Mama's Fish House

One of my favorite parts of traveling is going to explore the local cuisine, try out the famed spots, and discover little unknowns.

Today, we’re visiting the world renowned Mama’s Fish House.

Celebrities, politicians, the rich and famous, they all frequent Mama’s. There are rows and rows of smiling framed autographed faces lining the walls when you walk in (sorry for the blur, eventually I’ll be a pro with my new camera!)

Considering my palette is similar to a celebrity’s (it’s not), we were eager to get eating!

Mama’s Fish House is located in Paia, a small town on the Eastern side of Maui. Just past Paia is the very start of the Road to Hana.

A word of wisdom, go in the afternoon around lunchtime. The prices are slightly lower, it’s less crowded, and you’re almost guaranteed to be seated at an open window table overlooking the ocean.

I’m not so sure you’d find yourself that lucky during the dinner rush. Oh, and be sure to call ahead and book your table so you’re absolutely guaranteed the good spots!

The staff are brilliant as well. Our waiter was incredibly knowledgeable about the menu, offering up great suggestions.

We were then presented with this cute little loaf of bread and butter.

Followed by a tiny gazpacho soup, compliments from the kitchen. Each table is brought this soup, so don’t worry, it’ll be coming your way if you’re at a table. Also, it’s absolutely delicious.

It was tomato based with hints of ginger.

We decided we had to order an appetizer. One of their famed dishes is the Lobster guacamole. We needed it. It’s the perfect combination of our favorite ingredients.

Actually, we just love guacamole. Sorry, I’m one of those ‘we’ married people now. So the worst!

The guac is accompanied by homemade taro and sweet potato crisps. They are equally delicious.

There may have been a bit of a battle over who could eat all of the sweet potato ones.

After we filled up on the crisps and guac, our main dishes arrived. We didn’t want to go too heavy with lunch food, so we ordered an entrée and another appetizer. (Always remember, you can order as you like! Don’t feel pressured to get two entrees! Our server was great about this and brought out smaller plates so we could share our meals.)

So out came another famous Mama dish, the Mahi Mahi stuffed with lobster and crab, baked in a macadamia nut crust. An interesting thing about Mama’s Fish House is that they credit the fisherman who caught your meal.

At this moment on their website, it’s the Mahi Mahi caught by Eric Nakamura. It’s a definite unique dining experience, don’t you think?

The photos don’t do it justice. The meal is incredible, brimming with great Hawaiian homestyle food.

We also decided to get shrimp that had been doused in vanilla sauce. I say doused in the best way possible by the way. And usually, shrimp isn’t accompanied by vanilla. It was such an interesting pop of flavors. This may even be a recipe I’ll try to replicate soon… so stay tuned!

Are you feeling hungry yet?

I want to go back already. The food was delicious.

The catch is that it’s not a remotely light meal. You will leave feeling very full, and likely without room for dessert. I actually liked that as it was a switch from the lighter, healthier meals. Sometimes you just need to indulge in a meal like this!

But regardless of if you order dessert, they’ll bring you some coconut haupia squares. I mentioned this briefly in my post on the Luau. It’s basically coconut gelatin, and it is fantastic. J hates it though, so more for me!