Mama's Fish House (Maui)

Mama's Fish House. When my friends mentioned going there, by the name of it, I seriously thought it was a local, casual, even hole-in-the-wall type of restaurant (must be the "Mama's" part..I don't know). Wow, was I ever wrong! When I went to their website, I noticed that not only did they take OpenTable reservations, they also had printable PDF menus. Mama's Fish House is also associated with "Inn at Mama's" which has beachfront cottages and garden cottages. Impressive and totally unexpected. Well, on my part anyway.


Everything was confirmed when we arrived at Mama's Fish House. Stunning scenery.

Originally a home on a private beach, there were sculptures, tiki torches, and tropical flowers along the walkway to the restaurant.

There's no doubt you're in Hawaii at Mama's Fish House...the decor says it all.

We started off our dinner with some very tropical cocktails with umbrella and all (from left to right): Guava Colada, Mango Colada, Strawberry Guava Fizz (each at $15)

Bread

Asparagus soup on the house. Tasted like curry actually.

APPETIZERS

Wasabi Crusted Calamari ($18)

Macadamia Nut Crab Cakes with fire and ice relish ($22)

Lobster Guacamole ($20)

MAINS


Mama's Fish House contracts fishermen in the area to catch a bounty of different types of Pacific Ocean fish.  They list the type of fish, who caught it and where it was caught on their menu.


Opakapaka caught in deep reefs near Kaho'olawe Island by Kalani Hirata - Mama's Saute: in garlic butter, white wine and capers ($50)

Mahimahi caught in blue waters beyond Lana'i by Chimo Shipp - Stuffed with lobster & crab and baked in a macadamia nut crust ($54)

Mahimahi and slow-cooked Big Island Wild Boar, Hawaiian style - with baked Hana rainforest banana, Molokai Sweet Potato, Lomi-lomi and a side of poi ($46)

DESSERT


Polynesian Black Pearl - Liliko'l chocolate mousse in a pastry seashell ($14)

My friends and I thought the appetizers were much better than the mains (our favourite appetizer being the wasabi crusted calamari). Given, I really loved my opakapaka...it was cooked to perfection, flaky and moist. My friends, however, didn't really like their mains at all; they thought their mahi mahi was dry and way too much butter was used. 


Very pricey yet underwhelming, you pay for the decor and ambiance at Mama's Fish House (i.e. open windows with ocean breeze and you can hear the tides) but not really the food. The food was not amazing and nothing really blew us away.