Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman - Kaanapali, Maui — Restaurant in Maui

High Praise for Joshua’s Excellent Service at Monkeypod in Whaler’s Village

To Mlle. Adriana, Manager at the Monkeypod at Whaler’s Village in Lahaina, Maui or to Whom It May Concern,

At the outset, I note that I rarely write reviews, however, given my recent experience at Monkeypod, I felt compelled to write this review in order to provide extremely positive feedback concerning “Joshua” an employee/waiter at your location in the Whaler’s Village, Lahaina, Maui.

Approximately two weeks ago, my family and me went to the Monkeypod restaurant in Lahaina located at the Whaler’s Village. The young kids were hungry after a long day of physical activity and the wait for a table. I feared a long and stressful delay in service and food when hosts seated us.

Not the case.

Joshua was assisting with getting the food over to our table, as well as many other tables in the packed restaurant. Joshua was instrumental to our pleasant experience, providing us with excellent service. Joshua, explained menu options, made recommendations and regularly checked in at our table to ensure that we were enjoying our meal and to determine if there was anything else we required.

Despite a packed house, and the several other tables he assisted, Joshua worked efficiently and quickly to get us our meals timely while adopting a tactic I can only describe as “shuttle diplomacy”—going back and forth to several tables to ensure that everything at those tables was copacetic.

Moreover, despite the long line that persisted outside the restaurant, we never felt rushed. Joshua’s menu suggestions resulted in our over-ordering of several delicious plates and, regrettably, we were unable to finish everything. Given the late hour, we requested to take some of the fabulous cuisine to go. Rather than dump a cardboard box in front of me and bring me the bill, Joshua went out of his way to pack the food in an adequate container for my wife and children and brought it out to me in a bag ready to transport the meals home.

In light of Joshua’s gold star service, and how quickly and efficiently he operated, my family and me are inclined to, and indeed will, recommend the Monkeypod in the Whaler’s Village to all of our friends and colleagues looking for great food and undeniably excellent service.

Finally, unable to contact management personally and relay the above, I would appreciate it if Monkeypod would have the above-information reflected in Joshua’s employment files and given due consideration when annual...

What a wonderful experience! We completed a hiking tour today and our guide couldn’t speak enough of this place so we decided to try it!

Secured a spot at 630 and were seated by 730! Great area to walk around and shop while you wait! Make sure to bring your parking ticket to have it vouched so you don’t have to pay for parking!

Going to list by experience first ❤️

Service: was greeted by the manager Joel! Which I must say is so precious and so happy where he works! I hope his corporation appreciates his loyalty and hard efforts! He truly does an amazing job making this food establishment a special place! Next, was our server Cory who, again, had a huge smile and was quick to wait on us! Both immediately described their faves on the menu and the best drink favorites!! Of course my hubs got the mojito and a pic is attached!

Food: bar none was phenomenal! Our server Cory was precious! She and the manager Joel both highly recommend the ahi tuna steak which my husband says was the best he’s ever had! I tasted the ends ( not a fish eater) and I must say was veryyyyyy yummy! That sauce with it makes it over the top! My steak was grilled to medium perfection! The butter melting on top made this very tender steak one of the best I’ve had! The deviled eggs as an appetizer was a huge hit! We thought it may just be an average thing but no the seasoning mixed with the lobster was truly soooo good!!!

Dessert: this is where it gets even better! DO NOT DENY YOURSELF! You will regret! We fought over bites! I personally think the strawberry pie hung the moon!!! Best thing I’ve eaten in years! Not a coconut pie fan and I couldn’t keep out of my hubby’s!! Thank goodness he likes to share 😂❤️

Overall what we thought was a tourist trap became an amazing experience that we’ve told everyone about!

Please meet Joel and tell him about this review and how you can’t wait to experience the goodness!!!! He will for sure make it so pleasant and...

Monkeypod Kitchen is one of the many dining options available in Whaler’s Village. The vibe is island chic, with tropical décor and spacious dining floor. We had a reservation for 7:30pm (made on Open Table), our table wasn’t ready so we decided to go to the bar to wait and have a beer. Except we couldn’t do that. Monkeypod considers their bar part of the dining room. We were told by the hostess we were not allowed to go to the bar and have a beer while we waited. So we just waited. Our table was in the middle of the very lively dining room, noise level was healthy but not overwhelming. Really good local live music playing. The beer list was one of the best curated of any restaurant we visited on Maui. Our waitress was very cheerful and super helpful with menu descriptions. We started with the taro ravioli, we didn’t see taro on a lot of menus in Maui so this was a treat. And it didn’t disappoint – one of the tastiest appetizers we had our entire week in Maui. My wife needed a break from seafood so she had the Maui Cattle Company Cheeseburger, which was amazing. I had the nightly seafood special, which was pan-seared ono with local vegetables. The fish was excellent – but tiny. I asked the waitress how big the serving was supposed to be, she said 5 ½ ounces. If you reference the picture of Monkeypod’s ono, compared with picture of the 5 ½-ounce ono portion served by Paia Fish Market Southside, you’ll see the difference. It did come with three grilled shrimp. Again, absolutely delicious – but a small entree. As this offering is market price, you might want to check portion size before ordering. But outside of that, and the bar that’s not really a bar, we enjoyed Monkeypod Kitchen and would return. The service was excellent, the vibe very cool, and the food...