This newsletter is hitting your inbox late Saturday night because we are heading home early Sunday. I don’t want to go home, obviously, but also because I don’t want it to be fall.
We spent a good chunk of summer moving and when we finally settled in LA I was ready to have a proper summer. I had a few weeks of melons and stonefruits but I want more! No part of me is craving pumpkin spice, summer forever!!
When we land back home I have to jump into Thanksgiving mode tying up loose ends on this year’s recipes. As I have said many times, fall is fire season and I’m gonna need to get my Big Green Egg set up ASAP.
Anyways let’s talk food in Maui. We drove around the island and visited a variety of spots to avoid overpriced resort food. Here are the ones we enjoyed.
Per ush, I made a Google Map for you to save and reference. All the restaurants I mention today plus some other things we love in Maui are on there for you. Enjoy!
You’ve seen ‘em, now go make one HERE.
Sansei
Website: Here
Reservation: A good idea to skip the wait
Best time to go: Only open for dinner
Sansei is great sushi plus they have a full kitchen but we only ate sushi. It’s not cheap but worth it. Pro tip: Sunday and Monday during the first hour they open the menu is half off. Go around 4:30 pm and get in line, doors open at 5 pm, and order half off sushi!
Nuka
Website: Here
Reservation: No, don’t take them
Best time to go: Lunch or dinner
Sansei and Nuka are equally as good but on different sides of the island. We only ordered sushi again at Nuka but the people next to us had phenomenal looking rice bowls with vegetables and fish.
Leoda’s
Website: Here
Reservation: No
Best time to go: Lunch or dinner
Sandwiches and pie, what more do you need? You have to order the chocolate macadamia nut pie.
Paia Fish Market
Website: Here
Reservation: No
Best time to go: Lunch or dinner
We ate at Paia Fish Market four times over our two weeks. It is the best! It’s very straight up – fish, a few sides, and that’s it. OG location is in Paia but they have a few others on the island.
MonkeyPod
Website: Here
Reservation: Ka’anapali location doesn’t take them right now
Best time to go: Lunch
MonkeyPod is a sit-down casual restaurant from chef Merriman (see Merriman’s below). They don’t take reservations right now and I wouldn’t say it is worth waiting an hour for a table but it is great for lunch when there is no wait. A big plus is that you can get the signature lilikoi mai tai here too.
Akamai Coffee
Website: Here
Reservation: No
Best time to go: Anytime!
They have a few locations on the island and Akamai was our favorite coffee spot out of the handful we tried.
Tin Roof
Website: Here
Reservation: No, take out only
Best time to go: Lunch or dinner
Tin Roof is a take-out only spot from Sheldon Simeon. He has a book (I have it) and he just took over another restaurant on Maui, Tiffany’s. It kills me and I want to say Tin Roof was spectacular but it was just good. Good enough that we would go back and you should definitely check it out.
Choice Health Bar
Website: Here
Reservation: No
Best time to go: Anytime
Smoothies, juice, salads…stuff you need after a few days of living off of rice and fish.
Da Kitchen
Website: Here
Reservation: No
Best time to go: Lunch or dinner, do take out
Hawaiian food – plate lunch, mac salad, lau lau, spam musubi, etc. The good stuff that you need to try. We are both mad we didn’t end up going a second time it was that good. They only have four tables inside so skip the line and order takeout to eat on the beach.
Farmer’s Market Maui
Website: Here
This is a cute little health food store that we always shop at. They have the best produce and all the essentials. Additionally, they have a juice bar, acai bowls, sandwiches, and more.
Merriman’s
Website: Here
Reservation: Yes
Best time to go: Sunset dinner
Merriman’s is “fine dining,” expensive, and not totally worth it. Lilikoi mai tai is killer but you can get one at MonkeyPod too. The tako (octopus) à l’escargot was one of the best things I ate the entire trip but the rest of the prix fixe menu was underwhelming. You really go for the view which is unbeatable. So go once for a special occasion and don’t go back.
Gazebo
Website: Here
Reservation: No reservations
Best time to go: 7:30 AM when they open
This is another spot with an amazing view and great pancakes but everything else is whatever. They don’t take reservations and you will wait in line for an hour or more. Go once, see the view and get pancakes, but don’t go back.
Hula Grill
Website: Here
Reservation: Yes but you can order food at the bar. Don’t ask the server if you can, they will say no, just sit at the bar and order from the bartender.
Best time to go: Anytime
Food is fine…mai tais and lava flows are what you go for. Everything is overpriced and the wait for a table is ridiculous but sitting at the bar is super fun.
Maui Poke
Website: Here
Reservation: No
Best time to go: Anytime, fast casual
It’s to-go poke, how good can it be? Our bowls were not bad but we would only go back if we really had no other options.
Maca Dang Dang
Website: Here
Reservation: You don’t need one
Best time to go: Happy hour, dinner
This was one we wanted to love but were left wanting more. Everything was fine but we would only go back for happy hour drinks and snacks.
Joey’s
Website: Here
Reservation: No
Best time to go: Anytime, fast casual
Joey’s is owned by the same chef from Maca Dang Dang. The food is good but the fries are the only thing you really need to order. We did…almost every other day.
Three things I couldn’t live without on this trip:
A Vetchy bikini. I saw Lindsey wearing one on Summer House last season and have been waiting to buy one since. It’s affordable and incredibly comfortable. The top has support and the bottoms are not teeny tiny like my other suits. This is a bikini everybody could wear.
Get it, HERE.
A $15.99 full-coverage hat from Amazon. It is the only hat I wore on this trip because it covers your entire face, neck, and top of your chest! I wear it when I walk Josie back home and funny coincidence I saw someone wearing one months ago when we were going to open houses. Everyone needs one.
Get it, HERE.
I brought three books on this trip and I only got through one, Wow, No Thank You. Samantha Irby is hilarious and painfully honest. I couldn’t put it down!
Get it, HERE.
Honestly, I didn’t see enough cats on this trip. These two were my favorites.
Side note: Feral cats are also a huge problem on the Hawaiian islands. They eat the native birds and cause tons of ecological disruption. You know what other animals cause issues? Wild boar, axis deer, and chickens. None of them have any predators, are not native, and overfeed/destroy natural plants and land.
This vacation has been a blast. I am tan, rested, and excited to get back home! I think that’s exactly how you should feel at the end of a trip. Talk to you next week! Xx M