Maui 2012 - found my heaven

when we were in maui last august, i found a restaurant that i can't say enough about! my sister saw an article about them in the Honolulu magazine so we put it on the list of "must do"s. my mom was reluctant since she thinks the drive out to lahaina is a hassle, but she sucked it up & we trekked out to Oluwalu for lunch to try out Leoda's Kitchen & Pie Shop. i had read many of the yelp reviews so i knew it was around a bend in the road & can be missed so we were driving at tourist speed around every corner. i was also prepared for it being on the pricey side.

it's very cute inside & clean. from the outside it looks like a convenience store because of the shop next door to it. 

upon entering i was in heaven. fresh baked bread & pastries along with yummy sandwiches & salads. i think we all just stood there taking it all in. we were a group of 3 & decided to share everything so we could sample as much as possible. alas, some items will have to wait for our next visit later this year. i know we're going to try the savory handheld pies. they bake them to order, so we'll be prepared to wait.

so this is a Leoda's Favorite called Pork, Pork... MMM Pork. the name does it justice! it's proscuitto, duroc ham, salami & applewood bacon on buttered white bread with swiss cheese & grain mustard & au jus on the side for dipping. wow! it was terrific!!!

the blue cheese burger was yummy! handmade patty & freshly baked bun. OMG! and they didn't skimp on the blue cheese which i LOVE. it's one of my weaknesses.

we wanted to try the fried salad, but the brussel sprouts were not in season, so we tried their salad special. mixed greens, strawberries, goat cheese, candied walnuts & rainbow beets with a vinaigrette. delish!!! if i remember correctly, the goat cheese was from surfing goat dairy, a maui goat farm. gotta love farm to table food!

 we had to have fries. very good. nice & crispy with a garlic aioli. 

now THIS was something we had to try but really was unsure about. Reuben LUMPIA. what what? corned beef, sauerkraut, provolone in a lumpia wrapper then fried with a side of house thousand island dressing. WHOA! just awesome! friggin genius!

of course we had to have dessert! good thing they have mini pies. that allowed us to have a sample of more treats! above left is the macadamia nut chocolate praline pie & right is coconut cream pie. below is the yuzu tart. needless to say... FABULOUS!!! the chocolate was a creamy pudding. i think we were all very sad we were limited to one bite each. i have to say it was my favorite of the three. i think my sister said she's ordering her own so she doesn't have to share it next time. haha! the coconut was good as was the yuzu. the yuzu was on a short crust with a sweet/tart filling. mmm! 

we wanted to try more dessert so we decided on a couple items to take back to the Maui Hill for a late night snack. we went with the pineapple snowball & the sweet berry handheld pie which came with fresh whipped cream. the snowball is a pineapple cake with pineapple marshmallow & toasted coconut. it was good, but super duper sweet. i have to say the handpie's appearance leads you to believe it's no big deal. i think that's why my mom said she would give up her portion so my sister & i could have half each. i slapped on the whipped cream & offered Mom a bite of my half so she took a small bite, chewed a bit then came in for a BIGGER bite! i swear she almost nipped my finger!! i knew it must be good & whatever i had left to try was sublime! so simple yet absolutely perfect. my sister protected her half & enjoyed it all to herself. i think we'd all get our OWN berry pie next time.

there are many things i'd like to try at Leoda's when we're there later this year. i'm a sucker for pot pies. they offer a chicken pot pie & a short rib one. how to decide?? of course we still want to try the banana cream & apple crumb pies. oh yes, i can't forget the fried mac & cheese. 

i tell everyone i know about Leoda's if they're going to maui! oops, i was so blown away by the food i forgot to mention that the staff is friendly & accomodating. for the two items we took home, they held it on the side for us while we ate to make sure it didn't sell out.

we had other good eats in maui besides Leoda's. we had dinner with our family friends at Pukalani Club House. very good prime rib for a good price!

we visited the Surfing Goat Dairy also. we sampled a few cheeses. YUM! we took home a box of their goat cheese truffles. very intense fruit flavors. my mom & sis love it!

other places we enjoy going to on maui is Tom's Mini Mart for shave ice & hot dogs, Maui Community College on saturday afternoon for the farmers market, the cheese shop in wailea gateway (blue cheese dip), Pita Paradise (baklava cake) in kihei & Tommy Bahama restaurant in wailea.

of course we have to bring home some guri guri.

we also love to bring home the chocolate truffle mochi & peanut butter mochi from Maui Specialties Chocolates. they also have good chocolates & chocolate dipped stuff. i've learned to call ahead because sometimes they're closed on random weekends.