Hawaii Restaurants: Maui and Oahu

MAUI: Restaurants that we have tried and highly recommend on Maui are:

1. MAMA'S FISH HOUSE RESTAURANT 799 Poho Place Paia, Maui, Hawaii 96779 808-579-8488 http://www.mamasfishhouse.com/

Food 10/10; Ambience 10/10

Excellent restaurant, beautiful decor, wonderful ocean view, great waitstaff. You cannot go wrong with whatever the wait staff recommends

The menu changes daily and includes the name of the fisherman who caught the fish that day.

Tried many fine restaurants on Maui and Mama's Fish House was the best. We had been to Mama's several years ago, so had high expectations and our dining experience was even better than before.

Mama's mai tai is the best on Maui, and the most expensive! At Mama's everything was so fresh, cooked and seasoned perfectly. The chef's amuse bouche was a fantastic mushroom soup. Then, we had wonderful appetizers: crab cakes and the calamari. Entrees fabulous: Monchong with mushrooms in wine sauce and the signature macadamia crusted mahi mahi stuffed with crab & lobster. Enjoyed the marvelous desserts: Creme brulee (it's lemony) and Macadamia nut crisp. Service was excellent, friendly, attentive; ambience and view were great. Convenient free valet.

We were celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary and there was a nice card on table with personalized congratulations. But, the very special touch was that the manager stopped by and surprised us with a lovely lei and suggested that my husband put the lei on me followed by kiss in each cheek, which he did. Mahalo Mama's!

2. Merriman's 1 Bay Club Pl, Lahaina, HI 96761 808-669-6400 http://www.merrimanshawaii.com/kapalua/directions/

FOOD 10/10; AMBIENCE 10/10

One of our favorite restaurants on Maui, perhaps a tie with Mama's Fish House, but Mama's is very special, too (see our reveiw above).

Merriman's has excellent service, food, and ambience. Gorgeous setting with an expansive view of the ocean, Lanai, and Molokai. Book well in advance, and dine about an hour before sunset and request a table next to the glass deck railing. If your dinner reservation is after sunset, then just go early before sunset and enjoy a cocktail on the outdoor patio bar terrace while waiting for your table. The outdoor terrace has the best views of the sunset anyway. If sitting indoor to dine, it's still nice and there was live music inside. Started out with a pineapple cocktail that was so delicious, and hubby's mai tai very good, too. Be sure to get the 4 Sampler appetizer called the Pupu Taster - fabulous. Fun to choose two entrees and create duo plate. The fish is fresh, seasoned and cooked perfectly. We tried two desserts and both fantastic: the pineapple macadamia nut brioche with ice cream and rum sauce and the fruit sorbets. There is free valet parking.

3. Gerrards 174 Lahainaluna Rd, Lahaina, HI 96761 808-661-8939 http://www.gerardsmaui.com/cms/index.php

Food 10/10; Ambience 8/10

Excellent food, nice place, but no view of the ocean, just the street. Note: there are parking lots right across the street but don't take any lot, the lot directly across Gerrards has the best rates. We wanted to try the 8 course prix fixe menu, but it was not available that night (even though the menu states 'daily'). However, the dishes that we ordered were outstanding: spinach salad w scallops, chilled cucumber soup, mahi mahi, snapper. Save room for their delicious homemade fruit sorbets, and a dessert called Dusty Road, which was coffee and chocolate ice cream with butterscotch and chocolate sauces, macadamia nuts, and chocolate dust.

4. LAHAINA GRILL 127 Lahainaluna Road Lahaina, HI 96761 808-667-5117 www.lahainagrill.com

Food 10/10; Ambience 8/10

Wide variety of fabulous food can be sampled from the chef's tasting menu, which consisted of: selection of signature appetizers, salads, seafood or meat courses finished with a sampler of their special house made desserts.

5. DAVID PAUL'S ISLAND GRILL - UNFORTUNATELY - CLOSED 900 Front Street Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii 96761 808-662-3000 www.davidpaulsislandgrill.com

Food 10/10; Ambience 9/10

Wonderful tasting menu featuring a selection of the chef's favorite signature dishes: four courses with a double selections.

6. PINEAPPLE GRILL 200 Kapalua Drive Kapalua, Maui, HI 96761 808-669-9600 www.pineapplekapalua.com

Food 9/10; Ambience 9/10

Food is fresh and delicious, but the best part of the meal was the Maui Gold Pineapple Upside Down Cake with rum caramel sauce, macadamia nut ice cream, toasted coconut.

OAHU

1. Morimoto Waikiki 1775 Ala Moana Blvd. Honolulu, HI 96815 808-943-5900 www.morimotowaikiki.com

FOOD: 10/10 AMBIENCE: 9/10

Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto has a fabulous restaurant in Waikiki. We started with delicious California rolls and tofu miso soup. Entrees included tender Duck, Duck, Duck served three ways (seared duck breast, duck confit spring roll, and duck meatball soup), delicious sea bass and salmon. The chocolate peanut bombe completed the meal.