We just returned from Maui with a well used copy of this book! We are VERY frequent visitors to Maui (about three times a year). I loved James and Molly's story, their passion for each other and for great food! I appreciate the fact that they are sharing their dining experiences with us (the readers). I highly suggest this book to anyone visiting or living on Maui!
I admit I peeked ahead to see what they thought of my favorite Maui restaurants and it helped me "trust" them to realize we shared similar tastes! Then I read the book cover to cover. Later I downloaded the latest edition. The book paid for itself the first new place we tried, which happened to be Cilantro Fresh Mexican Grill in Lahaina. Having lived in Hawai'i and also places that have some excellent Mexican food (Texas, California, Arizona and MEXICO)...in my opinion, this is the best Mexican food in all of Hawai'i, of course I am open to continue to try other places just to make sure. As it is often difficult to find an affordable dinner on Maui, this was a great place to discover.
Another time we wanted to kiss the book in thanks was after the first bite at Flatbread Company in Pa'ia. I cannot have gluten/wheat, so I had to skip the pizza, but I so enjoyed watching my husband and youngest daughter eat it. My daughter agreed that it was a "spiritual experience!" I enjoyed a salad with the yummy pineapple vinaigrette dressing! The lemonade was a little too tart for us, but loved the iced tea. My husband loved the pomegranate ginger mojito. The desserts were amazing, especially with their homemade whipped cream (sweetened with maple syrup). We found the service to be excellent, too!
Many places we had driven by on former trips and always wondered about. This book gave us the nudge to go ahead and try some of these places, as follows:
Longhi's - The steak WAS awesome, just as the book said. It was also one of the best breakfasts we had (even though Plantation House continues to be our favorite place). My husband thought it was the best french toast on the island. My daughter enjoyed the huge cinnamon roll.
Cafe O Lei - Great place for lunch, just as the book said. We loved the shave ice place downstairs, too!
Maui Tacos - Just figured it was typical fast food, so always avoided. After reading the review, we gave it a try. It was fresh and tasty and a perfect quick meal on the way to a movie.
Mala in Wailea - I appreciate all their organic items on the menu! The organic chicken was ONO!
I'O - It is now our top Lahaina restaurant, too! (Have enjoyed Pacific'o and Feast of Lele in the past.)
We did have two semi-disappointing meals this trip. I should say ONLY two, as we often have many more than that. Thankfully, this book helped us avoid most of those! And I do realize that every restaurant has an off day. Perhaps it was an off day for these two places? After waiting a while in the rain for the Gazebo, we felt it was not worth the wait. The view IS amazing, but you can get the view from the other side of the beach at the Sea House. The food seemed to be typical "diner" food. To me, it tasted like something you'd get at Denny's. It was not bad, but not great either. My husband and daughter had the pancakes and were disappointed. We much prefer Sea House or Plantation House for breakfast in that area (or Longhi's and SeaWatch further away). We had one night to have a romantic dinner, just my husband and I. We decided to try Pineapple Grill. We did not feel the view compared to the view at Plantation House (perhaps it was where we were seated). The service was excellent. The food was good. However, it was so noisy be could hardly hear each other. It was not too crowded, although there was one large group. We decided we did not like yelling at each other from across the table and did not stay for dessert.
Overall it was one ONO meal after another! We enjoyed adding some new winners to the restaurants we already enjoyed on Maui!
James and Molly, mahalo nui loa!