Mauna Loa: Sour Cream & Onion Macadamia Nuts

This is a MUST buy when in Hawaii. Go to the ABC store, it's much cheaper than purchasing it elsewhere. It seems that everyone else has realized how delicious these things are. You know how macadamia nuts taste...they're rich, creamy, buttery, nutty and with a nice crunch. Now if you like sour cream and onion chips...just imagine the COMBINATION! I bought 6 bags of these, my parents need separate bags they won't share. [again don't think about the caloric intake...just enjoy the party in your mouth!]

Leilani's @ Hawaii

Leilani's is BUSY! More busy than any of the restaurants in Lahaina, probably because of the convenience where it's near all the hotels on Kaanapali Beach. Food was ok...and it was too dark for me to see my food, let alone anything else. Oh yea it's outside by the beach...so there were bugs at night, not a fan...not at all...

Buffalo Wings w/ Rum BBQ Sauce

Crab & Shrimp Melt w/ Fries
[crab, shrimp, tomatoes and provolone served open faced]

the first few bites were good...after that it was just way too much

Aloha Mixed Plate @ Hawaii

Local food. What do hawaiians eat? What is considered local food? Aloha Mixed Plate considers itself an establishment that serves what the "locals eat." After one week in Maui, and this being my fourth trip, my opinion of "local food" is a mix of Chinese, Japanese and American. It's made fast, fresh, and it's a combination of meat, veggies, sauce and rice. It's enough food to provide these hawaiians energy for their 8-hour surf day.

Garlic French Fries
[with furikake seasoning]
tasty and quite interesting with the furikake seasoning which is japanese seasoning that contains a mixture of seaweed, toasted seasme seeds and sometimes bonito flakes

Cocnut Shrimp
completely packed with lots of coconut shreds and coconut flavor. i'm not a big fan of coconut, so it was too much for me, but this place is known for its coconut shrimp..so meh?


Loco Moco - mini plate
[rice, hamburger patty, fried egg and topped with gravy]
i've seen this item on so many menus, and i just had to try it once to see what the big deal is. i still don't know what the big deal is. it was ok...i do see the instant filling and energy though - rice and protein. i do love fried eggs on things though...so this dish has that going for it. this is a mini plate, and the regular plate has two hamburger patties and two fried eggs - TONS OF FOOD. btw, my mini plate was less than $5

Macaroni Salad
love love LOVE macaraoni salad from hawaii...it is the BEST.

Mama's Fish House @ Hawaii (Paia)

*sorry it has taken be so long to update. got back from maui a few days ago, and completely tired from all the traveling.

My uncle has been wanting to go to Mama's Fish House for the past 10 years, and he's been coming to Maui every year for at least the past 6 years consecutively. This time around, I persuaded the familia to finally go.

They always said that the drive there is on the way to the Road to Hana, and the drive would take FOREVER, and would be quite windy. I've never done the Road to Hana, though I really want to, but the drive takes about 7 hours and at the end there are supposedly these amazing pools of water...via nature. Anyways, the trip to Mama's House didn't take as long, or as difficult as we predicted, and it was about 40 minutes (10 minutes after the airport.)

It was raining...though not hard rain, but lots. Mama's Fish House is nestled in this alcove on the other side of the island, and has an amazing view. The restaurant itself is like a little house, and is just gorgeous, but yes this is a foodblog, and well the food....it is a MUST if you go to Maui. The menu is expensive, about $45-55 a person, but so fresh and DELICIOUS! There's Ahi, Mahi Mahi, Ono and Uka. The menu specifies EXACTLY who caught the fish...quite interesting. The best part of the meal was the DESSERT! it was simply orgasmic, and to die for. I could eat it forever! I think I would go back just for the dessert....the creme bruele and kaua pie....YUMMMMY!!! Oh, by the way, I don't have pictures of what everyone else ate but unc had Deep-water Ahi caught by Robert Malaiakini near his homeport of Hana Bay Seared in ginger and panko crust with kalua pig rice pilaf, aunt had Mahimahi caught by Shawn Boneza along the north shore of Maui Stuffed with lobster, crab, Maui onion and baked in a macadamia nut crust and lil cuz had Bouillabaisse – Mahimahi, shrimp, clams, calamari and angel-hair pasta simmered in a tomato-saffron broth, with garlic rouille.

forgot what it was called, but it was really good...very refreshing
[passion fruit, cranberry juice...other stuff]

Freshly baked poppyseed bread in loaves

Compliments of the Chef: creamy ginger type soup
this was quite delicious!

Lobster Guacamole with Taro Chips
sounds fancy enough right? didn't have much flavor to it. there wasn't a wow factor in adding lobster pieces to guacamole. however, the taro chips were quite scrumptious and complimented it well, whereas i think tortilla chips would have been a bad combo

Taro Chips w/ Lobster Guac

Ahi, Ono and Mahimahi sautéed in Panang Curry and coconut milk with Jasmine Rice
[ahi, ono, mahimahi, snap peas, hearts of palm, carrots and rice]
wow. the curry was amazing, where the heat from the curry slowly progressed as i ate more and more of it. the fish was so fresh and cooked perfectly. i was not a fan of the hearts of palm though. overall...dish is a must have at mama's

With Mama’s mango chutney, heart of palm, and macadamia nuts
condiments to add to the curry...i added the macadamia nuts, it added a nice CRUNCH to the meal :D

Creme Brulee with fresh Liliko’i
[liliko'i = passion fruit]
MOST AMAZING creme crulee ever! sugar on top is nice and caramalized, the custard is creamy, sweet and tangy because of the liliko'i. i would go back to mama's just for this!

Mama’s Chocolate Kuau Pie
[Baked in a caramel cookie crust]
cookie crust was so delicious, and definitely fought the fam for every last crumb of it. the filling inside was gooey and chocolately...like a mouse

Coconut Squares - compliments of the chef

banana trees with bananas growing RIGHT outside the restaurant

the view from mama's fish house - gorgeous

Live Penguins @ Hyatt Regency (Maui)

This penguin has relatives at the Hyatt Regency at Maui! Took a walk down the beach, and low and behold there are LIVE penguins...just chilling, in the heat! These penguins are from Africa, and I guess they fair well in the heat, as opposed to its brethren from Antarctica. Sadly, when I went to go visit them, it wasn't feeding time. However, this one penguin was obsessed with scratching itself incessantly.

small eats at Westin @ Hawaii

In the morning went to the small cafe and got an egg, cheese and ham wrap, and a plate of pineapple to bring up to the room. The wrap was good, it wasn't horrible but it wasn't fresh in the sense that they didn't make it right there on the spot. It was previously made and was being kept warm through those buffet warmers.

ham, cheese and egg wrap

pineapple
i love love LOVE hawaiian pineapple, there is none better out there. i can eat TONS of it, unfortunately my stomach doesn't like the acid and neither does my tongue...meh small price to pay

Spent the rest of the day by the pool. Had poolside service, which consisted of lava flow, chicken nachos and chicken quesadillas.

Lava Flow
[coconut, pineapple with strawberry puree...oh yea some kind of rum]
best part of poolside service is the lava flow...it's uber delicious. best at westin, not so good at other places. i think the westin has just become pros at making this

Chicken Nachos
[corn and blue corn tortillas, cheese and shredded chicken. guac, salsa and sour cream]
scrumptious! it's not authentic mexican food...but it does the job, especially after lying in the sun for hours

Chicken Quesadilla

Okazuya & Deli Honokowai @ Maui

I've previously had a post on hawaiian drive inn, and how delicious and juicy the chicken katsu with rice and macaroni salad is. Well...one can never truly know how good hawaiian drive inn is, or just plate lunches that the locals eat, until you eat in hawaii. First meal after we checked in was plate lunch at this local dive named Okazuya. This place is a small mom and pop place, and basically has no seating area, except for one table along the wall and three tables outside. We've gone to this place each time we're in Maui. It's near the Kannapali side of Maui, and we're staying @ the Westin. I got the Chicken Katsu, and the portions were so huge I could not finish it. Chicken Katsu was fried perfectly - crunchy, juicy and seasoned very well. Love love love....love the macaroni salad, it's unlike american macaraoni salad, and I don't know how to describe it. hmmmm....yummy in my tummy! but...in a little bit, I think I will have to go jogging across the beach just to work it off. But I wonder what's for dinner?!?!

Hawaiian Plate: Scop of rice, chicken katsu, scoop of macaroni salad