comes to creme brulee. I don't want fruit on it. Theirs was good, but mine's better.

So, the scoop is, if you go to Maui don't miss this place. The prices look nutty, but the check was less than $400 and we all ate well. If you have one or two cocktail instead of an expensive bottle of wine you'll get out cheap.  My recommendation is to catch this on your way to or from the airport as it's pretty close to there. Whichever way you roll, don't miss it. It's a classic.

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!