We just ate at Umalu Restaurant in Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii. It’s an outdoor poolside Maui restaurant conveniently on the water at the Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa in West Maui.
We went to the restaurant between lectures at the Maui Photo Festival. The place was PACKED! Though we all came at once, food was served hot and relatively quickly and with a smile. The setting is really beautiful with a bit of the ocean view over the hedge. The location is pretty much directly on the beach, but there’s a bit of a buffer of landscape between the tables and the sand. The pool next to it was bustling with tourist activity.
My wife enjoyed the chicken quesadilla (a huge portion) which was tasty with a little heat and a whole lot of quacamole and sour cream. My waitress suggested the Korean BBQ Bulgogi Beef Sandwich, which I’m indebted to her for. It was served on toasted ciabatta bread with some kind of taro chips and won bok kim chee. The beef was tender sliced angus rib-eye grilled with a sweet Korean BBQ sauce. It was fantastic.
From what we experienced, the meal was superb and not too costly. The iced tea was also fresh brewed black tea (not that purfumy tropical crap that everyone pushes on us.)
We recommend this restaurant if you’re on the upper west side of Maui. Make sure to check out the photos we took of the menu at Umalu before visiting them. Aloha!
FOLLOW UP: We just had another meal. This time I tried the Pork Tacos. They were very good, but they don’t touch the Bulgogi BBQ sandwich. Check out Umalu restaurant in Kaanapali.
