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Pizza. Made by Awesome People.

Awesome folks indeed! Remember when I said in the last post that Izakaya was a huge expensive let down? Well, we went to walk around Whaler's plaza afterwards just to browse and see if there was anything interesting and planned on trying a slice of pizza from this joint after seeing the positive reviews.
Partially Eaten Slice of Pepperoni. Yeah my fault. I was eager to get something else in my belly and pizza is my comfort food so my better half and I were nibbling on this during the car ride back to the hotel. She was smart and quick enough to stop me from consuming it all. Always sweet of her to remind a retard (such as myself) to take a picture of the food since I'm the retard who figured to start a food blog no one wants to read. Is the pizza great? Nothing spectacular BUT it's still good. I like the cheese and the dough. I think it's a couple notches above Sbarro. The pepperoni let out a little too much oil. If you look in my picture some of the pepperoni looks strangely dry and jerky-like. Well guess what? I took some napkins to those suckers!

Either way, if I just had a couple slices of pizza I would have been much more satisfied here than Izakaya. The best part was the staff. Super friendly, nice and down-to-earth. I was a couple bucks shy of free validation but the owner punched me a validation on my ticket anyway. Thanks, I most definitely appreciate such a kind gesture. Will definitely go back for a slice and chat when I'm visiting. You should do the same. Thumbs up!

Nikki's Pizza
Whaler's Village Food Court
Lahaina, HI 96767
909-667-0333

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Not much.

My girlfriend loves nigiri. We're on an island, so I figured why not try a sushi place in Kihei? It received decent reviews by people on the Internet. But who is to say that is even correct? Hell, you don't even need to consider my reviews as anything relevant. All I know is I take all reviews with a grain of salt and just go with an open mind. The only issue is sometimes I get overly interested in the food and over order. Happens a lot and we end up with a lot of leftovers and a high bill. Haha. So we drive to the southern part of Maui to try out this place after a loooong day of driving. It's in a strip mall and it was not too busy when we arrived. However, after we sat down more and more people started coming in.
Salmon Nigiri. The girlfriends favorite. Taste was not fresh, she did not enjoy it. Tasted a bit old or frozen ...? Not sure how to describe it but dissatisfied.
Soft Shelled Crab. I usually like this and I'm not sure how old these were or where they were purchased but these small crabs were pretty much hollow. I would dip it in the sauce and surprisingly the ponzu sauce would get absorbed through the batter and into the gaps in the crab so when I bite down, I get a splash of citrus ponzu in my mouth. Overpriced and ripped off.
Ramen. I'm a fan of ramen. My better half enjoys it sometimes but does not enjoy it to the extent I do. This bowl of soupy ramen was probably the only half decent thing we ate at the restaurant. I don't know what it is but even this isn't anything great compared to ramen you could get in Southern California. The noodles tasted like it was packaged, nothing fresh made in-house nor purchased from someone who specializes in ramen. Shoyu soup base was bland, did not seem like anything was simmering for hours. Fish cake was questionable. Hollow and dry, no density in it ... what was this ... fish jerky they threw into the bowl in hopes it would suck up some of the soup-base and expand? *sigh* DO NOT even mention Daikokuya to me. I will cover that establishment at a later time.
Gyoza. Came with the little ramen set. Typical frozen bulk packaged stuff. Tastes like many of the different dumplings you could find at local Asian supermarkets.
Miso Crusted Butterfish. Yeah ... overly fatty, overcooked, lacking in seasoning/glaze.

Oh my you can't imagine how sad we were. Disappointment to the tenth degree. Cheese! So dissatisfied, I recall we ended up dropping by to try a pizza place in Lahaina, which I'll do for my next review. Seriously, this place was a waste of our money. Perhaps our palates are spoiled by the local sushi places we frequent so often or we have just grown to know what is good and fresh nigiri. What I do know: the sushi and cooked food was not very good here. Worst part: being Hawaii, quite overpriced. We lose!

Izakaya Matsu
1280 S. Kihei Rd., Suite 120
Kihei, HI 96753
808-874-0990

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Treats. In the Morning.

What's better than waking up to a nice sea breeze, listening to the oceans crash just 50 yards away, clear skies and having sun rays kiss your skin ever so gently? Nothing to be honest but the addition of having something light and sweet in the morning is always a bonus. My girlfriend and I probably stayed about 6 minutes away from Front St. and ended up here everyday for shaved ice or to try something since there's a lot of places to eat here. Many of the times we misses our chance to try out this small joint because we always ended up here after they closed. So this one morning we were there, at almost 9:00AM.
Red Velvet Cupcake. I am the type who loves cakes and chocolate so what better than a small red velvet cupcake. Yes, the frosting is a lot of sugar in the AM but that's fine because my better half and I always dispose of 90% of the frosting. Call us wasteful but we enjoy our teeth and our taste buds dislike the overwhelming bombardment of sugar attempting to break down our bodies which would only to leave us diabetes and limbless. No offense to anyone but seriously, a lot of people and bakeries focus all this energy in the super sweet frosting. Flavor should be in the cake! About this little fluffy cake: definitely moist but strange at the same time. The cocoa taste was a bit hidden and the texture of the cupcake reminded me of an Asian sponge cake. It definitely is not your traditional cupcake and to be honest I would not buy another one. Just not my preference I guess?
Turkey sandwich with some au jus. The homemade bread is pretty awesome. Almost like your mom made it for you. Fresh chunks of turkey, we both enjoyed this. Very refreshing with local great ingredients. Thumbs up for this one, most definitely.
Currant Scone. So why the scone? Well, my girlfriend and I love tea time/high tea/afternoon tea and we enjoy fresh scones. This one was fresh, but I guess it was sitting out for awhile so it was a bit tough by the time we got to it. Some parts were a little warm still. Either way, this scone was light in taste and sweetness but pretty dense in tense of baking soda. Made me so thirsty!

This place is cozy, the fresh baked bread is wonderful, sandwiches are tasty, and the service is spectacular. I wouldn't hesistant to come back. Just choose your favorite type of pastry though because if you also get a sandwich you might just want to go back to your hotel and sleep until the afternoon. Give this place a try. Is it the best? Most definitely not. Will the service and food provide you with a nice welcoming, home-like feeling? Yes.

Banyan Tree Deli & Bakery
626 Front St.
Lahaina, HI 96761
909-662-3354

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Shrimp. MMMMMMM. Great.

Wow. I love this Shrimp Truck. It's not one of those random ones you have to chase down via Twitter or their website. It's in a set location on the Hawaii in Kahului near the college. We sort of passed it but quickly made a U-turn after realizing it was probably sitting with the group of other trucks.
Hawaiian Scampi Shrimp. I usually hate the shells but these shrimp were so large, juicy and full of flavor I didn't care. We just ate this in the car because the scent was so intoxicating. Funny thing is we already had breakfast a few hours earlier. It's too good to pass up, and yes it's worth it to stuff your face and feel the pain of overstuffing yourself afterwards. We just relaxed in the car, and I peeled all the shrimp so my better half could avoid getting her hands greasy. Great teamwork I think, I peel she eats, then she feeds me. The prices might seem expensive but look at the portions and the size of the shrimp! Love it. Go to Maui, go to this truck, drink all the greasy seasoned juices at the bottom too (just kidding that might clog your arteries). Just make sure you drop by this Shrimp Truck when you're in Maui.

Geste Shrimp Truck
Kahului Beach Rd.
Kahului, HI 96732
808-298-7109

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Burgers. Cool.

Oh Maui, how I miss thee. So one of the first nights my better half and I were here, we saw an interesting cafe and decided to go upstairs to try it for dinner. Why not? Burgers are always a fun thing to have. We double checked reviews just to see what might be good. Environment was very retro with bar stools and the checkered flooring. Pretty neat. There was a nice live band playing that night too.
Blackened Fish Sandwich. I don't fully recall which fish this was but it was pretty juicy. Blackened nice and spicy. Seasoned very well but the fish got cold pretty quick, but I'll attribute that factor to the heavy winds outside. Overall, I'll have to say it wasn't that bad but I should have just gotten a beef burger. For some reason I just thought I should reduce my red meat intake that night.
Bacon Avocado Burger. I thought this burger definitely had a lot more flavor than the fish sandwich I got. Juicy patty, generous portion, seasoned well.

I'd say the only major downfall of this place is that a small size of fries is not included with your order. Instead, we had to order a side of fries for a couple bucks (which I didn't take a picture of) but when you get the fries it'd be the equivalent of feeding a family of four. This did not sit right with me because we're paying decently high prices for these burgers but many other burger joints give a side of fries with the burgers. I am referring to those corporate chains like Islands, Johnny Rockets, Red Robins. As if you're losing much money by giving out some fries with the burgers. That was my only complaint though. Service was great, food was delicious (and hit the spot), and nice environment. If you're in Lahaina and craving some burgers, come here.

Cool Cat Cafe
658 Front St.
Lahaina, HI 96761
808-667-0908

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