We have been coming to this restaurant for years. We always save it for our last night in Maui. We have often overlooked the mediocre food in lieu of the great service and spectacular location and ambiance.
This year however has ended our tradition. The food was so unbelievably bad it was hard to keep a straight face while eating it. And the service started off shifty and ended in a shocking manner.
We had an artichoke appetizer. It was not thoroughly cooked, no flavor, was accompanied by a gloppy lemon mayo that should have over powered the artichoke but sadly didn't. It was flat, precooked and flavorless.
The fried calamari was cold, hard as a rock, and not served as an appetizer as we requested. And NO lemon.. weird.
Then Oh my lord, the carpaccio. It was as thick as a flank steak, lacked any lemon whatsoever, was topped in prefab parmesan - like someone shaved a wax candle over the dish, no mustard, no olive oil, but it did actually have whole cloves of garlic that had been roasted to the point that they were dental hazards....shocking!
I had the Mixed grill: Shrimp, ""Italian sausage"" and grilled chicken breast over ""risotto"". I could forgive the overly fennelled, fatty sausage that had no flavor whasoever if not for the ""risotto' that assaulte3d my plate by way oh Wisconsin. It was short grain white rice with a little butter and a few artichokes thrown in. I really can't fathom how anyone could screw this up that bad...but the rice was watery on top of overcooked.
My mom ordered that filet mignon that was technically cooked correctly, however, it had no salt, no sauce and NO flavor. ZERO. The server told us the steak was AMAZING. Perhaps if you are used to eating at Sizzler. This however was a 40.00 steak. Ugh. The veggies accompanying the steak were boiled and had NO seasoning.
The server came at the beginning of the meal to 'sell' us on the food then dissappeared after she had opened our wine. We literally didn't see her until the bill came. Someone else served our food. When the bill came she said that she had a ""surprise"" for us! Apparently we had made it in just in time for the 'early bird special' so she comped one of our meals. In looking over the bill we noticed that 18% gratuity was INCLUDED. She somehow failed to mention that. We were a party of three with a sleeping baby. On the menu it said that gratuity was only included for parties of 5 or more.
Upon further investigation the server said that she added the tip because one of the entrees had been removed. When I asked why she threatened to take the discount off! I was stunned!
This was the worst food and service we have ever had on Maui...not that the bar is that high. But also possibly one of the worst meals we have ever eaten. Truly.
Please don't waste you time and money. Just grab a towel and head down to the beach with a 1.99 big mac. You'll save about 175 bucks and at least you know what you are getting.
Pros: best setting for a restaurant in Maui
Cons: Food and service
more