Maui: Resort and Food

During our trip to Maui, Craig and I stayed in Lahaina.

We loved staying in Lahaina and loved the resort we stayed on: Outrigger Aina Nalu.

I ended up booking our place through the website Vacation Rentals By Owner (www.verbo.com), and here’s the link to the exact place we stayed.

We wanted to find a place with a full kitchen so that we could make some of our own meals in order to save money.

It had a very nice, trendy kitchen with a full stove, microwave, refrigerator, plus a smaller dishwasher.

The kitchen opened up into the living area with nice big windows.

Our bedroom had a king-sized bed, which felt huge compared to our queen at home. Craig felt miles away when were sleeping.

With two TVs in the condo, Craig and I could watch our own shows—no compromising necessary—which was quite nice. Two TVs and cable; I definitely felt spoiled.

The bathroom may have been my favorite room—as weird as that sounds. It was super modern, and I would love to have my own bathroom look like this some day.

The awesome tile shower.

The entire resort felt like you were in a rainforest. There were so many plants/trees/shrubs/flowers all around, and I loved it.

There were two pools on site and one hot tub.

This was the chlorinated pool.

And this was the salt water pool. That building in the back had the sweetest open-air deck/patio complete with tables and chairs, a kitchen area, bathrooms, and a TV with couches. I would love to have a set-up like that in my future home!

Lahaina was definitely the place for night-life, shopping, and restauarnts. Not that other towns/areas didn’t offer those things, but it seemed as though many people staying in Kaanapali or Kapalua (or near-by areas) would drive to Lahaina in the evening for dining and shopping. We were fortunate in that Front Street was just a few blocks away, so we would walk down there every night.

While we did have a kitchen in our condo, we also did choose to eat out quite a bit. We just couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to try new restaurants and different cuisine.

One of our favorite places was Aloha Mixed Plate.

Dining on the beach—it doesn’t get much better than that.

Craig deep in thought about what to get.

Just thought I’d point out Craig’s t-shirt says: “Get Smarter – NPR.” Craig is an NPR enthusiast, so I had the get the shirt for him.

I had the Veggie Stir-fry with House-made Oyster Sauce. I added tofu, and it was to die for! It had an amazing taste that I’ve never had in stir-fry before.

Craig also raved about his meal: the BBQ Mixed Plate with shoyu chicken, teriyaki beef, and kalbi rib.

One day we drove to Paia, which is often referred to a the hippy town on the island.

We chose to eat at the Paia Fish Market when we were there. We figured the crowds must mean it was good. Seating was a little hard to come by but everyone seemed to make it work.

We definitely liked our food, but it wasn’t some of the best food we ate while in Maui.

We split a fish burger that was pretty good.

We also split the fish tacos, which weren’t as good as some we had had a couple days prior.

Honestly, I would recommend the place to others, but we would try a few other places before we went back.

One of the things on my list of things I wanted to do while in Hawaii was to dine on the beach while enjoying the sunset, and I’m glad to say I was able to do that!

And having this guy there to enjoy it with me made it that much better.

 

We ended up eating at Leilani’s On the Beach that evening. I was told their inside dining room has better food, but I wanted to eat at the beachside grill for the atmosphere and the fact the items on the menu were cheaper.

I really liked my dish and it ranked up there as one of my favorite entrees during our trip.

 

Bangkok Beef & Buckwheat Noodle

 

Craig had the Chicken Cashew Stir-fry. This was also good, but we both preferred my entree.

For dessert we had the Messy Apple Crisp with macadamia nut ice cream. Delish!

We had all of our breakfasts in our condo, except one. I was not going to miss out on breakfast at The Gazebo because I had heard so many great things about it.

The line is *always* this long from what I’ve heard but most certainly worth it.

I didn’t mind staring at this while we waited.

We had to wait about an hour, but I didn’t mind. I had the warmth of the sunshine, a beautiful view, and my best friend to chat with.

I couldn’t get over the beautiful views.

Craig took this picture, which I thought was super cool. They are paddle boarding.

The service was excellent; the staff was very friendly and patient even though there were a ton of people waiting to be seated.

Once again, Craig and I ended up splitting two entrees. I ordered the veggie omelet which was just okay.

But these pancakes are where it’s at—and what everyone raves about.

Pancakes with banana, macadamia nuts, pineapple, a generous helping of whipped topping, and coconut syrup to top it off. Can you say sugar overload? One pancake each was more than enough!

Another one of our favorite places was Choice Health Bar in Lahaina. If it wasn’t for Emily (from Daily Garnish) who discovered it on her vacation to Maui, I would not have known about it.

This raw/vegetarian/vegan restaurant open in April 2011, so it was still somewhat new, but it would be on my list of places to eat at again.

I had the healthy lunch plate that came with a salad, soup, healthy grain (quiona), and a small dessert.

I am not a huge kale fan, but this salad was amazing! I have no idea what was in the dressing, but it was delicious.

Craig had this vegetarian (probably vegan?) burger, which he said was the best vegetarian burger he’s ever had.

We also split an acai bowl with strawberries, bananas, flax, and hemp granola.

We ended up sitting up at the bar, and as the employees would make orders for other customers, they would pour the extras in a glass for us and let us have a sample.

Those are the only places I took pictures at, but we also ate at:

Cool Cat Cafe

They are well-known for their burgers. I had one and loved it. (I am NOT a burger person.) We also had their fish tacos and they were definitely our favorite.

Kimo’s

Loved the atmosphere, didn’t love the food. We sat on the deck, which was right along the edge of the ocean, but we were not overly impressed with the food—especially for how much we paid! (This was by far our most expensive meal.)

Lahaina Pizza Company

Very good “deep dish” pizza. They call it deep dish, but Craig said it was not true deep dish—so maybe it was “deeper dish” pizza. I don’t know; I’ve never had true deep dish pizza. All I know is that it was good and so was the salad!

Dining at Cool Cat Cafe—and my attempt at beach-hair. Try doing that with pin-straight hair.

If you have any additional questions, please let me know. I would love to be of assistance. (I think I may have been a travel agent in another life.)