A review of an award-winning restaurant.I don’t know if any Maui restaurant has received more awards than The Waterfront, but I am sure this restaurant earns and justly deserves the honors it has been awarded.
Let me just describe the food and see if I can’t get you hungry and excited about getting off the couch and down to Ma‘alaea for a great dinner. Well, really, if you’re going to be eating (in your dreams) with us, you should meet the people at the table. First, I’m there. You knew that. Meet Gil and Carrie Lee Carlascio. He’s a retired guy who can’t stop working; she’s a real Mrs. Fixit who (really) is a finicky eater. You’d love them.
Let’s eat.
First course: I usually order the shrimp cocktail. This time, we ordered two appetizers to share: crab stuffed mushroom caps au gratin and baked triple cream Danish brie. The ’shrooms were thick, and had a perfect texture. The stuffing and boiling hot cheeses with veggies and garlic lemon butter sauce turned them into what might be the best thing that ever happened to a fungus. The brie was delicious on its own. The mac nuts, apple slices, strawberries and toast were welcome bonuses.
Second course, the entrée: I ordered beef tenderloin tournedos au poivre served in cognac cream demi-glace. The peppery front flavor was a grand complement to the demi-glace, and the two worked together to give tenderloin the beefy flavor of a delicate, but genuine steak.
Speaking of genuine steak, Gil ordered the grilled rib eye steak. This is steak squared, with all the big, bold flavor of excellent beef. Rib eye has enough fat to flavor itself, but, because it is served with compound butter a la maitre d’hotel, the kitchen is free to trim to meat to perfection on the way to the grill. Perfection.
Can’t quite call Carrie Lee’s mahi-mahi a la Meunière. She chose mahi-mahi over monchong and opakapaka and some other fish I don’t recall. Having chosen a fish, she had to also choose a recipe. Mahi doesn’t need a lot of fuss, so grilled and Meunière was a good choice—or seemed so. “It’s not as lemony as it could be,” she said. My portion of her serving was also a little lemon deficient, then I noticed there was no fresh lemon on the table or on Carrie Lee’s plate.
I’ve eaten at The Waterfront on relatively rare occasions for many years, and I’d call this the biggest mistake I’ve ever seen there. Still, it was a mistake. Maybe the silver lining in that cloud is this: Fish squirted with fresh lemon really doesn’t keep that well as leftovers, and although we all tasted it, Carrie Lee left with a sizable leftover portion, too.
Third course: Dessert! Mm. Let me say that again: Dessert. For dessert we ordered in the style of the first course. That is, we had them bring two for sharing. Upside down apple pie made with a crust of pecans at the bottom (served on top, hence “upside down.”) You’ve never had an apple pie more perfectly spiced, and the pecans add much more than you’d imagine. (P.S. The recipe for this pie is at www.waterfrontrestaurant.net.) Our second dessert was Tahitian vanilla bean crème brûlée. Flavor is a lovely thing in a crème brûlée, but a velvety texture is heaven. This one qualifies as pure heaven.
There are a lot of other things on the menu that qualify for superlatives. In fact, with the possible exception of the not adequately lemony Meunière, I’d say, “You can’t miss.”
In case you’re not already familiar with The Waterfront, maybe you’re wondering who’s been giving them the awards I mentioned earlier. Here’s the top of the list: Best Seafood and Best Continental Cuisine in Hawai‘i, Zagat Survey; Best Service on Maui, The Maui News, seven years; Best Seafood on Maui, The Maui News, three years; Top Maui Restaurant, 2006 Hale ‘Aina Award, Honolulu Magazine; and Award of Excellence, Wine Spectator Magazine, 12 years.
Hungry yet? You know what to do and where to do it. The Smith family, owners of The Waterfront, will take good care of you.