Food Stop: Maui Food Truck Edition!

For the second entry of the “Food Stop” series, we ditch the bright lights of Las Vegas for the wonderful beaches and waters of Hawaii! In keeping with the general vibe of my first post – which was merely to highlight some eats that I most enjoyed in a recently visited city – I’m excited to re-live my few days in what was my inaugural trip to the Islands (finally – I can’t tell you how long I’ve been wanting to go!). Maui food truck scene was everything it was billed up to be, and more.

Food Stop: Las Vegas Strip

Leading up to the trip, I had all sorts of visions of Hawaiian fare in mind – from luau’s, shaved ice and poke bowls, to fresh seafood and all sorts of diverse Polynesian fare – my escape from the Ottawa winter could not come soon enough! What had totally escaped me though was remembering that Hawaii had quite a fantastic food truck scene.

On day 1 on the road from Kaanapali to Wailea – we drove past a small food truck pod in a parking lot and just like that – memories of binge-watching endless episodes of Food Network’s “Eat Street” featuring Hawaiian food trucks came rushing back! Friend recommendations be damned – I was hooked from the first few bites and knew I owed it to my broke daydreaming University self to hit up as many trucks as possible during my condensed week in Wailea… and so we did! And while that meant that some of the classics would not be hit up as hard as I would have liked – I can’t really say I had any regrets… there was just something about nice comforting food coming out from a truck in a parking lot, in beautiful island weather that I can’t have any regrets over. Anyways – enough of my rambling… let’s get to this Food Truck edition already! But first…

Mama’s Fish House

Mama’s Fish House entrance

Ok – sorry for the tease… this one isn’t a food truck – but of all the well-known restaurants and recommendations given to us, this was the one I was equal parts most excited and most apprehensive about. Mama’s Fish House is arguably Maui’s most famous restaurant. Perched on the Northern Shore in the Paia region, a little whiles away from the Airport in Kahului – if anyone has done even the most cursory of google searches, then no doubt that they’ve stumbled upon Mama’s Fish House as a top recommendation. If you have some spare time – do check out the fun adventure behind the founding of the restaurant.

Mama’s Fish House main restaurant building

Reservations are challenging. If you’ve only started hunting for reservations a few days before your trip – then good luck. Mama’s is usually booked out months in advance. We tried calling the Amex Platinum Concierge to see if they had any sway and had a pretty interesting conversation. For starters – the concierge guessed exactly what restaurant we were calling about… and then followed that up by letting us know that the Amex concierge team has been ‘asked’ not to call the restaurant for reservations anymore.

For most people – I suggest calling the restaurant directly and ask to be put on the waiting list as there generally is a solid chance of cancellations a few days out. Another tip is to happily accept a daytime/ afternoon reservation. We had originally tried to get in for dinner but were so happy that it ended up working out the way it did for an early dinner when there was still plenty of daylight outside. The restaurant has a gorgeous bay in front of it and while we waited for our table, we just hung out beach side and enjoyed the wonderful views and sounds of the waves and even 2 big green turtles that were hanging by the beachside. The other great part about dining during the day was that most tables will have a great view of the bay and the waters – something you inevitably miss out on in the nighttime.

The bay right in front of the restaurant

Finally, the food – it was fantastic all-round and definitely lived up to the hype. Not surprisingly – it had a very heavy focus on seafood – but did have a small handful of meat based dishes. As for the seafood dishes – they included an array of Polynesian, Southeast Asian and French influenced preparations. For starters we had shared a Lobster Luau Soup, an Ahi Ceviche and the Maui Seared Octopus dish. For the mains we went for the Hawaiian Kanpachi with Lobster and Crab in a Macadamia nut crust which came with an insanely good beurre blanc, and the Ahi & Mahi Mahi Curry which was more of  panang style curry. Honestly – everything was a treat with both the mains particularly memorable.

Clockwise from top left: Ahi Cevich, Seared Octupus, Nut crusted Kanpachi with Lobster tail & Ahi and Mahi Mahi Curry

I imagine it’s often as busy as when we were there – but it feels like a good, relaxed vibe and the service we had was also fantastic. Wait times between courses was normal and portions was pretty healthy thankfully given that it’s not priced cheaply. Can’t say enough good things about the entire experience and highly recommend making the effort to head there for a meal – especially during daylight hours.

Mama’s main dining room

Some Recs: Rotating menu makes it tricky but if available then the Lobster Luau Soup |  Ahi & Mahi Mahi Curry | Kanpachi in a Nut Crust
Location: 799 Poho Pl, Paia, HI 96779
Hours: Mon-Sun 11am-8:30pm
Pricing ($-$$$$): $$$$
$: 1-19 | $$: 20-39 | $$$: 40-69 | $$$$: 70+ 

Merienda

Without further delay – let’s get to the food trucks. Merienda was one of the first two trucks I came across on the road from Kaanapali to Wailea. Located in a small makeshift food truck pod in the middle of a parking lot in Laihana, was this Filipino owned food truck serving a menu of “light snacks” or “merienda”, with heavy influences from Asia and Mexico.

Okonomiyaki Brussel Sprouts

Most of the menu options looked enticing and amongst our choices were a Okonomiyaki Brussel Sprouts and a Korean style Umami Fries, which were both stellar, especially the brussel sprouts which was such a creative and fun menu item. Having a booking at a Luau later in the night -it took all the willpower I had to avoid going back and trying some more of the items the staff had recommended – including the Beef Chow Fun and the Beef Bulgogi. Definitely will be a repeat next time I find myself traveling through Lahaina – and it should be on your list too!

Umami Fries

Some Recs: Okonomiyaki Brussel Sprouts | Umami Fries | Beef Chow Fun (staff rec)
Location: Laihana Cannery Mall Parking Lot, 1221 HI-30, Lahaina, HI 96761
Hours: Wed-Sun 11am-8pm
Pricing ($-$$$$): $

808 Antojitos

One of Merienda’s neighbors was a non-nonsense looking Mexican truck. I love Mexican food – and I’m especially a sucker for trying new variations or things that I don’t see very often. Whilst normally I would’ve skipped it in favor of newer experiences – I did see that 808 Antojitos had Huarache’s which are an oval shaped fried masa dough topped with savory ingredients – a Mexican street food which gets its name from the Huarache slipper – owing to the oval shape of the dough.

Steak and Cactus Huaraches

The steak and cactus huarache was the highlight and again, such a fun snack to have to munch on in the makeshift parking lot dining area. The beef tongue taco’s were well put together as well. Again, the impending Luau later in the night was weighing on my mind so (un)fortunately had to drag myself away after the first round of orders without getting to try the sopes and gorditas. In any case, whether or not you get a chance to try any of the other items – do not skip the huaraches!

Beef tongue tacos

Must have: Steak (or Mushroom) & Cactus Huaraches
Location: Laihana Cannery Mall Parking Lot, 1221 HI-30, Lahaina, HI 96761
Hours: Wed-Sun 11am-9pm
Pricing ($-$$$$): $

Thai Mee Up

Yes! Tie me up indeed! Right next to one of these food trucks preferably! There are at more than three of these carts around Maui – so really – no excuse not to visit it. I guess this is a good time to mention that quite a number of food trucks in Maui tend to have more than one cart located around the island. Maui has a couple of food truck parks across the island with the Honoapiilani Food Truck Park a particularly large one in Kaanapali, two mini parks either side of the Marriot Courtyard in Kahului (across the Costco) and the Kihei Food Oasis (featured image of this post) in Lahaina (close to Wailea) being some of them.

Having not been to Honoapiilani as it was quite the distance away – I was thrilled with having come across the Kihei Food Oasis which was less than a 10min drive from the Andaz. To boot – it had such a fun atmosphere as well especially on Saturday night when a live band was playing to and a terrific lineup of food trucks.

It was here that we had Thai Mee Up for a second time after initially sampling it at the Kahului park and being so impressed by it. Originally flagged by a jolly front desk associate at the Andaz – he insisted I had to try it and I’m glad I did… twice! Whilst the fried rice and pad thai were really good and I’d happily get them again- the drunken noodles with shrimp were our absolute favorite. In my excitement – both times I forgot to ask them to put on an egg… don’t be like me.

Drunken Noodles with Shrimp

Seasonally – if you’re lucky enough – they offer the drunken noodles with a whole lobster at a pretty reasonable price – and at other times with delicious looking seared scallops. Aiyyyy….  yes.. make it down here if you have the chance!

Fried Rice

Must have: Drunken Noodles with Shrimp… don’t forget to ask them to add an egg on top!
Other Recs: Fried Rice | Pad Thai 
Location: Kihei Food Oasis – South Maui Garden, 30 Alahele Pl, Kihei, HI 96753 /
Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-8pm | Live Music on Saturdays & BYOB everyday
Pricing ($-$$$$): $

El Carrito

El Carrito is an Argentinian themed food truck which comfortably held its own against the more typical Polynesian and Asian fusion concepts surrounding it. Again located in the Kihei Food Oasis, on a busy Saturday night, it’s lineup was neck and neck with that of Thai Mee Up’s – so of course my curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

We sampled some of the Humita (corn, onion, bechamel) and Steak empanada’s and were reminded how amazing an empanada is when its made this well. Aside from the fantastic empanada’s, the truck offers a selection of sandwiches which include a variety of “choripan” sandwiches (option available to make them vegan)  as well as two other signatures. “The Lomito” was our poison of choice and whilst it did take a bit of time to come out, it was worth the wait. The sandwich had a ribeye filling (usually with ham too), swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, their homemade aioli and a fried egg (honestly… is there any savory idea that isn’t made better by adding an egg on top?) and put together it might sound simple but it was so well put together with the ribeye especially coming away easily with every bite. It was a great meal and again would have zero qualms about coming here again especially given how uncommon the concept of an Argentine food truck usually is.

Clockwise from top left: Partial menu board, assorted empanada’s, steak empanada, Lomito

Must have: The Lomi | Any of the 3 empanada’s
Location: Kihei Food Oasis – South Maui Garden, 30 Alahele Pl, Kihei, HI 96753 /
Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-8pm | Live Music on Saturdays & BYOB everyday
Pricing ($-$$$$): $$

Our first trip to Hawaii was so memorable and the food did not disappoint – though ended up being a very different experience than I had expected going in. Condensing all the yummy eats that we had over the course of our trip into a quick list of 5 was an exercise in restraint – but I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to a few others that I desperately wanted to include such as Geste Shrimp, Havens and Kraken Coffee food trucks – which could have easily replaced some of the above names in my final list. Looking back – I’m glad we ventured out down the food truck rabbit hole and would highly recommend it on your next trip – especially if you find your self staying in Wailea with a large family and needing a break from the more semi formal/ familiar dining chains that are present on that strip of the island.

Right… I’m ready to go back now.

Kihei Food Oasis