Lineage — Restaurant in Maui

High hopes met with a big let down! Mediocre food experience in Wailea met with a clumsy night of service.

Service: My partner and I had one of the only open reservations at Lineage which was at the bar. I was greeted outside with a friendly face and promptly shown to my seat after being checked in. At the beginning of service a server dropped a glass at the end of the bar. In trying to clean up the shattered glass he dropped a second glass that shattered everywhere. A different server (bartender) dropped our porcelain soup spoon which shattered on the floor as well. This time, I watched the bartender rinse her hand for all of two seconds before making drinks again. I mean, it’s really quite simple - if you touch the dirty floor then wash your hands with soap and warm/hot water for at minimum 30 seconds. It helps prevent customers from getting sick. This did not happen!! During one of the courses my partner was given a clean plate and set of silverware, but this did not happen for any of the other courses.

A manager was helping clear a table where a young family with many small kids dropped napkins, and food, all over the floor. The manager put floor napkins onto the table top. One word: gross. A server, yes, did wipe the table down, but used all of a whisper of sanitizer. Why take the risk of transferring germs onto the table and possibly get people sick? Poor practices that are aimed at quick table turnover and do not prioritize safe practices.

Upon leaving, you have to exit near the kitchen and a server bustling out of the kitchen nearly crashed into me trying to leave. Whoever designed the restaurant made a mistake by putting the entrance and exit door right by the kitchen. This is a disaster waiting to happen! The hosts said goodbye to me but when my partner came out separately he was totally ignored.

Overall, what I’m aiming to point out is the service was clumsy and ensconced with poor health practices.

Atmosphere: The indoor dining area is rather intimate. Dim lights, sleek surfaces warmed with a lot of wood tones. The chairs at the bar were comfortable. Keep in mind, the night of my dinner there were several families with small kids, but I found the restaurant to be quite loud. Listening to kids scream and cry throughout service took away from enjoying the venue and dinner.

I quickly strolled through one of the art galleries that was still open after my meal. When making my way back I passed by the restaurant to see the host sitting down smoking a vape pen.

There’s a lot of little details that just went wrong during my visit. These details make cheapen the experience and feel of the restaurant.

Food: I ordered three courses: the ox tail soup, garlic noodles, and fried cauliflower. The food did not resonate with me. I found the presentation of the soup to be wonderful, but lacking balance. The bread was served on a wooden dish that served as a lid for the soup. The broth was incredibly sweet and could have been balanced with some heat. There was a lot of free floating fat in the dish which I did not enjoy with each bite of the oxtail. I did find the meat to be very tender! I feel there was a missed opportunity for a reveal. You have a lid that gets taken off at the table, so it might be a wow moment if the soup was lightly smoked - serving more of an aromatic versus flavor for the soup.

The garlic noodles were definitely oozing with garlic flavor, but were rather dry. The tiny bit of sprouts on the top were undetectable once mixed in and added next to nothing to the dish. Again, I feel this course was lacking balance. Garlic without the balance of salt, heat, acid, or fat is one note and boring.

The cauliflower was tempura fried on the florets, covered in a curry sauce and topped with what they call a peanut salsa. The tempura batter was everything you’d want it to be - light and crisp. But the rest of the dish fell short. The curry was a mediocre red curry you could find at any average Thai restaurant.

Sadly, I would not recommend this restaurant if you’re looking for an...

When I first viewed the menu, I was not impressed with the selections but more so the crazy asking prices for foods. $45 for half a huli (rotisserie) chicken? Time went on and I heard mostly positive feedback and couldn't understand why. It took a recommendation from my spouse to finally get me here, reluctantly. So, for my birthday dinner with my gang, I chose Lineage. The group text didn't read as excited, but I stuck to my decision.

ATMOSPHERE: The sliver of a restaurant is located in the Shops At Wailea, conjoined to the Island Gourmet Market space as they are in partnership with ABC Stores. The outdoor covered lanai has quite a few seats but sits in an alley as a neighboring business's wall is all you see. The décor is modern and clean. The place was hopping, a very good sign and first impression.

MENU: Teas, sake, wine, beer, and a very nice cocktail menu. Hawaii-based ethnic cuisines of Korean, Filipino, Chinese, Hawaiian dishes and desserts. A tasting menu is coming "fall 2019".

BEVERAGE: Maneki-Neko - $14.00 I had to start off with a foo foo drink! I saw "vodka" and was sold. It wasn't overpowered with alcohol and was very refreshing with lots of citrusy and sweet flavors covered with an egg froth on top.

Pink Palaka - $15.00 Made with cachaca (fermented and distilled sugar cane juice) and dragonfruit, this pink-hued icy drink was not only beautifully presented but delish and packed a punch. Highly recommended.

Makule Kiawe - $15.00 Our friend's drink that we all took a sip of. Bourbon-based, the server came over and "smoked" the drink which infused it with a slightly overpowering woody note.

FOOD: Chicharon - $13.00 A mixture of pig skin and shrimp chips. What made it better was the vinegary SLAB chili pepper water that was poured into shot glasses that we used for dipping. Loved it!

Kim Chee Dip - $8.00 Made with cream cheese, this was very dense and infused with fermented cabbage and all its wondrous flavors. The chips are a Hawaii staple, "won ton" or won tun chips made by the Maebo company, a bit sweet but perfect as its thickness easily takes on the firm dip.

Pipikaula - $5.00 Super soft and salty beef jerkey is mixed with taegu (codfish) providing for a sweet and savory dish. Not what I was expecting but very good.

Pork n Peas - $18.00 A good version includes a bit of cinnamon which I believe it was present. Tender pork strips and sweet green peas in a tomato sauce. Very good. A bit pricey for the portion.

Hoppin' Juan's - $20.00 Hands down my favorite dish of the night. Rice? Really? Yes! Similar to the soul food version, this bowl of wonderful added bits of oxtail, marungay leaves and a bit of gravy. Absolutely worth the pricey $20 fee! Highly recommended.

Hekka - $18.00 Hekka is a local version of chicken noodle soup minus most of the broth. Here, the transparent rice noodles absorbed the shoyu-sugar mixture turning them a deep brown color. Sweet & salty. Very good version.

Squid Luau - $22.00 One of Hawaiian cuisine's stars, this version was a bit too sweet for me and needed more steamed squid. Fresh bits of taro topped the dish which was a nice addition. Overpriced.

DESSERT: Seasonal Sherbet - $4.00 value Previously touted as "Guri Guri", as in the infamous Maui-staple of sweet and creamy sherbet (store located in Maui Mall), this didn't come close to it. Here, it was tangy with low creaminess.

Chocolate - $12 value You receive a merengue tart and a tangy dolup of orange-colored chocolate sauce to swish in.

SERVICE: A friend pre-checked us in so I have no idea how host service went.

Jordan was our happy-go-lucky server. While he checked on us often, it was more visually and not verbally. You wouldn't know he was at the table should you be devouring your food and looking down at your plate.

OVERALL: It was a first time for all of us and everyone was happy we dined here. Some price points were high, but the selections were very...

Don't believe the hype. Went over on a Tuesday night, it was slow, maybe 10 customers, but it just opened. In my opinion this restaurant needs a lot of work, but the top three things are - timing of dishes, a more experienced/trained wait staff, and refinement of their dishes/evaluation of their prices.

First the positive - the cart, a copy of a dim sum cart is a great idea, the kitchen has the ability to quickly put the dishes out, and the drinks menu is well put together.

The good takes care of itself, but here's what needs work -

Timing of dishes - the cart should probably be the first thing you see, because if you order your food first off the menu then it is like, I wish I had seen this first. I went ahead and ordered two items off the cart (more on that later). I was dining alone, yet everything (except rice) came at once, leading the dishes to get cold before I could enjoy them.

For the main course I ordered two dishes - fish and turkey, with a side of rice. However the side of rice came out first with no other dishes and sat there for 15 minutes getting cold. When I notified the server, he said my food should be coming shortly... Which gets me to my next point -

More experienced / trained wait staff. Part of the reason people come to Wailea is because of the service. It is more expensive, but with expectation that you are still getting great value. There are several FANTASTIC restaurants and staffs around here, that offer better value in terms of food and service at a similar or lower cost. I get that it is a new restaurant however it seems that all the servers it is their first job and they are still finding their way. I do not blame them, but there is more to the role than turn in the order, and bring out the food. Even a refill of water would be a step up. This is squarely on the restaurant manager to address, and provide training for.

Refinement of their dishes / evaluation of their prices. I had the cart's Kim Chi chips but... It didn't taste anything like Kim Chi and lacked bite. The fish steamed in a palm leaf was seriously undercooked (I had one piece and didn't eat anymore, when I told the server nothing was done - see point number two) and bland - not what you want for $26 (before tax and tip). I had six items total, and there was nothing that was so good that I would return for.

When I left, I had dropped almost $100. I actually felt ripped off, because I had so many other amazing dining experiences in the area. For that reason I have to strongly recommend against dining here, not because of the money, but by eating here you are denying yourself the opportunity to dine at a top restaurant with amazing food, attentive staff, and a better atmosphere than the shops at Wailea, say like looking out over the ocean or an infinity pool.

Like I said, don't believe the hype, I actually thought that Tin Roof was better food and it's about...