I visited Maui this past week for a much needed summer getaway. We stayed in Kihei so we decided to try some of the local spots there. Like most of Maui, Kihei is a small, quiet beach town located in the midwest of the island with a lot of casual spots for food and drinks.Kihei Caffe is one such comfortable and open spot overlooking the beach.

Kihei Caffe is a small, family operated, limited service restaurant. As we entered, a really sweet lady at the cashier’s desk greeted us with a warm smile and handed out a menu on laminated paper.  There was a really large menu on a blackboard to the left of her as well that you could take a look at for a zoomed in view. The place reminded me of a classic restaurant in remote locations in India that are warm, open, and breezy, and at such places I typically expect comfort food which has a lot of character. Kihei Caffe definitely met that expectation!

I got a stack of french toast with strawberries and ended up choosing it instead of the vegetarian omelette or pancakes (mostly cuz I absolutely love french toast!) They also had small plates like granola and fruit salads, and you could get them as a side for your dish. Aditya got the crab cakes Benedict and the two of us also got fresh OJ. on the side

We had to go find a spot to sit in one of the tables outside. They had options for a single eater, couples, and families/groups. We picked a table towards the far end of the restaurant overlooking the beach, and a server brought our food to us.

There were three pieces of french toasts topped with strawberries and a coconut cream. The coconut cream was the Hawaiian touch they added which was absolutely phenomenal. What I really liked about it was that it was extremely subtle but added the flavor gently. The strawberries were refreshing but when I took a bite of the toast with both the strawberries and cream I felt that the strawberries overpowered the cream. I might have liked it better with bananas or papaya perhaps.

I wouldn’t say the presentation was very crafty, but it was by no means sloppy. However, the coconut cream wasn’t cold and given the humid weather in Hawaii even something that is icy would melt pretty quickly and make the toast underneath soggy. I also felt that the french toast was not eggy and very much to my liking but I would have liked a tad bit more crisper.

Here is a picture of the crab-cakes Benedict. Aditya said that the crab cakes were fresh, crispy and delicious. The potatoes were seasoned, but the seasoning was too plain. I felt the potatoes might have been a bit undercooked but I dabbled on them while I ate my toast.

As you can see from the picture, the orange juice had a lot of ice which watered it down quite a bit. I am not sure if the orange juice was freshly squeezed because it didn’t quite taste like that.

Overall we scored Kihei Caffe a 60. The restaurant performed well in the daily category in terms of taste, satisfaction, veggie-variety and bang-per-buck. On the flip side, the we felt Kihei Caffe did not do well in the elements of the weekend category. We however felt that the decor and vibe was warm, and comfortable and this element boosted the points total in the weekend category.

We certainly loved the place and we will go back there if we go to Maui. If you end up staying in the Kihei or Wailea area during your visit to Maui, do pay Kihei Caffe a visit!