Coconut’s Fish Cafe

We found the Coconut’s Fish Cafe on TripAdvisor while looking for restaurants in Kihei.

It is a relatively new restaurant, that wasn’t here during our previous trip. They did an amazing job decorating the place:

We stopped here for lunch one day,  and were very impressed. I had the Ono burger, Shauna had the Mahi Burger, and they were both awesome. The fries were very good as well.

We also at here for dinner after our long day trip around the Hana Highway and the Pipiwai Trail. It was after 8pm by the time we got back to Kihei that day, so we wanted something that would be fairly fast, but also very tasty. Since we had been here a few days before, we knew it would hit the spot after a long day of traveling – and it certainly did. My mom and brother really enjoyed it here as well.

We ended up wishing we had tried this place earlier on in our trip, as we likely would have eaten there a few more times as well, to sample some of the other great dishes on their menu. It is definitely a place we look forward to visiting again on our next trip to Maui.

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Cafe O’Lei, Kihei

We heard about Cafe O’Lei on TripAdvisor prior to our trip. It was one of the top rated restaurants in Kihei, so we really wanted to try it out. We ended up eating there our first night since it was relatively close to our condo at the Maui Banyan. Although it was closed when we first got there, as it was only 4:15pm local time. We were pretty hungry after the long flight and had hoped to find an early meal. We went to the coffee/smoothie bar next door and had a nice cold smoothie to help cool us down – we were struggling to adapt to the +28’C heat since it was still below zero when we left home that morning. It was actually a pretty good find, and we went back here four more times during our trip.

We went back up the stairs to Cafe O’Lei at 5pm, and were one of the first groups to be seated. The waitress actually just took our drink order and had to leave for a bit, to take part in their pre-dinner meeting to learn the specials for the night. The special was the swordfish, which sounded good to me. Shauna ordered the Asian Short Ribs and my mom ordered the jumbo prawns.

Asian Short Ribs:

Our drinks came out quickly, and we happily enjoyed the fresh baked bread that was still warm. Since we were one of the first groups there, our food came out pretty quickly. It was amazing and we were certainly very happy to be back in Hawaii once again.

Swordfish:

This was the first place we ate during our trip, and ended up being the last place we ate as well – not that we planned it that way.
My brother and I both tried the Ahi tuna on our last night – it was amazing. I wasnt sure about all the spicy sauces that came with it, so I got them on the side, while he ordered the way it was supposed to be. I ended up adding almost all of my sauce on to my plate anyhow, so I might as well have gotten it like he did. But I liked that the waitress offered to bring it the way she did, just in case.

We will definitely be back to the Cafe O’Lei during our next trip to Maui, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good meal in Kihei.

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Fat Daddy’s Maui

A small group from our wedding trip went to Fat Daddy’s BBQ Smokehouse during our wedding trip in 2008 and said it was very good. So we decided to try it during our latest trip in April 2011. We were very happy that we did. Their restaurant is nothing fancy, and not very big inside. But they more than make up for it with the food.

View from inside, looking towards the bar area:

We ordered the pulled pork and the full order of ribs – they tasted amazing, possibly the best ribs we have eaten. The flavor was very strong, and the meat was nice and tender. You get to choose from a couple different side orders, we chose the baked beans. These were also very tasty, and made right in the restaurant.

If you are not a fan of strong flavors, this may not be the place for you. My mom doesnt like bbq sauce very much, so this was not her favorite place on our trip. There are a few options that did not seem to be as strong. But the rest of us really enjoyed it here. The service was good and the food was awesome. We will definitely be stopping here again on our next trip.

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808 Bistro in Kihei

We noticed a new restaurant near our condo at the Maui Banyan – the 808 Bistro. Which was convenient, as we had also seen it on TripAdvisor as one of the top restaurants in Kihei.

Our first trip here was for breakfast. I had the Banana Bread French Toast, and it was some of the better banana bread I have eaten. It comes with only banana bread though, and could have used a side of something. If I were to order it again I would look for something on the menu to add with it:

My mom was pretty happy with the fruit bowl as well. It had a great variety, was a good size, and came with a side of their tasty banana bread:

Shauna and Kevin ordered the focaccia breakfast sandwich with egg and portugese sausage. It came with a side of delicious hashbrowns. It definitely looked and smelled the best. They both said it was awesome, and I wished I had ordered it as well:

We came back the next day for dinner, after our day trip to Napili Beach. We arrived just after the opened, and were able to take advantage of the early special. You get to choose a salad, main dish, and desert all for $23. And they definitely did not hold anything back on the portions. We got a good sized cesear salad, which we paid a bit extra for since we had read on tripadvisor that it was very very good – they make the entire thing on site. It certainly lived up to the hype. The pork chop dish was very good as well. We got two full sized porkchops, and were only able to eat one. The other one made a great lunch the next day. Shauna ordered the bread pudding, while Kevin and I got the brownie. We were all very happy. Shauna said it was one of the best bread pudding’s she had eaten, while the brownie was served hot over vanilla ice cream. These were quite big as well, but we took our time and managed to eat them all.

Pork chops at the 808 Bistro:

Bread pudding at the 808 Bistro:

 

The 808 Bistro is definitely one of the best restaurants we found on the island of Maui. The food was great, the portions were large, and the service was very good. Overall it is an exceptional value and we are looking forward to returning here on our next visit to Maui.

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Maui Banyan H-105

We stayed in Kihei at unit H-105 of the Maui Banyan during our 2009 trip. It was an amazing place to stay and we can’t wait to go back. Here is a shot of the Maui Banyan, taken from a second level parking spot:

The condo itself truly was a home away from home. The king sized bed was very comfy. There are two A/C units, one in the living room and one in the bedroom, which was very nice since we were not used to the Hawaiian heat. The fully loaded kitchen had everything we needed. Most days we only ate breakfast at the condo, and then set out to explore or relax on the beach. We often ate out for lunch and dinner. Although there were a few nights we enjoyed using the bbq area to do our own cooking for dinner. We stocked up on groceries at the Costco in Kahului, so it was definitely nice to have a full kitchen with a regular sized fridge/freezer. We were much happier to have a fully equipped condo than a hotel type setup.
The unit is a one bedroom condo. As you can see from these two photos, the kitchen, dining room, and living room areas are attached. The bedroom and bathrooms are to the right. The TV had a pretty sweet surround sound system as well, although we didn’t watch a lot of TV so we didn’t use it very much.

The two bathrooms are another nice feature of this unit. The ensuite bathroom has a sink, toilet, and the jacuzzi tub. The other bathroom near the entrance door has a sink, toilet, and the washer/dryer. It was great that we didn’t have to find a laundromat during our stay, and could wash our clothes and beach gear when we wanted to.

Kamaole II beach is a two – three minute walk from the unit. I wrote an additional post for this beach with more information and photos if you want to check it out as well.

The Banyan itself has two great pool / bbq areas – one at either end of the grounds. Quite often we wanted to swim after dinner, but since it gets dark around 7pm we did not want to swim in the ocean. So the pools were the best option, and we certainly got a lot of use out of them.The pools are open until 10 or 11, although they don’t seem to kick you out as long as you keep the noise down. And if one pool was busy, you could just walk to the other and see if things were quieter there. The H building is in the middle of the complex, so it is about the same distance to either bbq/pool area.

The photo below shows the lanai at unit H-105. It runs the full length of the unit, with doors on both ends – one from the living room and one from the bedroom. You can just see the building where one of the pool/bbq areas is.

The grounds at the Maui Banyan are very well kept and quiet. It was a nice place to walk and look around at the tropical plants. There seemed to always be people working away to keep things looking good.

Shauna really enjoyed taking photos of the many tropical flowers there. Here is one that she took, but you can also see the rest of her Maui Banyan photos on her Flickr Account here. She has some more photos from inside the unit as well.

Building H is far enough back from South Kihei Road that we could not hear the traffic. We found Kihei to be a great location to stay. The beach is right across the street so if you don’t want to drive, you don’t have to. But it is close enough to the beaches of Wailea, without having to pay the excessive prices of the Wailea resorts. Kihei is about a twenty minute drive to Kahului, and about a 40 minute drive to Lahaina.

The owners of this condo were very good to deal with.

Here is the link to their website: http://romanticmauicondo.com/

 

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Fred’s Mexican Restaurant

Fred’s Mexican Cafe is located on South Kihei Road, and is right next door to the Maui Banyan.  Every time we passed by it looked busy, which we figured was a pretty good sign. So of course we had to check it out.

We weren’t sure what to expect from a Mexican restaurant in Hawaii, but we found it to be quite good. They have a pretty big menu, and you get a lot of food at a decent price. I especially liked the Surf and Turf Burrito. It was huge, and I could only eat half of it. The other half made a great lunch the next day.

Tuesdays are their specials night, so they are even busier than normal. We went to Fred’s on a Tuesday night during our 2009 trip. All the waitresses were wearing funny t-shirts that said things like ‘Kiss my Taco Tuesday’

Moose McGillycuddy’s is upstairs of Fred’s. They also seemed very busy, but we didn’t get around to going there. The only time I went up there was to use the washroom, which apparently they share with Fred’s.

Fred’s is worth checking out if you like Mexican food, and we will go back again on our next trip.

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Sansei Seafood and Sushi

During our first trip to Maui, we found one of the best restaurants we have ever been to – Sansei Seafood Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Kihei. We stumbled on to in by accident during our wedding trip in 2008. We had wanted to go to the nearby rib restaurant, however it was full so we ended up at Sansei.

It ended up being one of the best meals we had eaten, possibly ever. Shauna had the Mango Crab Salad Handroll that night (and pretty much every other time we went back as well). I had the Grilled Fresh Hawaiian Ahi with their Shrimp Cake, shown in the photo below. Wow. It was amazingly good.

We went back a few nights later during our 2008 trip. We tried the Ahi Poke, California Roll, Rainbow Roll, and of course the Mango Crab Salad Handroll.

So of course on the first night of our 2009 trip we went back to Sansei.  Just for old times sake we had many of the same things we had tried during our previous trip… Ahi Poke, California Roll, Rainbow Roll, and Mango Crab Salad Handroll. It ended up being every bit as good as we had remembered.

Before we went into the restaurant, we were looking at the menu outside and noticed that they have a discount night from 5-6pm on Sunday and Monday nights. Most of the items are 50% off. So of course we went back again our second night to enjoy the discounted prices.

We ended up going to Sansei four times during our ten night stay of 2009. The rainbow roll and california roll showed below were two of our favorites. (We are not too adventurous with our sushi.)

We did not find a bad item on the menu, and can highly recommend the Grilled Fresh Hawaiian Ahi with Shrimp Cake, Ahi Poke, California Roll, Rainbow Roll, and Mango Crab Salad Handroll, Sunomono salad, Seared Ahi Salad, and Maui Style Teriyaki Beef.

I tried the Maui Style Teriyaki Beef on our last night. It was one of the best things I ate the entire trip. I let my wife try a piece as well – but just one piece – and she agreed it was amazing. It will certainly be one of the first items I order on our next trip to Maui.

Overall, we went to Sansei six times during our eighteen nights spent on Maui. We also went to the Sansei Restaurant in the Marriott at Waikiki Beach on Oahu. They were just as good, although we liked the island of Maui much more than the island of Oahu, but that is another story for another post.

The restaurant in Kihei will always be one of my favorite restaurants anywhere. Any seafood I eat now just does not compare. There is nothing like well prepared fresh Hawaiian Ahi.

I absolutely recommend Sansei to anyone who is a fan of seafood or sushi. It is on South Kihei Road across from Kalama Beach Park. They are one of Tripadvisor’s top rated restaurants in Kihei.

Their website is: http://www.sanseihawaii.com/index.html

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Kamaole II Beach

Kamaole II beach is located in South Kihei, right across the road from the Maui Banyan condos where we stayed. So of course we ended up spending a fair bit of time there. It was relatively quiet most of the time, and we always enjoyed our time there. It was a great beach for all the usual beach activities: laying in the sun, swimming, snorkeling, and even a bit of boogie boarding. We also got to do a bit of whale watching one day, and saw some giant whales leaping out of the water on the horizon. It was very neat to see from shore. But we couldn’t time the photos right, so weren’t able to get any good shots of them jumping.

We also enjoyed looking around on the rocky point between Kamaole II and Kamaole III. You get a great view from out there, and there were even a few small tide pools to look at. I enjoyed snorkelling around the rocky point, and saw some pretty good schools of fish there.

Quite often there were fishermen on the rocks in the morning and evenings, although I didnt get a chance to join them. Maybe next time…

Here is a Panoramic shot of Kamaole II beach looking South, showing the rocky point between the two beaches:

Kamaole II Beach looking North towards the mountains of West Maui:

We took a lot of photos during the many great sunsets we saw at Kamaole Beach II:

There is also a nice trail which joins Kamaole I, II, and III, which was great for those in our group who liked to go for morning or evening walks. We were usually more interested in just hanging out at the beach though, so we didn’t use the trail.

Overall we were very happy staying so close to such a good beach. It was only a three minute walk from our condo unit at the Maui Banyan, which you can read the full review for here.

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