February 18, 2020 Lunch – Mama’s Fish House, Dinner – ham and Havarti Sandwiches in our room

February 18, 2020 Lunch – Mama’s Fish House, Dinner – ham and Havarti Sandwiches in our room

Today we finally had the best meal of the trip.  It was at Mama’s Fish House.  Cliff and Nancy has recommended it, so we tried to get a reservation and were told the restaurant was fully booked.

We packed up Sparky, our rental car, and left the KOI Resort and drove to an espresso shop in Lahaina so Suzette could get a cup of coffee.  Then we drove to the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge on the way to Wialuku.  We walked about ½ mile along paths surrounding constructed ponds.  There were many shore bits and wading birds standing along the edges of the ponds.  There have been heavy rains so some of the walkways were submerged and we were unable to walk around the ponds.  But that did not interfere with seeing lots of birds .  When we arrived we shared a container of Greek yogurt and honey that we mixed and spread on banana nut bread.  We then walked and watched birds for about twenty minutes.  We saw lots of Black covered herons, Hawaiian stilts, Hawaiian coots, wandering Tatlers, plovers, a killdeer, and a mallard.

It was noon when we left Kealia Pond and drove north to Mama’s Fish House, east of Paia.  When we arrived we were shown to a table in the restaurant within just a few minutes, far faster than the wait last night at Aloha.. Mama’s is a huge restaurant with a 225 person capacity.

A view of part of the restaurant from our table

                                         Suzette and the flower arrangement in the waiting area

 

The view of the ocean from our table

Our waitress was wonderful, explaining all the dishes and specials.  The special that caught our attention was steamed Antarctic Toothfish in a soy flavored broth with a medley of vegetables, including, kale, carrots, radishes, edamame, and several others, we went for i5 hook, line, and sinker.

We started with a coconut milk and fresh mint cocktail that was delicious although a bit sweet.

 We each ordered an appetizer.  I ordered three fish Sashimi which turned out to be the best Sashimi I
have ever tasted with the most unusual and creative preparation I have ever tasted.  Here is the menu
description:  Three Fish Sashimi*
Ahi
ponzu, shiso, Kukui nut
Salmon
calamansi, chili, papaya, Alaea pink salt
Kanpachi
fig-chutney and Molokai black salt

Kanpachi is a member of the amber jack family (an exquisitely tender white fish related to yellowtail).  There were four slices each of the three fish.  The salmon was so tender it literally melted in your mouth. Almost as tender was the Kanpachi.

The calamansi were small citrus crystals from the native fingerling lime.  They were combined with finely cubed papaya.

I particularly liked the addition of black and pink salts and ground Kukui nut.

Suzette’s grilled octopus was also delicious but a bit greasy to my taste even though served with chunks of avocado on a bed of daikon and lots of micro greens.  Suzette thought the octopus was overcooked a bit.  I told her, “As between soft and chewy and firm, I would choose firm.”  I think that is the inevitable trade off with cooking octopus.

One of the most interesting aspects of the menu was the creative use of micro greens.  Almost every dish utilized them. For example, my Sashimi used two or three different micro greens.

About fifteen minutes after our appetizer plates were cleared the Antarctic Toothfish entrée arrived.
It was heavenly.  Finally a properly cooked piece of fish.  The fish had been steamed in a light soy sauce broth with lots of vegetables as stated above.  It was the most tender cooked fish we tasted on
the trip. Foodie heaven, a new fish cooked to perfection.

The fish was served with a bowl of coconut cooked rice that was also delicious. 

We had little difficulty deciding upon a wine.  The bartender suggested Chablis, but when we were served a taste, we thought it tasted too much of Chardonnay.  I said I had seen a Sancerre and when offered a taste of it, we loved its crisp, slightly citrus flavor, so we ordered a bottle of the Sancerre for $74.00.

This was not a cheap meal. The Toothfish dish was $61.00.  The appetizers were $32.00 for the grilled octopus and $28.00 for the three fish Sashimi.

When the dessert menu was offered we took it and decided to end the meal with a cool mouth cleansing passion fruit, cactus fruit, and champagne sorbet.

We loved the meal.

After the meal we drove to the humble Maui Seaside Motel near the airport.  Although it is located next to the ocean and had an Olympic sized swimming pool, it rooms were spartan.

We did not care about amenities because we had to pack and shop for food for the flight back to Albuquerque.

We unloaded all the stuff we had bought from the car and packed it.

Then we drove to Costco to buy a razor, since I had left my old one at the resort and then to the local Foodland near the motel.  It was not as nice as the one in Lahaina. For example, it did not have a separate poke section.  The poke choices were limited and located within the fish department among all the different fish including plastic tubs of freshly caught fish like in a fish market at the wharf. I bought ½ lb. of tuna in soy poke, ¾ lb. of seaweed salad, and a pickled octopus salad.

We also bought potato chips, sliced sandwich meats, an Ichiban beer, mayonnaise, and sliced havarti cheese.  We had been given two loaves of freshly baked whole wheat bread at Mama’s when we asked to take a loaf home.

When we returned to the room we made ham, turkey, and cheese sandwiches for the flight and to eat for dinner as we watched Rachel Maddow.

After a bit of TV we went to bed at 9:30.

We woke up several times during the night during which I finished this blog entry.

Bon Appetit