maui--wailea/makena area restaurants

It has been 2-3 years since we’ve been to Maui. Anything new to report in the restaurant scene in the Wailea area?

Have you been to The Restaurant at the Hotel Wailea? Elegant, pricey, great views if it’s still light, up on a hill away from the beach.

Other than that, I went to the regular places last November, enjoyed Monkeypod and like Morimoto quite a bit, more than expected. Spago’s was closed when I went. Went to Mama’s Fish House, and while it was lovely, it wasn’t better fish than some of the other places.

Thanks, Barry. Have been to the Hotel Wailea, on a windy night where i think we missed sunset. I remember it as being good but not memorable. Monkey pod is interesting but way too loud–not sure I like a place where the staff wears head-sets–I think we’ve mostly chosen to do take out.

sounds like there’s nothing much new in the last couple of years. We gen enjoy going to Ka’ana kitchen, and we usually go to Gannon’s for the sunset view–cocktails/appetizers. food is mediocre but hard to beat the view. then Pita paradise–often again we take out, but really good food.

Go to Eskimo Candy in Kihei - https://eskimocandy.com/ - 665 Wai Wai Pl, Kihei, HI 96753 - off the beaten path and nothing for ambiance, but amazingly fresh seafood.

I stayed at the Andaz for a week so very familiar with Ka’ana kitchen. Great for breakfast; dinner was mixed. First dinner was a real cluster*, fish needed a steak knife to be cut. Eventually they gave me a free dinner for to do over and that was excellent. But I thought Morimoto’s was better

breakfast is delicious there!!

Chef’s Table @ Mill House (or even just Mill House), Restaurant @ Hotel Wailea, Ka’ana Kitchen, Nick’s Fishmarket, Bar @ FS, Mamas, Pita Paradise

Enjoy!!!

Great to hear - I just coincidentally made reservation for The Mill House.

Lahaina Grill was superb tonight.

Mala - I’m done with that place. Great location but food was so blah. 2nd time disappointing.

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Ahh, hope you love it! We are going for 10 days around July 4th & made a reservation for Mama’s, The Restaurant @ Hotel Wailea and Chef’s Table! Going to Wailea for 4 nights and Westin Villas in Lahaina for 5 so will definitely try Lahaina Grill, Merriman’s & Pulehu. Have to research some other spots out that way.

The Mill House was soooo cool!
What a great setting on the plantation.
Food was excellent.
Chef Table was not open when we went.

We stayed at Westin Ocean villas North this trip. We’ve done South villas and Nanea in the past.
Honua Kai next door north of Nanea is also excellent with amazing accordion sliding doors that make indoors outdoors.

Just got back from Wailea and figured I would share my notes on restaurants, etc. For reference, we stayed at the Grand Wailea (which we really enjoyed - the Napua Club was worth the extra $$$ for the service, room quality and free breakfast, snacks and happy hour everyday).

  • At the Grand Wailea, we really enjoyed the Luau. Thought it was done really well, food was excellent, etc. Would highly recommend. We also ate at HumuHumu and while the view and drinks were top notch during the sunset, the food was overpriced (each entree was about $10-20 more than it should have been), even in a place known for being expensive. It is a great place though to grab a drink at the bar and enjoy the sunset. Molokini was good for lunch but I wouldn’t eat dinner there.
  • At the Four Seasons we ate at both Ferraro’s and Spago. Aside for a hiccup at Ferraro’s (it was my wife’s and my anniversary and when they called out our name to seat us another couple walked up and said they were us and took out table with the best beach view and the restaurant didn’t do anything about it even when I made it to the podium before them being seated), the food and views at both were excellent.
  • Morimoto Maui was the biggest disappointment of the trip. We both got the ramen to start (which was really good), but my dish was so salty it was inedible (it was the duck confit and duck fried rice). My wife thought her dish was fairly blah too. They were responsive though and when I complained they comped the dish though bizarrely insisted that it was prepared correctly.
  • My wife and I both really liked the food at Tommy Bahama. I thought it was the best value of any meal we had and the macadamia crusted grouper was arguably the best dish we each had on the island. The mall it was in was really nice too - with the discounts all of the stores have on the island definitely bring an extra suitcase for shopping if you are in need of clothes.