Frog Blog

Wow … that is about all I can say. It has been just a little hectic around here. New ads going out, new pages going up … if it is work and it takes up the time I hoped to use to blog, there it was!

On the other hand, I finally got a new computer so I can work from home some (not sure if that is good or bad )

Anyway hope to finish my article from last week soon, and I have a bunch of new stuff to write about, including a trip to Oahu!!!

Don’t forget about the forum posting contest … our top poster will receive two free morning Molokini snorkel tours and whale watch!!!

     Sleeping in a little does not mean you can’t still explore the island and have a great day. In real world terms, Maui is a really small place and you can get anywhere on the island (with the exception of Hana) in under two hours. So even though we decided to have a lazy Sunday morning it couldn’t stop us from taking in quite a bit for the rest of the day and heading down South to Wailea.

     The last thing you want to see when you start out to Kihei from Lahaina when you are starting a late day is traffic for miles. That’s exactly what we got though! Just past Launiopoko traffic light the traffic ground to a halt, bringing the question to turn around or try to wait out what could be an hours long situation. Eh, it’s Maui what ya gonna do? So we decided to wait it out, since traffic was at least moving a little. Now, this whole issue could drive me into a five page tirade about Maui’s complete lack of planning for future traffic and questions about whether or not we really need to close the main highway for five hours plus, every time there is a fatality from a traffic accident, but I will leave that for others. After moving along at a snail’s pace for about a half hour traffic finally broke and we were on our way, but now we were REALLY hungry.

     I don’t usually think of stopping at Ma’alaea for lunch, since most of the restaurants are a bit pricey, but there is this little Mexican joint there …  So we decided to have a stop and try Fiesta Time. There is a Fiesta Time in Wailuku that is more of a take out kinda place that serves some of Maui’s best Mexican food, so I hoped the sit down version would be as good. We ordered at the counter from the menus painted on the wall (on the left hand wall are all the standards and on the right you can find a chalkboard with the specials) and took our seats in the restaurant. In a few moments we were served chips and salsa. The chips weren’t quite as crisp as I would have liked, but the salsa was excellent. In a few minutes we were served our entrees. It was lunch, so we weren’t too adventurous, I ordered the two cheese enchilada plate and Natalie ordered the chile relleno plate. Both entrees came with rice and beans, the rice was nice and soft with a good flavor and the beans were creamy had flavor and were topped with cheese, good stuff I could eat everyday. The sauce for my enchiladas was nice and thick with a smoky and spicy flavor, maybe the best enchilada sauce I have had on Maui, but then again it’s hard to mess up cheese enchiladas. Natalies rellenos were large and fried to perfection with a smoky tomato sauce. The portions were huge and the prices were very tame and we both left stuffed. Since we are purchasing yearly memberships to the Maui Ocean Center, I’m sure we will be back to eat here more than a couple of times.

     Next week I will write more about the Maui Ocean Center, but I can say quickly that it is a great aquarium and at $45 for a yearly pass it is one of the best deals going on Maui!

     With our bellies full, we decided it was time to head down to Makena for some beach time! With a young one in tow (who is not always so into the sand) it’s nice to be able to find places where we can take short walks where Cassidy can cruise along without having to work as hard as he does in the sand. The Makena nature walk is short but is perfect for letting him ramble where he wants and explore the world in safety.

I took some photos of some of the flowers we saw out there with my cell phone, so please excuse the image quality. The beach here is great and usually not too crowded. There are also picnic tables for having a snack at the overlook. We also watched people setting up for weddings and thought that this was a great spot for a beautiful wedding. The beach here is small and very private.

    Speaking of being late …. I am running out of time for this post … I guess I will have to finish it tommorrow

     Looking for the biggest night out on the town in Lahaina? Tuesday night is the night for you! Tuesday??? No really, Tuesday is the night to see and be seen in Lahaina and you don’t have to break the bank either. Two of the best Maui bargains are available only on Tuesdays so don’t miss out!

     Compadre’s Taco Tuesday is a great inexpensive party. Enjoy $1 chicken, ground beef or refried bean tacos from the taqueria window and wash them back with $3 margaritas, coronas or corona lights. Live music is provided by rotating artists playing everything from blues to classic rock to jawaiian jams. The party starts at 4PM every Tuesday and gets crowded quickly with locals and tourists alike. $1 tacos end at 8PM and the band plays to 9 or 10PM.

    9PM seem a little early to end your night? Well, that is exactly when Moose McGillycuddy’s Tuesday night $1 drinks is just getting started. Pay a $5 cover charge and drinks are just $1 until midnight. A DJ provides all the music you need to boogie down on Moose’s two dance floors. Expect to see plenty of beautiful people partying down until the 1:30AM closing time.

     If Moose’s is a little too busy for you, you can try Paradice Bluz for pool tables and comfortable seating or check out Mulligan’s or Blue Lagoon at the Wharf Cinema (all three are popular Maui night spots any night of the week).

     I knew it had to come one day … maybe I just wasn’t expecting it so soon or from Marco’s, but here it is, the first bad Maui restaurant review.

     I have eaten at Marco’s in Kihei a couple of times, and the food was always fine. Nothing too great but always good. With this in mind, Natalie and I decided to stop in and try Marco’s in Kahului. I am always a little leery of any restaurant in a strip mall, but proof is in the pudding. Entering Marco’s we were greeted quickly, seated and given menus very quickly as well. The decor is sparse, decorated in blacks and whites and much more comfortable feeling than I would have expected.

     For starters we ordered the bruschetta. The mixture of basil, onions, tomato, garlic, romano and capers was nice, but the dish was not what we were expecting. The tomato mixture was served cold on top of what appeared to be commercial garlic bread. Usually when I think of bruschetta, I think of thin sliced bread topped with whatever mixture and cheese then baked or broiled crispy. The bruschetta wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t great, or what we had expected.

     Next we decided to try the bleu cheese salad. This was a nice sized salad which I would say was a good deal at $9.95. There was plenty of bleu cheese, and we both agreed it was very good.

     For our entrees Natalie ordered the seafood pasta ($24.95). This dish looked and smelled great. Unfortunately, I couldn’t try it due to my shellfish allergies. It looked like it had a ton of seafood in it and Natalie said it was great. I ordered the chicken parmigiana($17.95) which is served atop fettucini with marinara sauce. This is where things really went south. The food was delivered by one of the other servers, and my “chicken” should have never left the kitchen. When the plate arrived at my table, the chicken was black and charred. I mean it looked like a charcoal briquette. I decided to at least give it a bite, and surprise it tasted like charcoal. While that is pretty bad, it could have been solved by an attentive service staff. First, a dish badly burned should have never been sent out of the kitchen. Second, a server should have noticed the condition of the dish. Lastly, if our server had come around to check on us, we could have had it remade or ordered something else. Instead I waited over 15 minutes for a server to come to our table. I know this because there is a clock right above the server area where my server was standing talking to co-workers while I tried to catch eye contact with him. By the time the server came around, I didn’t feel like waiting for another one and the manager took it off the bill.

     A few more problems, I know that we had bruschetta as an appetizer, but we were never offered bread service with our salad or entrees. The manager when I spoke to her about the meal seemed very nonchalant, and as we were driving away appeared to be laughing with our server.

     One more thing, if you charge for soda refills … tell the customer before refilling the soda. I could go on a rant about this alone. The two dollars or so, is not a big deal, it is about greedy owners or servers gouging customers. The cost for a glass of soda is well under 25 cents, that means that four refills would still return a 100% mark up. If you are a waiter doing it to beef up your tips, you might search the internet and see how many people simply deduct refills from their tips. It’s just something I have never understood (unless you are being served canned soda) given the high mark up of soda. Anyway … enough of this rant.

     Bottom line, the food that we were able to eat was good (Natalie really liked the seafood pasta), but the service was lousy and to serve a meal that is completely burned is completely unacceptable. I’m afraid I’d have to give a pass to dining at Marco’s in Kahului.

Aloha,

     We are starting to get a few posters to the Boss Frog forum. If you are reading this stop by and see what is going on over there. The more posts we have, the more useful it will become for all of us. Ask any questions about anything having to do with Hawaii, post reviews of beaches, hikes or activities. We want to make Boss Frog the most useful Hawaii website available. Despite my enormous psychic powers I still need your help to know what you want to see on the Boss Frog website.

     Now the BIG news!!!!

     We are starting the first ever Boss Frog Hawaii Forum poster contest!

     The top poster (not a Boss Frog employee or affiliate) between August 15th and October 31st will receive two adult tickets good for our Sunday morning Frogman II Molokini snorkel trip. This is the same great Molokini tour we offer everyday, just one hour shorter. Enjoy a continental breakfast and BBQ lunch on this great Molokini snorkel tour complements of www.bossfrog.com. 

     Our second largest poster will receive two tickets for our afternoon Molokini or Coral Gardens snorkel tour. This is a great 3 hour afternoon snorkel trip that visits either Molokini or Coral Gardens depending on the weather. The times and dates of availability change seasonally so give us a call at 888-700-3764 to find out more.

     The person posting the third largest number of posts will receive our excellent Road to Hana CD.

     Post about anything you like, and be sure to feel free to answer other posts. They will all be counted. If I notice abuse (overt numbers of unimportant posts, spamming, whatever generally doesn’t look right), I may adjust the number of posts counted, so try to keep posts relevant. I am the sole decider here so just try to think, does this  post add to the information here and I will have no problems counting your posts. This forum can become a great Maui and Hawaii resource if we all just work together. Mahalo in advance!

     (All prizes have no cash value and cannot be redeemed for a cash amount.)

Also, don’t forget to check out your maui wedding photographer for great vacation portraits and photography.

Aloha,

     It’s been a really busy time here at Boss Frog’s getting the new site up and running. Be sure to check out our new Maui bird watching and Maui flower guide pages. The pictures there were provided by Rich Hoback (Maui Flowers) and Janine Russell (Maui birds). Many mahalos!

     If you would like to see more of their work, Janine maintains online galleries at webshots and at betterphoto. I also think you will really enjoy Rich’s photo stories. These folks have given us some great pictures, and it appears that Rich has been visiting our forum so stop by and say hello, or offer up some of your own Maui pictures. We also added a link to Steven Lichti’s photos of Kula Botanical Garden on our Maui flowers page. Mahalo again everyone!

Also, I wanted to mention Jim Stauffer, who was visiting from Ohio and took this great photo.

Along with these wonderful comments:

“Hello from one of your customers!

First I want you to know we had a great time snorkeling with your
company.  In fact, it was the highlight of my Maui vacation.  Nothing was
better.

On the way out from the marina, the boat stopped to pull in three
mahi-mahi fish.  What a sight.  I took a picture and thought you would like
to see it. “

Thanks Jim, if anyone wants to see the full size image of this giant Mahi catching our First Mate Tyler, go to Jim’s website ohionavy.com.

     If you would like more info or would like to book the Maui Quicksilver snorkel tour please visit the Maui Vacation Network.

     Believe it or not, living in the Southeast has a lot of similarities with living in Hawaii. It is a culture of small towns where you are as likely to see ten people you know at the grocery store as not. It is also a culture steeped in a tradition of friends and family and taking care of others around you. A lot of times I think “Aloha” isn’t really all that different from “Southern Hospitality”. One thing I really do miss though, is the ubiquitous Waffle House.

     In the Southeast you can’t go more than two exits down any major highway without seeing the famous Waffle House sign. Waffle House is not like other chains along the highway, in that they offer a sit down meal. The menu leans towards breakfast but offers many other choices as well. The food is not revolutionary or even incredible but it is always darned good! The setting is straight out of the fifties with a soda counter and stuck in place red and chrome rotating stools and orange naugahyde booths that appear to not have been reupholstered in twenty years, but that’s the charm, the comfort that is Waffle House.

     Researching restaurants for the new Boss Frog’s Maui Restaurant Guide, I kept coming across phenomenal reviews for this little place in Wailuku called Tasty Crust. I had driven by it seeing the sign “World Famous Pancakes” several times, and had even noticed that the parking lot was always full. For some reason though, I had just never stopped in.

     After reading one Maui visitors review (they claimed to drive from Lahaina to Wailuku three times during their week long vacation to eat there) touting the great prices, great food and great staff in a “funky little restaurant”, I knew I had to be missing out on something. So on Sunday, Natalie and I loaded up the car and headed off for a day at Iao Valley and maybe more importantly a meal at Tasty Crust.

     When you get to Tasty Crust it really doesn’t look like much, with a small parking area and two signs proclaiming it as home to “World Famous Pancakes”. Upon walking in, I thought I was back home in Alabama for a minute! The restaurant looked almost exactly like my dearly beloved Waffle House. It even has a jukebox, how can you beat that.

     The menu is hand typed paper placed between a laminate and serves everything you would expect from a Waffle House and more. All of your standard breakfast items are there, eggs any way you like them, bacon, hash browns, waffles and sausage. The difference is that you can choose from great Hawaiian style choices such as spam, Portuguese sausage, opakapaka and mahi mahi in addition to the normal choices. You’ll notice I haven’t mentioned the pancakes yet.

     They also offer 16 oz steaks for less than $15 alongside your choice of sides. There are plenty of local mixed plate choices always paired with the ever present two scoop rice one scoop mac salad. The menu looked great for any type of dining at any time of day, but I was there to get my breakfast in the late afternoon thing on.

     Natalie ordered the opakapaka grilled with two eggs sunnyside up. The eggs were cooked perfectly and ran nicely to be sopped up with toast or the two nice sized pieces of opakapaka which were grilled nicely. For my meal I choose my breakfast favorites, scrambled eggs, sausage, hashbrowns and a pancake. The eggs were perfect probably cooked in bacon grease by the taste of them, the hashbrowns were just what I would have ordered at a Waffle House in Alabama, and well what can I say, after moving here I have become a huge fan of Portuguese sausage grilled just crispy on the edges. Now the pancake, that was a different story, it tasted like many other pancakes I have had before, but the way it was cooked, just a bit crispy and then served with a gob of butter and plenty of syrup on the side, was a show stealer.

     Just to add to the fun, our server was extremely nice, she kept my ever emptied iced tea full and when we were paying out the check, when she found out we were from Lahaina, had some great stories about the Lahaina Harbor Rats and her time down in Lahaina (p.s. I hope your hand feels better). I wish I hadn’t been so hungry and could have talked to her more while we were eating, I’m sure that she is a wealth of great Maui stories. Anyway, all that said, I think we found a new favorite haunt when we are visiting Kahului or Wailuku, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner time and just so you know , the final verdict was that it sated our cravings for Waffle House 100% and I hope I don’t get my Southern Alumni Badge taken for this, the pancake was far and away better than any I have had at the Waffle House, and the local style touches may just put this place over the top.

     As you know by now, I like to play tourist on my time off sometimes. Playing tourist at Ka’anapali can be fun, but it is also nice to have a little inside information too. While Leilani’s and Hula Grill are two of my favorite places to eat, they often have long waits for a table. When your stomach is already growling, but you don’t feel like the fast food from the food court, that’s when the extra knowledge really comes in handy.

     Most people who are not staying at the Ka’anapali Beach Hotel may never know about two great choices just off the beach walk. The first is Ka’anapali Mixed Plate, which offers a reasonably priced buffet. The second is the Tiki Bar and Grill. Both are located just a couple of doors North of Whaler’s Village and both offer food with almost no wait.

     Ka’anapali Mixed Plate is located in the front of the KBH hotel. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets with a rotating menu. The food is sort of what you expect from a buffet. Nothing is likely to knock you down and become your new favorite, but at $12.50 for breakfast, $12.95 for lunch and $13.95(4-6 PM earlybird) or $15.95(6-9 PM) at dinner for a full buffet you can’t go to wrong.

     Breakfast features a fresh fruit bar, scrambled eggs, waffles or pancakes, potatoes, white rice and oatmeal every day. Each day features different breakfast meats and entrees such as bacon, glazed ham, fried rice or chicken stir fry.

     Lunch offers a well stocked salad bar and a build your own sandwich station every day. Lunch daily specials may include baked mahi mahi in shitake mushroom sauce, homemade meatloaf, cajun seafood rice or pork lau lau to name a few. With all that food don’t forget to leave room for dessert. Everyday they offer a variety of pies and cakes along with soft serve ice cream. Sodas, tea, juices and coffee are included in the lunch price as well.

     Every night the dinner menu at Ka’anapali Mixed Plate includes carved to order herbed prime rib served with horseradish sauce and au jus, a large salad bar, mashed potatoes, steamed rice and vegetables along with the nightly specials. Some of the specials may include bbq pork ribs, mahi mahi with lemon capers, black bean chicken or Swiss steak. Just like lunch, this also includes a variety of dessert choices, sodas, tea, coffee, juices and soft serve ice cream. Best part, no waiting.

     The Tiki Bar and Grill is another one of the great finds for you at the Ka’anapali Beach Hotel. Every night at 6:30 PM they have a free hula dancing and Hawaiian music show. It’s like a free mini luau! Take a seat at one of the comfortable tables arranged around the poolside stage and relax, a server will bring you a menu and take drink orders as you enjoy a free show.

     The menu is basic but good, featuring burgers, chicken and fish sandwiches, nachos, salads, hotdogs, fries and onion rings all at affordable prices. Drinks from the bar include lava flows, mai tais and the drink of da day in addition to a full bar, wines and draught and bottled beers.

     Hang out after the Hawaiian show as the band plays more music including Hawaiian favorites and contemporary pop, rock and country. It’s a great place to relax enjoy some music in a cool Hawaiian breeze, or if you feel like it, get up and kick your heels on the dance floor. If you don’t feel like taking a table you can always sit at the bar or order food from the grill to take to the beach. Perfect for a budget night out on Maui.

     Ka’anapali Beach Hotel also features the Tiki Terrace Restaurant featuring mouth watering creations by Chef Thomas Murumoto with entrees ranging between $17.95 and $38.95. Don’t forget, KBH is also home to Maui’s only full production magic show Kupanaha - Maui Magic for all Ages a wonderful vegas style dinner show. The show includes hula dancing, Maui history and of course Las Vegas style illusions, fun for the whole family.

     For anyone looking for something fun to do this weekend, consider the Maui Onion Festival at Whaler’s Village in Ka’anapali this weekend. The two day event will feature Maui onion creations from Compadre’s Bar and Grill and The Rusty Harpoon along with many other local restaurants competing for the best Maui Onion recipe. Magician Kenn Serrano will be performing magic and juggling along with the Drums of Tahiti Polynesian Hula for your entertainment. If you are a big eater, maybe you would like to try your hand at the Maui onion eating contest.

17th Annual Maui Onion Festival

At Whaler’s Village in Ka’anapali

Saturday 11AM to 4PM

Sunday 11AM to 4PM

     According to the Chinese Restaurant News there are more than 36,000 Chinese restaurants in the U.S.. To give you some perspective, that is more than the number of McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger Kings combined. So how did Lahaina end up without a single good Chinese restaurant over the past 5 or 6 years? Well, worry no more, with Zuihao’s arrival in late June, Lahaina has added a wonderful source for Chinese cuisine to the massive list of Lahaina restaurants.

     With the waves up a little yesterday, we decided to postpone our usual Thursday beach outing and eat an early meal in Lahaina instead. Ever since they put up the coming soon signs we have been talking about trying the new Chinese restaurant coming to Lahaina. Some how it took us a month after they opened to try it, but now I’m sure we will be back again soon.

     Entering Zuihao, I immediately noticed the comfortable modern dining room with thick chocolate woods and Chinese themed statues and thought, “this is going to be a little more expensive than I expected”. We chose to be seated outside on the patio on Front Street with a beautiful view out to the ocean and were pleasantly surprised at the prices when we received our menus. The appetizers ranged from $7 to $10 and the entrees were between $9 and $22 dollars, quite affordable by Lahaina standards. True to Chinese form, the menu offered tons of choices including meats, poultry, vegetables and noodle dishes.

     Our server Damien, was very friendly and helpful, and very well versed on the menu items. After some discussion we decided to start off with the red sauce wontons, calamari and Natalie decided to try something called a “Confucious Kool Aid”. The wontons were excellent, stuffed with pork and shrimp, cooked not too stiff and not too limp with a spicy red sauce complemented by scallions and cilantro. We also sampled the calamari, which was lightly breaded and fried with a thai basil coulis garnish and served with a sweet hot red chili sauce. The calamari was pleasantly tender, and the sauce served with it could be poured over old shoes and you would swear you’d try them again. The Confucious Kool Aid was  well, honestly I don’t remember what all was in it, but it was very tasty and was served with a little Chinese lantern hanging from a large slice of pineapple.

     For dinner, Damien brought us the Zuihao Sweet and Spicy Shrimp, which appeared to have a light batter and were served with a tangy and lightly spicy sauce. The prawns were cooked to perfection and the sauce was not overbearing to their taste, which was very nice. The Hunan beef was medium spicy and served so that there was very little sauce on the plate with most of the sauce sticking to the beef. The servings of both dishes were generous, more than we could finish and everything was really great. If we had any complaints, it was that we would have liked to have ordered some sort of vegetables to go with the hunan beef, but hey we know that now.

     A little too stuffed for dessert, we didn’t get to try any of the desserts. We were looking at the chocolate torte (something too many Chinese restaurants lack is a little chocolate) and the lychee creme brulee in an almond cookie shell and vowed that we will try them next time. Craig Cohen the Director of Operations is a great guy and is super excited about Zuihao’s future. For any locals reading this, Craig said that on Sundays and Mondays from 5 to 6 they are offering a 50% off Kama’aina special and for any visitors, enjoy a 25% early bird discount on any meal any day between 5 and 6 PM.

Zuihao Chinese Cuisine

900 Front St

(808)667-9020