Think “ Maui ” and you probably think gerontological tourists wearing sock with sandal . But , get away from the overprice resorts and principal into the hobo camp and you ’ll find one of Hawaii ’s last bastions of local culture . Which means there ’s local food too . Here ’s what to eat and how to find it .
Red Sand Beach . AP Photo .
The Road To Hana
Last class , an artist supporter who ’d lived there for 10 years made us a hand drawn map of Hana and Kipahulu and insist we go there on holiday . We did that and , armed with his name and introductions , we made a clump of new friends , camp on a secret pitch-black sand beach and just had an awful clip in a berth that ’s largely off - limits to foreigner . Such a sound prison term , in fact , that we just move back and will continue to regularly in the futurity .
Done this way , the slip is anything but expensive . store for off - acme airfare and that several hundred clam will be the the only boastful fiscal hit call for .
We obviously ca n’t share all of those relationships or location , but we can at least give you the power to retrieve and build your own . It ’s probably the neatest part of Hawaii , just one that ingest an opened idea , patience and a horse sense of adventure to bask .
Because there ’s so few businesses , in the schematic sense , out there , you should for the most part plan on cooking your own dinners . Many of these good word are only open for luncheon , one or two days a workweek . And , while all these places are very affordable , particularly render how slap-up the food is , most of them are also John Cash - only , so bring some of that .
One of the best shortcut I can give you for fitting in amongst a caboodle of flower child and underemployed Hawaiians is to skip the traditional rental railcar players and instead useMaui Cruisersto rip some old beater . With one of those , plus a relaxed posture , most people now think Lara and I are topical anaesthetic .
So , let ’s look at spots to eat , staring in Paia and driving around Maui ’s easterly side from N to Confederate States . There is only one road , it ’d take an awful mess of effort to get lost .
Paia
Coconut Glen ’s : The best ice cream in the world is made from coconut milk and other local component . Here , Glen has open a slight hand truck , just a closure or so up from Mana Foods . It should be open most afternoons . I like the chili - chocolate and mint Saratoga chip flavor , but they ’re all bloody mind blowing .
Mana intellectual nourishment : You ’ll need groceries if you ’re stay anywhere further than Paia and this is the last adequate place to buy them . It ’s still by no means a regular grocery storage , so prepare yourself for unwashed hippies . you’re able to grade homemade kombucha from the food shop and the fruits subdivision is full of weird , exotic material you ’ve never find out of . If it ’s there , it ’ll be in - time of year , so just buy the stuff that looks weird .
Haiku
Hana Hou Cafe : Some of the best traditional Hawaiian dishes on the island are made here by Leon , a French chef who used to falsify for Le Bernadin in New York . bulge out with a Pohole Fern salad , then get a Squid Luau , Kalua Pork and Poi plate luncheon . Leon also makes an excellent Mango Daiquiri .
It ’s just sorta a hut and a spread over patio off a strip show mall parking passel , but make yourself for a retentive tiffin or even dinner . This is one of the few hypnotism here that ’ll be open seven nights a calendar week , until 9 post-mortem examination .
daybreak deep brown in camp .
Hana
Coconut Glen ’s : Just before you get to Hana , you ’ll find Glen ’s original hut to the right of the highway . He ’ll probably be standing out front , chop up coconut tree with a panga when you arrive . You ’ll use one of those as a bowlful and a sliver of a carapace as a spoonful . Glen and his significant other are crazy mass , so design on sitting in the hut and wipe out your methamphetamine cream while hear to their wacky story , bizarre cabal theory — the church building “ infected ” Hawaii with Christianity using the lilikoi , which does n’t stop over it being delicious — and frequent insistence that you tell them their shabu cream is the good in the macrocosm . fortuitously , it is , so you ’ll have no job agreeing with machete - wielding lunatic .
Hana Farms Banana Stand : There ’s a number of banana stands on the way into Hana , but hold out for the Hana Farms one . It ’s on the right field , about two miles past Glen ’s and is brown with a brownish grass ceiling . There , they betray a number of banana - based mathematical product , all source from the farm and notably including banana wampum , banana butter and banana curry sauce ; they ’re all not bad and you could ship anything home from there as a token or natural endowment .
They have WiFi — we mentioned mobile phone service stops in Paia , right ? — and friendly staff who can aid you visualise Hana out . Just clear that they ’re swamp with annoying tourists in yellow Camaros all day , every day and examine not to be one of those people . If you’re able to carry off to be cool , you’re able to tell them you know me and they should be a little more helpful than common .
Whatever you do , make indisputable you hail back on either Friday or Saturday , from 4 - 8pm for the best pizza on earth . Alan makes it in a Polynesian - style clay oven of his own construction using component source from this and other local farm . It ’s served wrap in a banana tree foliage and — this is coming from someone who go in Brooklyn — really is the best pizza pie you will ever eat .
Pizza nighttime is BYOB , so bring a example of beer , apportion it , and make new friends . It ’s the biggest ( read : only ) societal effect that re - occurs weekly in Hana , so everyone who ’s anyone will be in attending and this is your chance to find out about local life and maybe even get invited to participate in it .
If you really require to make friend here , show up at the tie-up to begin with in the week and ask about volunteering on Farm Day , which is Midweek . drop a day working firmly in the jungle is a advantage all its own , but this is also how you ’ll earn a fiddling respect and get people to bank you so they might tell you where all the orphic waterfalls , beaches and hiking are .
Photo : Mark Cameron .
Hasegawa General Store : There ’s two stores in Hana , this and the Hana Ranch Store across the street . I prefer Hasegawa as it has a little more palatable food selection and , well , I just discover anything tie in with the Ranch to be annoying . Here , you ’ll be able-bodied to buy beer , canonic foods , canonic tools and outdoor equipment ( although not much beyond maybe a tarp , duct tape and bug sprayer ) and there ’s even an ATM . Open from 7 to 7 every twenty-four hour period , this is the one reliable part of Hana that you ’ll end up returning to virtually every daytime .
surf Burro : Next door to Hasegawa is a little orangish food for thought truck that ’s open for breakfast most days . Here , you ’ll find a decent cupful of coffee and the best breakfast burrito I ’ve ever had . This is the one smear in Hana where you’re able to reliably get one or two bars of electric cell response , come to you all the way from the Big Island , 26 miles or so to your east .
Thai Food By Pranee : You ’ll get wind mass depict this as “ The best Thai solid food outside Thailand . ” I ’ve never been to Thailand , so ca n’t weigh in there , but it is seriously good . You ’ll find the usual Pad Thai and knickknackery , but the real treat is seeing what the local grab is and become that in the curry of your choice . Pranee ’s is located just up from Hana Bay , on the other side of the ball fields from the highway . Walk away from township , on the street that the restaurant is on and at the south closing you ’ll find the trail to Red Sand Beach .
Pranee ’s was closed the entire week we were there this sentence , which was a serious bummer , but it ’s unremarkably unfastened for lunch , most Clarence Day .
The view of Koki from Troy ’s . Photo : Ryan .
Troy ’s Plate Lunch : Only exposed Thursday ’s for luncheon , Troy ’s is well worth the sojourn . He ’s a big spear fisher , and will swear out you whatever he ’s catch that week , breaded and fried and stuffed with crab or lobster . His barbecue porc is also scrumptious , as is anything in his steam plates . Troy himself execute the stand , so take the time to gossip with him while you ’re there . He ’s one of the friendliest guy wire on the island . If you ’re cool , he might even give directions to some of his fishing spot or even call for you to tag along .
Here , you sit at tables situate next to Koki beach , with a view of the ocean , swirling tern , blue skys and green palm trees . A good localisation for a eatery I have never seen .
Koki is the right place in Hana to catch a wave . Just beware the deathly blood - flow that will rive you out to ocean to the right , as you ’re endure on the beach , face at the ocean . I ’d only moot it safe to swim on the left-hand half of the beach and , if there ’s children or rickety natator with you , I ’d want to appoint someone strong and primed to be lifeguard , too .
Kipahulu
Cafe Attitude : Owned by the same multitude as LA ’s famous Cafe Gratitude and Gracias Madre vegan restaurants , the only place to eat in Kapahulu is only overt on Sunday Night and is also sort of an open mic verse reading / comedy / musical effect . Mostly attended by local hipsters , you ’ll get a genuine dose of local color if you put in the effort to take care .
Piilani Highway
Bully ’s Burgers : Driving back towards Kihei ( avoid like the plague ) and Wailea ( plentiful white individual Din Land ) you ’ll discover this beefburger stand about halfway there from Kipahulu . deserving visiting for the views alone , the burgers are also excellent and are made from the cow that survive on the hills behind the viewpoint .
Don’t Bother With
There ’s one hotel in Hana , Travaasa . That ’s a chain and is as expensive and vapid as you ’d anticipate . In need of a bally mary and curious , we visited one day for brunch , where I was served one of the crappiest steak - and - egg of my spirit and paid through the nose for the prerogative .
The view are awesome from the restaurant ’s terrace , but you look at them over the school ’s ball fields , where kids who ca n’t afford to eat there are playing . That contrast is jarring and is n’t really the reason you should be visit Hana . It ’d be right smart prettier just to sit on the beach and cook your own hamburger over a fervour or little camp stove .
For the same reason , I ’d also avoid the Hana Ranch Restaurant . It ’s just total tourist intellectual nourishment : risky hamburgers and soggy french fries . But , they do leave the bath out back unlatched ; they ’re the most honest place to poop in town .
Outdoors shower at Maui Eco Retreat .
Where To Stay
The eternal Hana riddle . If you need to camp , you have two options : Wainapanapa State Park in Hana , which is ill-gotten , crowded and must be booked well in progress or Haleakala National Park in Kipahulu , which as a National Park , is true , low-priced , light and beautiful . That ’s 9.5 miles or about an time of day south of Hana . Drive to the final stage and take the air out to the campsites under the trees , atop the drop .
There ’s other place to camp that are n’t prescribed . It ’s locomote to have to be up to you to bump them with the help of the new Friend you ’re going to make . A day ’s labor on Hana Farms may net you an invite to inner circle there , but no promise .
There ’s a few AirBnB houses in Hana , which book up way ahead of time . They ’re probably you ’re good option .
Faced with several day of substantial rainwater , Lara and I abandoned our individual beach for theMaui Eco Retreat , 24 miles or so back down the Hana Highway . That place is incredible , with shockingly clean facilities , beautiful views and excellent swim and hiking , both down the ocean cliffs and in / around their very own , 150 - foot waterfall . It feels like staying in Hana , but is obviously a long drive aside , so have a bun in the oven that in psyche . One of their secret cabin / buddhist temple would be a great place to expend a honeymoon or just a wild-eyed weekend . You could easy spend two or three days here without wanting or need to leave the property .
FoodhaikuTravel
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