My best meal ever? Probably here…

We often get asked by friends about the best food we ever had on our travels, or the best restaurant we ever ate in. It’s a really tough one to answer, but invairably we end up agreeing on one place, even though it’s now nearly 9 years since our meal there.

We spent three days in Maui, relaxing after some day-long hikes in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Asking around, we were constantly being told of the wonderful food on offer at Mama’s Fish House. And so on our final day we decided to take a drive out to the restaurant for lunch. Having hiked in the morning through the dense vegetation to take a swim in the pool in the picture (we had it ourselves!), we were ready for a big lunch.

This was without doubt the most expensive meal we had eaten on our RTW trip, but we were in our final days before coming home so could afford a little splurge. So what was so good about Mama’s? (forgot to take a picture there, hence the nearby pool)

Firstly, the service was outstanding. We were taken care of from the moment we arrived, with valet parking (still a novelty for us Brits) and a warm greeting on arrival from clearly well trained staff. We got a good table, and were given the menus almost immediately. From my memory there was a good number of waiting staff and they were at our table the moment we needed something.

Then the menu – what I remember most was the unique details written for each option: the fish type, the exact location in which it was caught, and even the name of the fisherman who’d caught it. Clearly a menu that had been produced that day, and an antidote to mass catering and the constant freezer to microwave cooking that passes for restaurant food in the UK.

And finally the quality of the fish. It’s hard to do it justice in a written description, but for someone who eats their meals at around the speed of Usain Bolt, I was compelled to slowly savour every mouthful and enjoy the variety of exquisite flavours (and it wasn’t because of the price ) Not just great food, but a beautiful setting and a great experience (make sure your credit cards are not near their max before you go though!)