Honu Oceanside — Restaurant in Maui

Woo wooooo!! All abooooarrrrd. The hype train is departing for Honu Oceanside.

Sad, bored hostess "greets" us as we enter with a reservation. Gone are the days for her where she feigns pleasantries with the tourists she seems to now disdain. This seemed to be widely commonplace as we stayed longer and longer on Maui, especially in Lahaina despite being friendly and smiley to many hosts/hostesses.

We are seated then greeted by our server, took some time but it was busy in there. She apologized for the delay and was great from then on. No kids menu but they had options. The view is good here. It's literally ON the water. Very cool. They also had their own parking lot which we got a spot in at 7p. Nice.

We order the ahi bruschetta and crabcake apps. The ahi is good and the variety of flavors in this dish were very nice. It was elegant and simple but surprising. Fresh. Overpriced. The crabcake was kinda whack. Really egg-ey flavor. Sauce was flat and bland. Wouldn't rec that and wouldn't order it again.

Entrees were: the scallops, catch of the day (surprise! It's mahi like basically everyone's catch of the day on the west side), marg pizza and - brace for impact gang... $50 fish and chips. On what planet does that price make sense? Why, planet Maui of course. Where the locals hate the primary reason they aren't in depression level economy - the tourism. So three (they were tasty tho) fish filets on a blanket of French fries. Fifty bills. Did I mention the view?

Anyway the scallops were just ok, the potato and mushroom bed they were on was basic. Size was small for 3 scallop entree imo. We don't want some TGI Fridays 6000 calorie gut buster here... but the size of the scallops was inadequate imo. If they're small the sauce and composition needs to be epic imo. It wasn't.

The pizza was decent. Basic pizza. Didn't taste frozen like another reviewer suggested - it was fresh and... it was pizza. Nothing special but it was decent.

The catch of the day had good flavor. Fish was cooked well. sauce was delicate with a touch of richness that brought the mahi to life. The fingerling potatoes were undercooked as were the carrots from the "mixed vegetables" (carrot and spinach). I wasn't disappointed nor impressed.

So overall this is a sick view with nice servers. Basic af food for the price - you're paying for the view gang. Full stop. Chatter about how "amaaahhhzing" this food is is just people rocking themselves gently to placate the fact that they bought $50 fish and chips or some basic mahi dish. Hit it up for stellar views, nice staff oh and the interior is nice/new...

Our dinner was simply delectable, one of the best meals we’ve ever had, on and off the island of Maui. We’ve been around the world and eaten at some of the finest restaurants in Europe and the Americas, and Honu Oceanside was truly, a real culinary treat. The only slight criticism I have is about the appetizers, they were very good, and I hesitate to even critique them, I mean who am I telling these folks how to cook, so it’s purely just my opinion, but you’re the one reading google reviews. Ahi bruschetta could have been a bit smaller, would have made it more manageable to eat, less would have been more in this case. The balsamic and the tomato stole the show and the Ahi played second fiddle, however, great preparation and presentation. The grilled octopus could use a little work, the texture seemed more boiled than grilled, maybe our dish just needed more time over the fire or less time in the pot. But again, good preparation great presentation. The cornmeal fried oysters were a joy to consume, nice flavor, nice seasoning, nice sauce and great preparation and presentation. On to the star of the show, the special they provided that night was Monchong, “sickle pomfret”, locally caught, grilled served over an edamame risotto topped with two grilled shrimp presented in a ginger coconut champagne beurre blanc. Dude… this was the best fish we’ve had, maybe ever, and we’re from the Pacific Northwest, the land of fresh seafood of all kinds. From the first bite of that sweet and mildly spicy sauce to the last forkful of all the missed little specks of fish left soaking on the plate, this dish was extraordinary. The risotto was a perfect match for the fish as well. To end our meal with dessert, the banana cream pie was the perfect coda to a wonderfully Hawaiian dinner experience, light, fluffy, creamy, sweet, really flavorful and not too sugary. The staff was so nice and welcoming we instantly felt comfortable, our hostess our server and the manager were all such a joy to talk to and interact with. The view at sunset was amazing, as I’m sure it is any other time of day. The atmosphere was jovial and comforting and relaxed. I can’t wait to come back here and make it one of the regular places we go to when we’re lucky enough to get back to the...

This restaurant has a stunning ocean view, and we started off really enjoying ourselves. We sat at the bar and ordered a grapefruit martini and an old fashioned, both made by Annabel. She was fantastic—skilled, welcoming, and genuinely great to talk to. Her service set the bar high.

We had the octopus appetizer—wasn’t our thing. Texture was off, kind of boiled and mushy, so we didn’t finish it. The Ono fish and chips, though, were excellent. Fresh, crispy, flavorful. We were already planning to come back the next night to try more.

Then came the issue: another bartender named Gee, whose attitude ruined the entire experience.

A nearby guest asked her a simple, respectful question about how the Lahaina wildfire affected the restaurant. Gee responded with sarcasm, attitude, and zero professionalism—then just walked off mid-conversation. She came across as bitter and completely disinterested in serving customers.

Here’s why that hit hard: Our original trip to Maui had been postponed because of the fires. We wanted to be respectful and give the island time to recover. Even from afar, we donated to local families and animal shelters, hoping to help in any way we could.

And for us, this is personal—we’ve been directly impacted by California wildfires. We’ve been evacuated. We know the stress, the loss, and the emotional toll. So when I tried to relate and show empathy, Gee couldn’t have cared less. No acknowledgment, no human decency—just cold, checked-out attitude.

It honestly felt like she resented having to deal with tourists at all. Which is ironic, considering tourism keeps places like this alive. If you work in hospitality, you should at least act like you want to be there.

Because of her, we canceled our plans to return and went to Mama’s Fish House instead—where the staff were welcoming, respectful, and clearly proud of what they do.

This restaurant has so much potential—great food, great drinks, and people like Annabel who truly understand service. But all it takes is one rude, bitter employee to ruin it.

We won’t be...