Vana Paia — Restaurant in Maui

This would have been a pretty awful experience on any given night. However, we went to Vana on a Valentine's Day night so the disappointment was even more palpable.

First impression: Non English speaking hostess having trouble with the spelling of my name? It was raining quite heavily and the roof was leaking all over the restaurant. Like skipping over puddles inside the dining room leak.

While some people might find the seating cozy, I would call it cramped. We were seated in the section that you were pretty much rubbing elbows with the table next to you and you end up staring at your waiters a$$ at least few times a night while he is servicing the table next to you.

Service: Oof. Most of the front of the house staff sounded South American. Judging by the accent I'd say Argentinians. Our waiter Pedro didn't know the dishes on this very limited Valentines Dinner set menu. Are these people even legal to work here?

When quizzed on the Butterfish special, all he knew was that fish was sautéed (already stated in the menu), with no clue what the rest of the plate consisted of. Veggies and stuff was the answer. And we are talking three main course set menu so him not having a clue was even more lame.

When asked for non tap water, the busboy girl, also Argentinian, informed us that the restaurant had no bottled or sparkling water at all. So lame. How about sending someone to Mana Foods across the street before dinner to get some?

Drinks: My cocktail was weak, barely any Absinth in it. Also, didn't care much for the composition. However, the chardonnay served that night was delightful. Although the type of food served called for something less dry.

Food: The nigiri and sashimi was mediocre at best (quality wise) and the portions were tiny, especially Nigiri. Huge disappointment.

My lobster pasta was barely OK, it consisted of about half the lobster tail fried tempura style (again, super small portion for the price), it was overcooked and tasted of a fryer oil that hasn't been changed for a while. The pasta tasted of shrimp/crawfish fumet, instead of lobster. The plate had three Parmesan tuile (cheese with seafood pasta? Really?) which I fished out and set aside as I didn't care for it.

My dates butterfish was sensational (moist, delicious and flaky), however the Shishito peppers and some sautéed red bell pepper that accompanied it were just too lame to make it memorable. I guess that was the "veggies and stuff" our waiter told us about.

The drinks took about half an hour to get, and main course wait was almost an hour. The american born waitress told us the drinks will be comped (since we have waited for so long), however when the check arrived it wasn't and I had to ask to have it removed.

As someone with culinary background who lives on Maui and understands the staffing challenges and issues restaurants on this island face, I was more than willing to overlook some minor infractions, however this was absolutely pathetic experience.

So Vana management and owners... perhaps scale back on your Instagram ambitions (your IG sets expectations really high and you just can't deliver) and focus more on the actual product and service.

I really hoped your restaurant would be a place to come back to, but unfortunately you are just another overpriced tourist trap that doesn't care if people come back....

The initial reaction my wife and I had was "this place is cool!". We booked a late reservation via opentable because we just arrived in Maui and a had a full day of tourist'y stuff and just wanted to grab some sushi for a late dinner. But Vana Paia "wowed" us! What a great spot. The atmosphere in the back dining room where we ate was super cozy. It was a Thursday night so we heard the live singer say that she always performs on Thursdays: so glad we made it on a Thursday. She played numerous hits with her twist and she was fabulous. I interacted with the bartender over the Japanese whiskeys and she helped me settle on the Toki; great choice by the way so thanks for that! And now for the food: FANTASTIC! My wife had 2 orders of sushi and I ordered the garlic short ribs. Her sushi was extremely fresh and crisp and my ribs were very flavorful (and cooked just right as well). Annie the manager came by a few times to check on us. I had to ask her if she owned the place because I noticed her visible involvement with the restaurant and that everything was running smoothly. She replied "no" and that she was simply a manager. I let her know that as a business owner myself I could see that she ran a tight ship and that it was appreciated. There's numerous restaurants to choose from in this part of Maui, but if you're looking for great food with a great atmosphere (and a good selection of Japanese whiskeys) than I highly recommend Vana Paia. You won't be...

Where to start... Well in my experience in these styles of Japanese inspired cuisines the service means everything. The staff was very nice but they really weren't great at service....sorry missed the mark there. First, the table setting outside was so close and small no place to put your things if you need...maybe that doesn't matter to most but with the table being so small and the dish size being large the table space, we needed wasn't happening. Second the menu I got was old and my husband got the new one.... with higher end pricing that's not a great idea to still be using old menus. Okay so the food....as a sushi lover and have traveled to eat good sushi...it was just okay... for a roll to cost 38.00 I expect more than okay... I honestly was super disappointed in that aspect like....it wasn't really special so why was I paying for a spoofed up trendy restaurant atmosphere. The Brussels were overpowered with a very mediocre sauce and said it came with pork belly but that wasn't the case. The 10.00 small bowl of miso soup I could buy better at a local ramen bar. Overall I wouldn't recommend the food. The resturant is obviously a hype and I'm sure the bar is a great reason why....for drinks I can see this being a quiet, yet sophisticated spot to have some drinks....especially outside. But save your money for Umi in kahului or...