About
Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman is a farm-to-table eatery and bar that offers Hawaiian cuisine, refreshing beverages, and tasty cocktails in a relaxed setting. Located in Whalers Village on Maui, this restaurant is part of renowned chef Peter Merriman's group of restaurants dedicated to using local, fresh ingredients.Reviews
Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman in Wailea, Maui offers an amazing dining experience with cleverly crafted cocktails and a delicious menu. Reviewers highlight the exceptional staff and service, like Russell who was incredibly helpful and fun to interact with. The Mai Tais are fantastic, the food is spectacular - from wing lovers' favorites to banana cream pie delights. Guests praise the attractively plated dishes such as fish tacos, cheeseburgers, fish sandwiches, and more. Despite some noise due to live music performances, the industriousness of the hardworking staff impresses diners. With modern indoor and outdoor seating creating a vibrant trendy vibe alongside locally sourced food executed superbly.
An amazing dining experience! Cleverly crafted cocktails and a wonderfully delicious menu!! But above the amazing culinary experience was the staff and service! Everyone we encountered was great and our server, Russell, was incredibly helpful and a blast to interact with! Top Notch Experience!
In a nutshell: great food and great service in a very nice atmosphere. Now for the details: We are visiting Maui and decided to go to Monkeypod Kitchen for dinner. It was a Tuesday evening in December and we did not have reservations. We showed up at about 5:30 and were seated within 30 minutes. We were quickly greeted by our server who was friendly and conversational. She took our drink orders, delivered those, and then took our dinner orders. Our table ordered fish and chips, cheeseburger, fish tacos, and a fish sandwich. The orders were delivered in about 15 minutes by staff from the kitchen. The food was attractively plated, but more important, each selection tasted very good. I personally tasted the fish tacos and my wife's cheeseburger and they were great, but others in our party were pleased with their food as well. The only real downside was that the restaurant is a bit noisy with normal restaurant noise as well as a duo performing live music. So, conversation was a little difficult and, of course, raising our voices to converse adds to the noise. But noise is a common restaurant condition, and it did not keep us from thoroughly enjoying our meals. I was impressed with the industriousness of the staff. There was nobody standing around, but they were all on the move like bees in a beehive, doing their part to make the entire organization successful. Good food and a hardworking staff makes for happy customers.
My goal on this trip to Maui is to eat as much fresh fish as possible. My husband ordered the fish tacos and I had the daily special seared tuna melt. Both were both delicious. We split an order of fries which was the perfect amount with our meals. Our server Jared was friendly, informative and attentive. So glad a friend told us to grab lunch here while staying in the area.
We actually came back a second time for lunch before leaving Maui and this time I branched out, ordering the Hawaiian pizza with pork and pineapple. I asked for the jalapenos on the side which was the right choice. The pizza was great. My husband ordered the fish & chips which was also quite nice. The breading was just right, crispy and not too thick. We also decided to try their award-winning Mai Tai cocktail. Quite yummy. Glad we didn't miss it.
Outstanding food.
The hostesses was awesome, very accommodating, and seemed happy to be doing her job. As busy as they were, I expected a longer wait than 10 minutes.
The wife and I went upstairs and just steps into the building, we were greeted by another hostess who seated us on the balcony. We only caught a glimpse of the inside and again when we had navigation to the opposite side of the dining area to the restroom. I feel we were left out as to the feel of the atmosphere. Although the balcony was nice, it was quite breezy, which degraded the experience.
Our server was amazing. He was very well versed in the dishes, being able to explain everything as if he prepared them himself.
For an appetizer, we ordered the lobster deviled eggs. They were good but excessively overpriced for 2 eggs with nothing special except the tiny bit of lobster on top.
The wife had the gnocchi and added chicken. She said it was good but probably will not be getting it again. I thought it was really good and think she didn't care for it because she does not like the dumplings in chicken and dumplings. We didn't know gnocchi is basically a dumping.
I had the chief's seafood special, which was blue marlin. I thought it was amazing, over the top.
Drinks: I had their signature mai Tai. It was the best I've had. The wife had the Lemmon drop. She said it was good.
The price was more than we were expecting to spend for dinner, about $150. We didn't realize this place was higher end. We were looking for half that price. But, the food and service made it worth it.
Our first stop in Maui that's conveniently located right by the Residence Inn Marriott. We came in early on a Monday night and the place was packed, but the wait staff were able to get us promptly seated. Rachel was our server, and she did a great job recommending dishes and drinks. Definitely can recommend the Mai Tai as it was super fresh and tasty. And the food options were fresh and delicious. Poke tacos, Fish tacos, fish sandwich, and fish and chips. And even though we were stuffed, we finished it all with a strawberry pie slice. A shame that the pizza oven was undergoing maintenance as we heard rave reviews about it, but that didn't hamper the experience. Overall, this was a fantastic spot for the start of our vacation Maui. Live music, a bustling and lively dinner spot in a beautiful location, and great staff.