Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice - Kihei — Restaurant in Maui

I've been having trouble trying to come up with the right words to describe how pristine and perfect the shave ice here really is. I didn't want to start it with a "OMG BEST SHAVE ICE EVER," even though that's what I am thinking in my head. But for real, Ululani's has the tastiest, the fluffiest, and the most amazing shave ice I have ever had!

I'm pretty sad I was only able to visit twice in Maui, but both times I came here were very memorable. The first time I got the POG flavorings, and the second time which was the very next day I got tigers blood with some Roselani's Gourmet Ice Cream, and fresh mochi bits on top! I love the diversity and amount of flavors they have on the menu because they truly have a flavor for anyone. It actually took me awhile to choose what flavor to get because all of them sounded freakishly good!

This place is really legit though, they really mean it when they say "shaved ice." It's not like that "crushed ice" stuff that most places call "shaved," but in each bite it's like you are eating a cloud. The texture and consistency is so soft and fluffy, I didn't even know ice could feel like that. I could honestly just eat the ice by itself, it's that interesting! The Roselani's ice cream is also very luscious and creamy, however I did notice that the ice melts way quicker when there is ice cream on the bottom, so that's something to keep in mind.

Not only is the texture unique, but also the flavors are truly unique as well. I do love how they make their own flavors with premium ingredients, and pure cane sugar for sweetness. But it's just something about the flavors, and it's that they don't taste syrupy, or fake, or overly sweet. They have the perfect amount of sweetness, the flavors are really vibrant, luscious, fresh, and pure, and the flavors stay true to what they really are. Plus, they are just straight up delicious and refreshing! I also LOVED the fresh mochi bits on top when I got the tigers blood. The mochi as well was also fluffy like a cloud, and had a slight bite to it like a marshmallow, but slightly melted in your mouth as well. It was pretty much exactly like a marshmallow, but better because it tasted fresh and wasn't as sweet as a marshmallow. I also hate eating marshmallows plain, but I loved these mochi bits.

Overall, I am blown away by how good this shave ice is. I'm still really sad I only got to try it twice from the short time we had on Maui. Atleast now I know the spot to hit up...

David reached out after our review and asked to make it right. He met us at the shop and curated an order of shave ice for us to try. It was a really amazing customer service experience, and the ices were all absolutely fantastic! He was so kind and generous, not just to us but everyone at the shop. We watched him interact with other customers and his employees in such positive ways, and he genuinely seemed compelled to right our experience. I hadn't wanted to approach the counter during our first visit because I didn't want to offend if the ices were supposed to be the way we'd received them, but after tasting this second try I could tell it was just an off experience. Maybe a new employee, which is fine, stuff happens and learning is normal. I wish I'd known to just speak up the first time. We love New Orleans snowballs and tend to try snowballs, snowcones, and shave ices in a lot of places, and usually none compare to the NOLA ones, but these are right up there with them! The ice is fine and soft and flavors out of this world. Mahalo, David! We appreciate you and this lasting memory and will definitely return 😊😊😊🤙

Original review: Honestly it was disappointing. We are from New Orleans where we have finely shaved ice snowballs and this looked similar so we're really looking forward to these and honestly expected to visit this place daily but don't think we will be back. They looked good when they came out but it was just ice underneath. I've never had Hawaiian shave ice before so maybe it is supposed to be like this, but not far below the top you could see plain white ice. We tried mixing it but halfway through it just become a solid, plain ice chunk. Like when trying to chop it up my wooden spoon got stuck in it and came out with a block of ice like a big unflavored ice cube popsicle shaped like the bottom of the cup. We didn't even...

My family and I have been coming to Ululani's for YEARS. the taste, texture and overall experience has never failed us. As a Family of 8 we visit here at least 6-8 times durning our stays on Maui. Since the fires it was great to see Ululani's stayed open and to see faces we knew from Lahaina locations still working. With this is why we hesitated to leave a review like this but I am hoping it gets corrected before we returning in the summer for a month.

This visit we had 2 unpleasant experiences both at the Kihei location. The wait is always wortth it, and the customers we recivied from a young man with curly mop top was outstanding. Nothing short of what we have come to expect from Ululani's. Christmas Eve was our first unpleasant visit. I don't ever remember her but she was identified as the supervisor, she was very short with the team who was entertaining those of us waiting talking to us through the windows. She yelled less talking more working, rude in the tone and even with customers who wanted more syrup. I chalked it up the stress of how busy they were. Next visit before the new year she was there again and it bothered me that she had hair hanging around her face that touched the shave ice as she shaped it. It was mine. And when I asked for it to be remade she said Why and it's fine because it was what I ordered. I pointed out her hair touched and she siad no didn't. When another worker offered to remake it she almost hissed. Something I am not accostumed to by the staff. Hope she gets classes on how to deal with costomers.

Maybe bad days? Hope we see those wonderful happy faces again and hopefully she is nicer...