Few weeks ago I was sent to Maui on a job. Although a weekend, thankfully this one started late so I didn’t have to catch the plane until 10:00. Flight uneventful, rental car supposed to be a Sentra, counter lady upgraded me to a Chrysler 200. A Chrysler 200 covered in poop. Chicken poop. Gate person said I could take it back and have them wash it again. Seems they have a problem with chickens roosting in the trees of their lot. I said never mind, I’ll just take it. Took it upon myself to later get rid of the most offending poop on the driver door handle. The 200 is itself a ok car, typical overboosted steering feel. Control layout easy to work, thankfully touchscreen only deals with audio. Unfortunately functions disabled so I couldn’t load a bunch of weird music onto the HD.
Everything was on schedule and the site was right in town so it was no problem getting there. Install itself pretty straightforward, the wiring was new and already pulled for us. Finished at a sane hour and went back into town and checked into the Maui Beach Hotel.
I see Kahului isn’t the place to stay for the uber resort experience. Kinda like how Hilo isn’t for the Big Island. Head west young man, if you want that. The room is clean, but the entire place is well worn. What’s that, a CRT TV? Find the control for the GE air conditioner and turn it on. What’s that? I can’t hear myself thinking! Let’s try turning it down. Oh, it is the lowest setting. Oh my, this window unit A/C has quite the blast, good thing I’m used to LandCruiser drone.
OK
, I really am not here for the experience, I’ve got the super bargain room, here’s the view out the lanai. No matter, it’s just a place to sleep for one night. It does have a functioning mini-fridge. And a six legged friend on the washroom floor that has seen better days. The washroom or the roach? Yes.
I’m tired and hungry so decide to take the suggestion from the owner at the jobsite and go across the street and a block down to Bistro Cassanova. It’s not too crowded, atmosphere it slightly upscale. Mostly italianish fare. I skip apps, the Kona Lava is my appetizer. Service is pretty good. I order a smoked salmon on black linguini with a side house salad.
Salad appears first. Nice fresh ingredients, a fair amount locally sourced, dressed with a balsamic vingarette. From the bread basket I pretty much only use the pocky like sticks as croutons for my salad. The taro bun is fine, but nothing special so I save room.
I’m wondering about the black pasta as it arrives. I’m wondering if it’s squid ink, my previous experience with squid ink cuisine has been quite squidy, like the ocean. Thankfully this is not so. It is actually quite wonderful. Hearty smokey chunks of salmon in a buttery white wine sauce. Portion size was just right, any more would have been too much.
Just enough space for dessert, I think I saw a Belgian choco cake on the menu so cake it is! The server comes back to inform me that they are out. Curse! Cuuuurse!
That aside, I’d give these guys a solid 3 out of 4 monkeys. It’s not cheap, but I’ve had it worse, and it was good.
Denied my chocolate, I’m now somewhat obsessed. I break out the smartphone and search for icecream. There’s a Ben & Jerrys just up the street! I take a spin over to the mall it’s in then search for more info. Dammit, they’re closed already! I’m reduced to going over to Foodland and getting a Kahlua cake. So that is how I spent the remainder of my birthday night, in a cheap but serviceable hotel room on Maui, TV showing “Shark Week” volume cranked way up can barely hear it over the roaring A/C, sitting on the bed eating a Kahlua cake out of a plastic clamshell box with a plastic spoon. Actually I’m in pretty good spirits, I think the only annoyance is that jet engine A/C, I’m sure it isn’t helping my tinnitus. Good thing I’m tired, it doesn’t keep me from getting sleep, I’ve got an early day tomorrow.
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