Mama’s and the Fourth Day

Today we are rolling into the fourth day of our trip with more drizzling rain. After eating through most of the breakfast leftovers from yesterday many of us ventured out for some snorkeling. Again, turtles. It’s a great cove for turtles! 

A little work was done and some showers were taken in preparation for our nice dinner out, but before that we lunched on the ribs leftovers and if you’re sensing a theme here, yes we indeed have lots of leftovers. We are hoping to plow through some of them so we don’t waste any food. 

By 1pm we were ready to venture to the other side of the island to the town of Paia where shops and trinkets awaited our open wallets. We found gelato and tried tons of flavors like pineapple upside down cake, pistachio, POG, and even one named Lahaina. They were delicious and it satisfied a few people who love love love gelato.  

Our dinner reservations were for Mama’s Fish House which is an island staple for us when we are here. Sadly, it’s a place that requires reservations almost five months in advance so it’s not a place you can just “pop into.” 

The views and location are stunning, but the restaurant decor is also elegant and well appointed. It’s a show stopping evening for sure. 

Due to COVID, our group of 13 wasn’t able to sit as a large group so we were a table of six and seven respectfully. Their menu has loads of fresh fish and prices in the $$$$ range per person. Many of us chose to split an entree to remove the issue mentioned earlier of leftovers. This is probably a good idea at a restaurant like this due to the cost, but we were also able to sample from each other’s plates, have a salad, and enjoy the table bread. Luckily, someone else took photos of their meals because I completely forgot. 

Short ribs and lobster tails for our kids and the table bread. We got stuffed Kona Kanpachi stuffed with lobster and crab, baked in a Macadamia nut crust, with potatoes and asparagus and it was delicious. Some very talented people work here! This dessert was purchased just for the photo. Behold, the Polynesian Black Pearl. 

And did you know the restaurant has a private fishing staff for their fish? That’s not something I’ve even heard of before. Nobody complained about their meals and in fact, as you can see above, we were so excited about our entrees and appetizers that I didn’t get any photos of them. All of the adults said that it was worth the high price tag (the kids were excited for lobster) and we’ve even read online that this is the second best restaurant in America. For reals? That’s pretty cool to think we’ve been to it! And it has three Michelin stars! You know what they say, you can’t take it with you! 

The restaurant is great for specials occasions and we have two birthdays this weekend in our group. The flower arrangements inside were really rather intricate and all real flowers which seemed unbelievable.

A late night trip to Walmart to get that replacement vase before heading back to our side of the island, and that’s a wrap! 8pm and we are pooped. Some are laying in bed watching the Olympics, while others are just laying in bed ready to drift into dreamland. Another day in paradise.