Tommy Bahama – Maui

One of my dearest friends – known to y’all on my blog simply as StB – recently got married in Maui, Hawaii. There was no way I was going to miss this for the world, so I took myself on a week long trip… read along as I share everything I ate on this incredible vacation! 

On Sunday, after a full day of relaxing by the infinity pool, many people had flights to catch that night so we needed a place nearby for dinner – our last big meal with everyone!  After a lot of back and forth, Tommy Bahama was chosen for its proximity to the resort in case dinner ran late, as we were a party of 11 this time.

I wasn’t going to drink after drinking way too much at the wedding the night before, but a quick glance through the cocktail menu found a cocktail that was invented for me: the Cucumber Smash, which was Hendrick’s [gin], St. Germain [elderflower liqueur], and muddled cucumber.  While this was very tasty, I was amused to find that it’d been made incorrectly – the cucumber was not muddled, just a slice tossed on top, so there was little to no cucumber flavor.  The only reason I find this amusing? EPS, who sat across from me, noted that his Santiago Fizz had also been made incorrectly – something about the egg whites being treated improperly (let’s just say someone kept interrupting him so I never heard the full explanation… hahaha).  That’s probably why I never ordered fizzes… the egg white thing skeeves me in case it all gets messed up, though I’ve noticed a resurgence in their popularity in the past year.  In any case, while made incorrectly, my drink was still very tasty.

The lighting was really bad, apologies for the terrible photos – I started with the ahi poke napoleon with capers, sesame, guacamole and flatbread.  The fish was fresh and very flavorful, loved scooping this onto pieces of flatbread and eating it.

Pretty generous portion size, too – I definitely didn’t finish this entire thing (don’t worry, it didn’t go to waste! – I gave half to EPS).

In return, I was rewarded with part of his appetizer: seared scallop sliders, with basil, roma tomatoes, chipotle aioli, Asian slaw, crispy onions.  Don’t ask me what makes the slaw Asian – I didn’t try that part.

Honestly, I only tried a scallop because I wasn’t that hungry.  The scallop was cooked perfectly – a lot of places overcook them and they become chewy nuggets of nothing.  Pretty tender, and I imagine the overall slider was pretty good as I heard no further complaints from EPS.

For my main course, I opted for the Macadamia nut encrusted snapper, as it reminded me of a dish I’ve enjoyed at Roy’s many times.  Something about the Macadamia nut crust just is fantastic – crunchy, while the inside reveals a very tender, moist fish.  The wasabi soy butter on the bottom of the dish was great as well, though I wished they’d put just a touch more so I could dip every piece of fish in it, not just every other piece (the sauce was quickly finished by me, haha).  I really liked my dish, though for $39.50 while sitting in a restaurant inside a clothing store inside a mall…

Also, a note that R, who was sitting across from me, ordered a chicken dish that arrived raw.  No one else seemed to have a problem with their food, but hers was definitely undercooked in the center, which she discovered after eating a bite or two.  Normally, she’d not have said anything, but it’s chicken, and just… what the heck?  So our server brought it back to the kitchen, returned it a bit later, and… it was still very pink and wiggly.  Very odd because they’d clearly tried to cook it more, but the texture was so off-putting that R couldn’t eat any more and just simply focused on eating her green beans.  They took it off our bill, and offered to bring her something else, but she declined… I don’t know how she lasted over the next 12 hours of traveling home and everything!

Yvo says: While I enjoyed the food I ordered, there were definitely hits and misses all around the table, as I heard some people didn’t like some things they ordered.  I couldn’t shake the nagging “tourist trap” feeling I got from the place, either; given that I paid $90 for all that I ate and ordered, I can’t comfortably recommend it.  I’m positive you could find the same dishes even better at a local place instead of a chain restaurant inside a mall in Wailea… it just might require a little research, a little more time than 3 hours till flight time.
depends on what you’re seeking