Maui – Days 5 to 8

Check out my other posts about restaurants and things to do on Maui.

Day 5

This was another laid back day. We snorkeled, hung out, and ate.

But dinner is what I had been looking forward to. We were going next door to a little restaurant in the hotel lobby.

This place changes every time we come (but I think it is all under the same owners). This time it was Cafe O’lei. Lucky for me they were still serving my favorite onion soup.

The Cafe O’lei onion soup is made with Maui onions and a little brandy. Then top it with cheese. And finally, to top it all off, they layer some puff pastry on top and bake it to golden brown. It is seriously to die for.

The rest of the food is very good as well. We had calamari for a starter. I had blackened mahi, my mom had kalbi ribs, the BF had shrimp, and my dad had seared ahi. No one complained about their meal taste wise, but they were a little slow.

Day 6

Thursday was by far my favorite day. We finally made the trip over to Molokai. We (my family) had been talking about doing it for 4 or 5 years.

We took a little airplane over to Kalaupapa via the sea cliff side. These are some of the largest and most impressive sea cliffs. At their tallest they are 3,000 ft above sea level. They also have waterfalls all along the edges.

If you don’t know much about Kalaupapa, it is basically where the leper patients were sent before the medical community found a way to cure it. This was a very educational and slightly depressing tour. You can read more about Kalaupapa here.

While we were waiting for our little plane to come and take us back to Maui, my dad found a few coconuts on the ground. Actually, there were coconuts everywhere.. But he decided to take them with us, and crack them open at the condo. It turned out to have some of the tastiest coconut water and flesh I have ever tasted. And it was fun.

Dinner consisted of kalua pork nachos, a cuban, french fries, flan, and bread pudding. We went to the Maui Brew Company in Kahana. They had an expansive menu, with different (and tempting!) pub food and more. To feature their beers they have a huge chalkboard with all the names and characteristics of the beer. They also had a few different cocktails that were made with a few of their beers. Maui Brew Company is worth a visit if you are on Maui. If not for the beer, go for the food!

Day 7

Since Friday was our last full day we wanted to have a beach day.

We started with getting some of the famous fried rice from the Gazebo, a little restaurant at the same hotel (The Outrigger) Cafe O’lei is located. This is the best fried rice. It has the option of being served with eggs on top, as well as shoyu and sriracha on the side. And it comes with purple cabbage, bacon, portuguese sausage, Maui onions, and something else that I can not remember.

If you go to the Gazebo and have to eat inside, expect to wait an hour to an hour and a half before you even are seated. I recommend skipping the line and getting your food to go. You only have to wait about 10 minutes, and can sit on the beach or at one of the little tables near by.

All day we hung out Lahaina’s beach. And later had some appetizers at Betty’s Beach Cafe. Another good place to go for happy hour!

Dinner was the “swan song” of the trip, according to my Dad. We went to one of our favorite places, Mala Ocean Tavern. It is another place that we make a point to go to each time we visit Maui.

We started with calamari and seared ahi tuna bruschetta. The tuna is especially good. If you get any appetizer, it should be the tuna.

I have had the beet and surfing goat cheese salad. It was also very delicious.

The Balinese stir fry was very good. I had the Asian fried chicken, which was some of the best fried chicken I have had at an sit down restaurant (aka not KFC). It normally comes with the Molokai sweet potatoes but they were unfortunately out so I had the regular mashed potatoes. They were good, but I really wanted to see the purple mashed potatoes!

I tasted the seared sashimi. If you like tuna, it is worth a try. And for dessert we all shared the Caramel Miranda. It was a simple and refreshing end to a decadent meal.

Day 8

Travel day. Basically it consisted of breakfast at the Sea House.

Packing. Walking around Whaler’s Village and Lahaina one last time. Then swimming and eating fish tacos at Makena. And then at 9 pm we had a 6 hour flight to Phoenix.

Luckily we managed to spare some time for some good local Hawaiian food at Da Kitchen in Kihei. It is huge portions of delicious food. I recommend sharing a sandwich or a plate. That will easily feed 2 very hungry people. And we even discovered a Pinkberry at the kahului airport.

I’d love to hear about your favorite Maui restaurants and activities!