Dinner at Mama's Fish House in Maui, HI

The only reservation that Dan and I had made on this Maui trip was at Mama's Fish House.  It's supposed to be best fancy meal you can get here.  It took awhile for us to get seated, which was annoying, and we ended up getting seated at a kind of strange spot where we were sitting side by side and looking out onto people coming in.  It was an open-air restaurant, but thankfully not too hot.  The good was really good but we got full way too quickly.  We def had our best dish in Hawaii there - the fish cheeks (aka kanpachi collar), which were actually the second thing we ordered but the absolute best.  So meaty and tender and not too greasy.  It was an appetizer that easily could have been an entree.  The fish cheeks alone are worth coming to Mama's.  Now I'm on the hunt for good fish cheeks in NYC.  The meal itself was pricey but wouldn't have been had we been smart and ordered only one entree or maybe skipped entrees altogether and just got another appetizer.  The apps were really top notch.  I just can't justify paying so much for the fish, which I understand was freshly caught, but there's so many places in Maui with great fish for far less. But I don't regret it beause of the collar

Our pretty drinks.  I had to get a real mai thai!

Menu of the day

Menus change daily

Bread and butter and amuse bouche.  I think it was gazpacho or something similar

Side of kahlua boar.  A side and also cheap and delicious

Crispy Kanpachi Collar - natural brewed soy sauce, vinegar, and hawaiian chili pepper.  THE BEST THING WE ATE by favr

poi and pork.  winning combo

The complimentary poi was delish actually.  Very smooth and not too dense

That pork though

Dan got the Ono - sauteed with hamakua mushrooms, garlic, butter, white wine and capers.  I actually liked it better than mine but by the entrees, I was stuffed

I got what was recommended  by several people - Mama's stuffed fish with lobster and crab, baked in a macademia nut crust.  Honestly, for me this was too rich.  The sauce itself was super buttery and just too much.  Plus three fish in one.  It felt like the seafood version of turducken.  I wanted to love it but I was so full and our apps were SO amazing that this felt like a letdown, especially because it was so much more expensive 

My stuffed fish

Complimentary haupia was nice.  We were too full for real dessert