Hali'imaile General Store

Most people would think that Hali'imaile General Store (hereinafter referred to as HGS - who can type that over and over again) is what it appears - a store.  Well, its a nice plantation style restaurant converted from its former self - a store :)  My brother used to be a food runner here as well.  We came up on a free $200 gift certificate so we decided now would be a great time to put that to use.

Its funny, of course, that Aaron has to greet half the staff first.  It sure pays to know people around here thats for sure!  He recommended I try the mangorita for my first drink and we proceeded to order a slew of appetizers!  They were:

• Asian duck tostada, which is Asian spiced duck confit with ginger chili cream slaw, cilantro, green onions, carrots, sun dried cranberries, and Macadamia nuts.  This was all layered with several crispy tostadas!  It was pretty good, though we had to separate it because it was like a leaning tower.  No easy way to eat that sucker.
• Kalua pork and goat cheese wontons:  Crispy wontons in bamboo basket with mango BBQ dipping sauce.  These would have been better had they been stuffed a bit more.  Most of the wontons were air.  The mango BBQ dipping sauce was excellent, however.
• Cajun Spice Dusted Crispy Calamari served on a bed of spinach tossed with Thai garlic dressing drizzled with a citrus aioli.  Normally I do not care for the texture of calamari - a bit to chewy for my likes.  This one was pretty good though.
• Tiger Shrimp Crab Cake - Yum!  I have to say that in the past few years I have become obsessed with crabcakes and when I see them on a menu, I have to try it!  It was very delicious - I mean fried crab = YES!  My mom did butcher it a bit trying to portion it out though, oh well.
• We also got the HGS House Salad, which included fresh island greens, oranges, toasted walnuts, shaved Maui onions, and balsamic vinaigrette with buttermilk blue cheese crumble.  A very nice touch to compliment the rest of the dishes.
• Finally, the BEST appetizer award of the night goes to:  Sashimi Pizza.  What is that you say?  Well, its a thin flour crust spread with edamame hummus, topped with sashimi ahi and toasted sesame seeds drizzled with soy sesame aioli.  There was also some sort of fish egg (maybe tobiko?  It was red - you'll see the pics) and some sprouts.  All the flavors and textures combined in this dish really make it a winner.  My brother often stops in just to get one of these babies to go.

Did we dare to order entrees after all of the above?  Yep.  You betcha.  Well, my mom was pretty full at that point but we made her a sampler plate of our dinners.  Up on the table for entrees was:

• Rachel and Lena:  Braised Boneless Short Ribs with root vegetables (potatoes and carrots) and a truffle "mac and cheese."  This dish was amazing and the best tasting of the night.  God, thank you for providing flavors and textures so delicious.  This dish makes you appreciate our sense of taste.  The beef practically melted in your mouth it was so tender, and flavorful too!  The truffle mac and cheese was amazing.  Noodles and cheese = heaven.
• Me:  I had the Macadamia Nut Crusted Fresh Catch, which happened to be monchong.  I don't believe I have ever had this fish before but it had a great flavor and texture, nice flaky white fish that is comparable to Mahi Mahi in firmness, but slightly better.  This was served with a mango salsa, mashed PURPLE sweet potatoes, and a mango lilikoi (passion fruit) butter sauce.  Sauces rule.  The mashed potatoes were the best and very unique.
• Aaron:  Had the blackened ahi with a sweet Thai chili sauce, wasabi, tobiko tossed greens, mashed potatoes.  The fish was blackened on the outside and rare on the inside.  The best way to eat ahi in my opinion!
• We had a nice bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley that complimented our dinners very well.  I can always appreciate a nice bottle of wine...although you know they mark those things up like 50%.  Whatever.

We were much too full for dessert, although they had some mouth watering selections.  We had some pumpkin pie squares that we had baked a few days earlier that we needed to eat up!

All in all, a very delicious dinner with my family.  Thank goodness we had that gift certificate.  This place is not exactly on the cheap.  I would definitely go back there again!  Thanks HGS for a great night.