Going on a West Maui vacation means two things. First, feast your eyes with new sceneries, and second, satisfy your taste buds with the freshest and most delectable cuisines. West Maui is one of the most fantastic places in Hawaii you could ever visit. This sunny coast won’t fail you and your senses, especially your taste buds. You can find lots of restaurants in West Maui, which could put you in a dilemma where to settle. To help you solve this problem, here’s the restaurant spotlight you need.
Meet the Monkeypod Kitchen
Today’s spotlight goes to the Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman, which opened five years ago. It’s almost everyone’s go-to place, and this could be the perfect one for you. The restaurant opens itself for the whole family looking for a tasty dinner, beer lovers, and foodies who want to taste the local aloha cuisine. But what’s the real deal about the Monkeypod Kitchen? Why can’t people get enough of this place? Let us count the ways.
Fascinating Inspiration
First, you might need to know where the restaurant derived its inspiration. The Monkeypod Kitchen based its name on a particular tree known as the monkeypod tree in Hawaii. It’s a single stalk tree with spread branches making a wide canopy. They flourish in Hawaii more than in any other place.
Other trees kill the plants and grass around them, but the monkeypod tree doesn’t. Instead, it makes the grass greener because of the nitrogen it naturally releases. The nitrogen then becomes the soil’s fertilizer.
The Monkeypod Kitchen shares the aloha spirit of the monkeypod tree. They nurture all the people under their canopy through yummy food and friendly staff. They decided to create a more lively and optimistic dining experience for their guests by balancing professionalism and friendliness.
Award-winning Chef
Who doesn’t want to experience the nouvelle cuisine of an award-winning chef? Award-winning Chef Peter Merriman is the person behind the Monkeypod Kitchen. He’s been serving aloha cuisines for thirty years now and is one of the culinary pioneers in Hawaii. In fact, the Los Angeles Times named him as ‘The Pied Piper of Hawaii Regional Cuisine’ because he has shown a consistent commitment to showcasing the richness of local Hawaii.
What’s even more intriguing about Chef Merriman is his locally inspired way of thriving Hawaiian cuisine. He ensures that Monkeypod Kitchen recognizes the hard work of local craftsmen and establishes relationships with them.
Serves a wide range and handcrafted menu
Monkeypod Kitchen takes pride in its handcrafted food and drinks. They have a menu for lunch and dinner, which come at affordable prices.
Drinks and wine room
The restaurant offers culinary cocktails with organic and house-made ingredients. Their Wine by The Glass menu includes four different tastes starting from Bubbles, Whites, Rose, and Reds. They also have dessert wine, which is a refreshing drink to enjoy while catching up.
Don’t forget to consider their craft beer that comes in different sizes. If you prefer non-alcoholic drinks, the Monkeypod Kitchen also has juice, coffee, cold brew vitalitea, iced tea, kombucha, and No Ka Oi or cola.
Appetizers, salads, and pizza menu
Now, enough with the drinks. It’s time for the appetizers. Some of their best sellers include roasted chicken wings, poke tacos, pumpkin patch ravioli, lobster deviled eggs, house cut fries, garlic truffle oil fries, and coco corn chowder. Customers love tacos the most.
Are you a fan of salad? Well, here’s what the Monkeypod Kitchen can offer to you. They have Waipoli farm baby romaine, fresh island herbs, organic farm kale, and Waipoli farm mixed greens.
The pizza menu has Hamakua wild mushroom and truffle oil, Margherita, Kalua pork and pineapple, and Proletariat. All of these are hand-tossed using their 3-day scratch-made crust with imported Italian flour.
Makai, upcountry, and Keiki menu
Another fun and exciting part of their offering is their Makai. This is where you can enjoy the day boat, troll-line, and fish catching experience. You can choose from their fresh island fish sandwich, Pete’s fish and chips, fresh-caught fish tacos, seared ahi steak, and organic macadamia nut-crusted fresh fish. Their fish chips and tacos never fail to amaze their guests, and you should try.
The upcountry menu showcases the farms and fields. You can have their Maui cattle company cheeseburger, saimin, bulgogi pork tacos, and certified Angus New York steak. Meanwhile, their Keiki menu belongs to those crafty young ones. This includes noodles and cheese, which are free for Keiki under three. Get a taste of their King Kong cheeseburger, easy cheesy pizza, monkey business saimin, Keiki fish, and macaroni.
Sides and dessert
Sides and desserts are the most exciting food to satisfy your tastebuds. You can have broccoli for the sides and gelato and pie with flavors of chocolate, strawberry, and banana for dessert.
Lucky live Hawaii
The best way to enjoy a satisfying meal is to have it while listening to live music. At Monkeypod Kitchen, you get to enjoy their live music daily. They have their live music calendar for their three branches: Wailea, Ko Olina, and your destination, Ka’anapali.
Yes, you heard that right! Their branch in West Maui is in Ka’anapali. If you can reserve seats for you and your family, that would be great. But if not, you can still go there as a customer. You can get seats without spending too much time waiting.
Supports Local Business
One last and impressive reason why you should eat at the Monkeypod Kitchen is that they support local businesses and produce. To recap, Chef Merriman recognizes and acknowledges other craftsmen’s hard work and passion. Be it farming, fishing, brewing, cooking, art, and design, the Monkeypod Kitchen welcomes these crafts to their kitchen. They build partnerships to support their local products and encourage artisans to continue their businesses.
Monkeypod Kitchen also does this practice to ensure that their ingredients are all fresh and made from quality craft. They aim to promote the highest quality of aloha spirit and Hawaiian cuisine by introducing these to their guests.
If you also want to show support to Hawaiian locals, even just for a short time, there’s no place like Monkeypod Kitchen for you. You’d get to taste their hard work and passion while enjoying live music!
The post The Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman – Maui Restaurant Spotlight appeared first on Kahana Village.
