Hearts in Hawai'i
Our Trip To Maui (2018)--Day 8
5/12/2018
It's Saturday, which means our First Saturday tradition of the Swap Meet is in effect! An early morning drive from Lahaina to Kahului is always enjoyable as the traffic is light, and with an entry fee of $0.50 and tons of merchandise to browse through, this is always a fun activity to partake in. I only found one T-shirt and am slightly disappointed by that. The Samosas are still being sold here, but I restrained myself from these tasty fried treats. Back to the T-shirts--I was hoping to score some good shirts to fulfill my "quota", but will now have to rely on the Front Street shops (there are plenty, but they all seem to offer basically the same stuff) to fill our checked luggage with these.
Maui Swap Meet
Morning view from the lanai
Doggo on the beach!
The trade winds were back in force today, but it still felt hot! I baked in the sun for a while, and then we headed out for our dinner destination--Monkeypod Kitchen in Wailea. We've never dined here before, but it comes very highly recommended, so we felt it was time to give them a try.
Arriving a half hour before our 6 p.m. reservation, we asked if we could be seated early. The hostess said it was possible and we're given a buzzer. Heading outside to wait, taking in that wonderful late afternoon air, we eventually were seated just before 6:00. The atmosphere can be best described as "garden", as it felt like we were sitting in the middle of a garden at our outside table. Gilbert, our server, was extremely friendly and engaging. When he asked if we've been here before and I said we hadn't, he replied "You're going to love it here".
And we did! For the most part. Gilbert spent some time talking about the farm-to-table concept, always of interest to me. I support this concept with the additional knowledge that it tends to make menu items more expensive. It's a personal choice--do you want standard ingredients and cheaper items, or do you want fresh, healthier items which will probably cost more? Obviously, I choose the later...most of the time.
Gilbert also explained the specials of the day, including a 7-oz filet going for $42. This sounded somewhat interesting to me, but I rather had my heart set on trying their pizza out. I order the Proletariat Pizza, and this little beauty features fennel sausage, pepperoni, onions, olives, green peppers and cheese. It's a decent size pizza, about 12" but it's not cheap, priced at $18.95. We started with an order of Wood Roasted Chicken Wings--those Jidori wings packed some heat, more so than Patty was hoping for. Patty then ordered the Fresh Island Herbs Farm Organic Kale, featuring Maui onions, raisins, Mac nuts and Mandarin Oranges. Throughout, Gilbert was more than helpful but a little strong on the sales side, trying to talk us into ordering the Mango Pie, which he claimed "everyone is ordering". But we were full and politely declined. Actually, Patty said after we left that what she ordered, and the wings, didn't fill her, and it's one of those rare times where we differed on our opinion of a restaurant. I did agree with her on that everything here was pricey, even by Maui standards.
But, the service and the atmosphere were the best we've found on this trip, so far. Worth the price? I reminded Patty that the $59 pre-tip tab seemed high in the context of where we've eaten on this trip, but it paled in comparison to some of our Maui dining experiences in past trips.
View from our table at Monkeypod Kitchen
Proletariat Pizza at Monkeypod
We enjoyed a wonderful ride home (I love driving on Maui!) and got back to the hotel just after sunset. No hot tub tonight, and I crashed out by 9:00.
Previous: 5/11/2018--Our Trip To Maui (2018)--Day 7
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