Aloha Mixed Plate

         During our 1 week in Hawaii, we spent 3 days on Maui and 4 on Oa'hu. On our second night in Maui, we decided to spend an afternoon on Front Street in Lahaina on West Maui. We returned the next day for dinner too, and to the same restaurant too. In the end, we ended up at Aloha Mixed Plate twice for a multitude of reasons. The first was the food, which was obviously good, the second was the price, and the third was the location: right on the water. While it wasn't healthy, it was good, and we were on vacation anyways. It really isn't much of a restaurant, but rather an open air dining area with two sections, one by the water and one a bit higher up, because they can't have intoxicated people in the place close to the water. There really isn't a lot of tables, but the waits are relativly short. If only there was more parking though. Moving on to the menu, it was reasonably priced with the stuff you would expect on a plate lunch menu, with some seafood for the specials of the day. I forgot to take a picture of the menu, but you can see it online here.Now let us move onto the actual food.

         We started the first meal with some Furitake fries just because we felt like we wanted some fries. Anyways, these were actually very good with the combination of seaweed, sesame seeds and whatever else was there. Nothing wrong here, as there was lots of seasoning which provided flavour without any grease. The fries were crispy and potatoey, and was a nice start to a meal. I would give this a 3.5/5 as they weren't anything particular, but were decent none the less. Moving on to the Hamburger Steak which was pretty simple and cheap at $10. Basically it was 2 hamburger steaks with gravy, mushrooms, and onions, completed with 2 scoops of rice and 1 scoop of Mac Salad. This was pretty large, but it did definitely not take away from the taste. The gravy had the perfect amount of salt, especially when eaten with the 2 massive beef patties. The patties tasted pretty fresh, and went well with the perfectly grill mushrooms and onions. The rice was normal, but the Mac Salad was actually pretty good. At least it wasn't mushy like the one we had at Rainbow Drive-In. Pretty good food, so I will give it a 4/5. Moving on to the other entree: the Monchong special for ~$17. It was a bit pricier than all the other dishes, but you could see why. It was fresh Monchong, and they didn't have it the next day which was a good sign for us. The dish came with the usual rice and mac salad, but there was a good amount of fish, with 3 reasonably sized fillets. The fish was cooked perfectly, and there were no bones or anything. There was nothing wrong, although they could have maybe been a bit more creative. Still, very good, and well deserving of a 4/5.
     

                After the great meal, we left satisfied expecting that it would be our last impression of the place. However, we made an attempt to go to Star Noodle, which is also owned by Sheldon Simone who was a former Top Chef contestant. The issue was the hour long wait, which would have taken us to 8 pm.since we arrived at 7. So we came back to Aloha Mixed Plate. On the second visit, we skipped the appys and went straight to 3 main plates. The first was the Aloha Mixed Plate, which consisted of the usual fillers, shoyu chicken, fish, and teriyaki beef. This was a pretty big plate, just like all of them, and it was ok too. The shoyu chicken wasn't anything special, as it wasn't tender, or flavourful. Not great, but the fish was much better. I think it was Mahi Mahi, and it tasted really fresh while being nice and firm while tender. The flavours were simple, but there really is nothing wrong with it. Meanwhile, the beef suffered from the same issue as the chicken: untenderness. It was flavourful though. s that it didn't taste very fresh, and it wasn't too flavourful. A 1.5/5.

The next dish was the Mochiko Chicken. It was basically pieces of boneless chicken with batter and syrup. It was too sweet, and was not very crunchy due to the liquid. It wasn't great, so I would give it a 2/5. The final plate was the tofu stir fry, which was a weird choice but I didn't have one. Consisting of tofu, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms and onions. It wasn't very fresh, and was rather overcooked. Personally, I didn't like it at all and I will give it a 2/5 too. So in the end, the dishes are rather hit and miss, as you could see with the difference between the two visits.

Bottom Line: Hit and Miss
Tip: Check Out the Specials
Overall: 3.5/5
             

Nico's At Pier 38

         One day, the family was on our way for lunch at a nearby lunch spot. However, this was an epic fail as the restaurant wasn't even open on weekends. Luckily, I had a backup plan, which was the nearby Nico's at Pier 38. This is what some people call a tourist attraction, others a place for good food. Well, we were going to find out either way. This place is really located in an industrial area, but people still tend to find it. It really is open air dining, since the building has open windows and a patio, and consists of a restaurant and a store. The restaurant serves food cafeteria style, so you order and  they prepare your food quite slowly, but give you an electronic buzzer so you can pick up your food. The other section is a store where you can pick up very fresh poke and pre-packaged sushi. The prices on both sides are very fresh, behind in a fishing area, an prices very reasonable for what you get. Oh, and Guy Fieri visited this place too on Triple DDDs.

         The first plate we got was the Furitake Encrusted Ahi (Tuna) which was about $13. Everything was about $13 dollars, and since I forgot the prices I'll just say everything is under $15. This was cooked medium rare, just like a steak, and all I can say is that this is the best way to get it. It was cooked perfectly, very tender and juicy, and the Furitake was very flavourful. Nothing to complain about here, as the salad and rice were good too.However, they only had 1 scoop of rice for some reason, since the normal seemed to be 2 scoops. However, this was still a fantastic 4.5/5 plate of fish and food. We also got 2 deep fried dishes, which were the Beer Battered Mahi Mahi and the some other fish. that was on the daily specials. They were both $13, and the batters were both perfect, crispy but not greasy nor heavy. The fish was flaky and juicy, which meant that every bite was a delight. It also came with a tartar sauce was absolutely perfect, and the tanginess of the sauce was great and went along with the fish. Personally, the mahi mahi was lighter than the other fish, and was great. Moving on to the other part of fish and chips: the chips. They definitely know their way around a deep fryer, as the fries were crispy and not greasy.  I would give both of them a 5/5 as everything was perfect, along with the salad lathered with mayo. Both perfect 5/5 dishes. Would recommend both of the deep fried plates and the ahi to anyone. You can't go wrong with the fish on the menu.

           The other part of the building was the store part, where they sold the sushi and poke. While the raw ahi looked very fresh and was reasonably price, we decided against it. Instead, we went for some poke because everyone liked poke. I forgot the prices, but it was about the same as all other places. We got 2 different containers of shoyu poke and spicy poke, and the response was mixed. I personally liked it better at Ono Seafood because this one was rather chewy in a bad way. It was also less firm. However, my mom and sister liked it so what do I know? The shoyu poke was not very flavourful, and the fish didn't seem as fresh as it looked. MEanwhile, the spicy poke was slathered was mayo and tobiko and onion. The whole works, and the mayo covered the odd scent. Not that it was that noticable, but just something I noticed. In the end, I would give the pokes a 3/5, so it was decent but not the greatest. The meal wasn't bad for a backup plan, at a 4.5/5.

Bottom Line: Really Good Seafood
Tip: Make The Trip Out
Overall: 4.5/5