Mala Ocean Tavern — Restaurant in Maui

Māla Ocean Tavern is a spectacular little restaurant located right on the waterfront. We had booked a reservation for 5:45 through our hotel the Four Seasons - we did have an issue when we had arrived that when we had gone to check-in for our reservation time, they didn’t have anything for us on file (luckily we had our itinerary printed with the email confirmation from our concierge). The General Manager, Lisa, was able to get us a table inside at our allotted time, which we were very thankful. With this being said, you need to ensure you book a reservation beforehand. The restaurant does have a nice amount of outdoor seating overlooking the water but inside seating was very slim.

Onto our drinks, appetizers, and dinner: DRINKS: I had 2 Socks on the Beach - it was so light and refreshing, and came beautifully presented in a fall class with dried fruit as garnish. My husband had 1 Lion’s Tail and said it was incredible. It came in a smaller coupe but he said it was so smooth and refreshing as well. He also had a local beer and said that was great as well.

APPETIZER: Our waitress had recommended their house speciality Ahi Bruschetta. We had ordered 2 pieces of the bruschetta as opposed to the 4 piece option and while I wouldn’t normally eat/order Ahi tuna, we ordered it and we’re glad we did. It came on a stiffer bread with an edamame spread, tomatoes and the most light, flavorful, and thinly sliced ahi tuna on top. It was absolutely incredible. It was the perfect sized appetizer for 2 adults. The balsamic on top was slightly sweet which added so much flavor, and the ahi had a crust on the outside that was very complimentary to the fish. Highly recommend this as an appetizer.

DINNER: I had ordered the Seafood Brodo which was like a soup broth with couscous, prawns, clams, sausage and the best mini baguettes I’ve ever had. The broth again was light and very filling, and was a silky smooth. I’d highly recommend letting the mini baguettes soak up the broth and then eating them - they had a garlic aioli and were out of this world flavorful. Highly recommend. My husband ordered the Catch of the Day - the fish was flakey and cooked to perfection. It had a squash purée I believe and that was also very complimentary to the dish. He said he would highly recommend as well.

Overall we were very impressed with Māla Ocean Tavern from the food, to the drinks, to the wait staff, it was a wonderful experience and was the perfect restaurant to watch the sunset from. We’d go back again!

*Pro Tip for Parking: there is a valet right next to the restaurant - so long as you are dining there, valet is free, you just have to provide your valet with a code from your server (don’t forget to ask at the end of the meal). It’s done off of an App, and you can request your car right...

2017 - Came here for our 2nd anniversary dinner. Called day of and changed our reservation to this restaurant on a recommendation. Staff was nice enough to give us one of the best tables in the house. Experience did not disappoint from start to finish. Everyone was super friendly, attentive, helpful. Gave excellent recommendations. We started with the Ahi bruschetta appetizer - my wife has been craving it every day since. A special watermelon salad, calamari, and seafood pasta were all delicious as well! Great wine list - we enjoyed an excellent zinfandel at a very reasonable price. Will definitely return the next time we are in Maui!

2019 - we returned and it was everything we remembered!! Highly recommend the charred octopus salad! Octopus was tender and flavorful - a great balance point to the feta, onion and olive in the dish. The fish A La Plancha was decadent- purple potato mash was fragrant and sweet, complementing the butter Yukon mash, and both enhancing the moko verse sauce. With a perfectly cooked, moist, flavorful, and tender piece of Mahi it was simply amazing. Don't usually do dessert, but the Caramel Miranda is not to be missed!! Fresh fruit compote is finished with just the right amount of chocolate and caramel! Will be back for sure

2021 - even in difficult times, Mala continues to maintain the highest standards. patio has been updated and extended to be more open and provide an even better view/experience for guests. while the menu was slightly limited compared to prior visits, the quality remained outstanding. my extended family finally went for the first time (after 4 years of encouragement) and claimed it was the "best mean they have had in...

This review from our own experienced. I know this place had 4.6 ⭐️ and I know we didn’t really order or tried enough foods probably, but with our small lunch the other day it was enough for us to visit this place one time. The only thing I really like from this place that we got was the Ube hot bread even though for a roll was cost almost $15 but let’s be real that we’re in Hawaii so I tried to understand some parts.

The beef cheeks tacos was not great. To be honest we both didn’t really like it. The tenderness was nice but the flavor really not what we expected or liked and that alone 3 tacos was $27. Makai Tai drink price was higher $4 more compared to other place (I will not saying the name of the restaurant) and my husband didn’t like that much either. He only got one glass.. in the other place he ordered 2 glass because he like that drink better than at Mala Ocean Tavern. Lastly on the receipt this place charged “kitchen service charge 4%” we don’t really know what’s that all about. I’m not sure if that’s a Hawaii restaurants thing around here. We’ve been to different places and some charged some place didn’t. But with all the pricey food at this place is just make it even worse with kitchen service charged fee. Our waitress was Jennifer and she absolutely had a great personality. Overall...