More Maui - brief stay in Kihei this time

Aloha! Reporting back after spending an extra long weekend in Maui. I’ve been to the island many times but this was my first time staying in Kihei. As usual, my daytime meals tend toward not very interesting pre-and post-surf session protein loading, so dinner is where I try new restaurants. I had every intention to put on the one dress and sandals that weren’t flip-flops that I had packed and venture to one of the high-end places in Wailea at some point, but somehow that didn’t happen. So instead there was:

Pizza Madness, Kihei: pretty busy on a weeknight, very local crowd, and while the pizza won’t make me forget my love for the Flatbread Company in Paia (where I usually stay), this was good basic pizza of the type with a thick bready crust (not the buttery biscuity crust of deep dish). It reminded me of the local pizza places of my Rhode Island childhood, and that’s a good thing.

Monkeypod Kitchen, Wailea: bustling and loud, with “interesting” live music, but I managed to snag the last open seat at the bar. I don’t eat seafood of any kind (a character flaw, not an allergy), so I ordered the bulgogi pork tacos with kimchi, jalapeños, asian pear, sriracha and a few other things. Bartender said they were his favorite thing on the menu and I was not disappointed. Very flavorful pork and a high but tolerable heat level once I removed about half of the fresh jalapeño slices. wimp, I know. Then I was entertained by watching the very busy bartenders make many many of their signature mai tais, which looked amazing but I’m not a rum drinker - honey-lilkoi foam? Why not.

Three’s Bar & Grill, Kihei: mixed local and tourist crowd, busy but not crazy on a Saturday evening. The kale salad that the woman sitting next to me ordered looked great so I went with that, adding flat iron steak because y’know, protein-loading for surfing. Nothing mind-blowing, but it had good quality local vegetables, macamadamia nuts (thanks to Homer Simpson I am incapable of saying or writing that word correctly) and a nice ginger dressing.

That’s it! already plotting when I can go back.

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So where did you surf and how were the waves ? I haven’t been to Kihei for quite some time and remember surfing a break near the aquarium . I rented a condo in Kihei and cooked these fabulous seafood meals . Got to get back .

I’m a longboard, gentle wave kind of surfer so mostly I surf Kihei cove, or the breaks on the way to Lahaina. My first day out there were some fun 3-4 foot sets, and then it got smaller the next few days. The break I know of near the aquarium is freight trains, which is the opposite of gentle.

You should definitely go back, for the fish and the surf!

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:surfer::thumbsup:

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Aloha…
Honey-lilikoi foam…yum!
Monkey Pod is a good, fun place.

Too bad you don’t like seafood of any kind, since one of the best sushi places in the islands is in Kihei, in a small strip center…Koiso. . .da bomb!!

Mahalo for your report!