We had a chance to try nearly every restaurant here at the Andaz Maui at Wailea, and wanted to share our honest opinions on the choices here.

The meals described in this post occurred in January 2024.

View other posts in this series:

• Trip Introduction: Ringing in the New Year in Maui
• Review: Grand Wailea
• Dining at Grand Wailea
• Plenty of Aloha: Review of the Andaz Maui at Wailea
• Andaz Maui Dining Options (this post)
• Having Fun on Maui with Kids

Ka’ana Kitchen

Found one floor down from the front desk, Ka’ana Kitchen is the main dining area open for breakfast. They also have a dinner menu, but we didn’t try it for dinner. The price of the breakfast buffet is $49/adult or $24.50/child. Thankfully, the breakfast cost was completely waived thanks to my Hyatt Globalist status.

Normally we arrived before 8am and there was no wait. When we showed up a little later one day, there was a short wait, in the range of 10 minutes. Either way, I’m glad reservations for breakfast weren’t needed.

Note that while juice, tea, and coffee are included, there is a supplemental menu that offers specialty drinks at a buy-up. I can confirm that Hyatt Globalists don’t get these for free. They do specifically mention the specialty drinks aren’t included, so I knew what I was getting into.

The selection varied daily, avoiding it from becoming boring during our three-day stay. I’m not sure how I would feel if I were here for a week.

We did enjoy the food, with both traditional buffet options as well as plenty of fresh fruit (where we spent most of our appetite). There are pastries and breads available, but I must admit the banana bread was a bit dry.

We didn’t realize there was a table holding bacon, sausage, and eggs hidden behind the kitchen. Our server admitted most people don’t realize it’s there at first.

The setup for breakfast was a tad on the strange side. The food is scattered throughout the restaurant, including areas where you can quite literally bump into people preparing the food. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a buffet arranged in this way before. It almost seems like turning this restaurant into a buffet wasn’t part of the original plan.

There are plenty of self-serve juices available, including some mixes the hotel came up with.

At the table, you can order omelettes from your server. I also saw others ordering pancakes, though they were directly talking to the cooks in the middle of the buffet.

Overall, I’d say it’s a good buffet. I’m glad it’s included with my status so I don’t have to think about the price. If I did have to pay, I would probably still dine here but likely not every morning.

Bumbye Beach Bar

Despite the name, the Bumbye Beach Bar is not located at the beach. The restaurant is located right next to the zero-entry pool. If you order from the pool chairs, the food will come from the kitchen here.

They also sometimes host bingo at the nearby pool desk during the lunch hour, making the restaurant a bit crowded. That made it impossible for us to find a table, but the bartender did allow us to have the kids sit at the bar with us as long as one of the adults were present.

Overall, I’d say they have good food with some decent options for the kids. We ordered some smoothies to start, providing much needed hydration on a rather warm January day.

The prices here aren’t cheap by any means, but given the convenience of being by the pool, it’s not the worst thing. It’s also cheaper than what we had to pay at the Grand Wailea for similar items, plus the quality of food at the Andaz is much better, so forgive me if I felt like it was night and day between the two resorts.

The parents were wanting something light, so we went with the locally caught ceviche. It hit the spot and the tomatoes added a nice bit of freshness and lightness to the dish.

The kids each opted for a kids meal. The portions were a good size and the food itself had some decent flavor for it. Though they don’t give many fries, it’s at least better than the Grand Wailea giving no additional fries.

Overall, I’m satisfied with the poolside dining option here at the Andaz Maui. The drinks are good, the bartenders are friendly, and it has a nice vibe.

The Feast at Mokapu (Luau)

I’m going to start this out by admitting the prices of luaus feel like they go up faster than anything else in Hawaii. We purchased tickets from the website for a whopping $280/adult or $140/child (ages 4-12). The kids love going to luaus, so in some ways we were guilt-tripped into going.

We have been to several luaus in the past (Old Lahaina Luau on Maui, Grand Hyatt Kauai on Kauai, and Mauna Kea on the Big Island), and the format is mostly similar across all of them. Expect dinner and a show, with some “booths” generally available if you get here early enough. We each received a welcome drink (mokapu punch for the adults and some flavored lemonade for the kids). Personally, I think the welcome drink was perfect and I may have indulged in several more during the evening.

Before the luau began, we were able to do some Hawaiian printing, get some tattoos, and take pictures by the ocean. The kids each opted to get Hawaiian tattoos, which mostly stay until you get a bath. But just note they did forget about them and ended up touching the bed sheets before realizing the sheets then turned black. Thankfully, the Andaz cleaning staff noticed it and changed sheets without us needing to ask.

Also at the luau was a couple of whales breaching and playing around in the ocean. The scenery here is definitely top-notch when nature decides to crash the party.

All throughout the evening, you’re welcome to stop by the bar and load up. The first time I ordered a drink, the bartender seemed disappointed I only requested one drink. I didn’t hear any disappointment from the team on subsequent appearances I made there. Of the mixed drinks available, I’d recommend either the coconut wired or the mokapu punch (with spirit of your choice).

As the day turned to night, the atmosphere at the luau started to shine a bit. I must say they did a good job with the ambience.

As for the food, I can honestly say this was the best food we have had at a luau. We were happy to see the luau wasn’t a buffet in the traditional sense. Instead, everyone is served courses table side. The portions here are large, so I don’t think you miss out on anything by not having a buffet. This is a far better approach than seemingly waiting forever for your table to be called up to the buffet line only to find food that is either left out too long or has flies hanging around it.

The first course is brought over in a partitioned tray. The real star of the show for the first course for me was the large chunks of ahi poke.

A bit after the first course was served, the second course arrived. I have a weakness for short rib, so that was where I spent all my appetite. Granted, everything we ate was tasty, so I definitely gained some weight after this meal. The kids received the same dishes we got, and they similarly seemed to very much enjoy the food.

The final course came out just before the fire dancers. In comparison to the other courses, this one was on the lighter side. That’s actually a good thing, since the spacing of the food meant that message of being full made it up to my brain by the time the desserts showed up.

I can’t speak to the authenticity of the show but the kids definitely enjoyed it. At other luaus, you might see the pig being buried, but here a pig is brought out and then removed from view. I think Char wanted to see the pig some more, but she will just have to settle for some pictures on the phone later. The fire dancers were saved for the end, which was a fun exclamation point on the feast (and indeed we could also see the show from our balcony on another night).

I’d say the luau at the Andaz Maui is actually pretty good and the best we’ve been to at least in terms of food. And really, the food is what I care the most about when going to a luau, so this one gets high marks from me. Of course, it’s not easy looking at the bank account after going.

Morimoto

Of all the restaurants to try while here at the Andaz Maui, I would suggest Morimoto is THE restaurant to dine at. We have been to the Morimoto in Napa, but it has been around a decade since we last went. If you are a fan of seafood and are staying in the Wailea area, I recommend adding this one to the list. Comparatively, I’d also say this is better than Humuhumunukunukuapua’a at the Grand Wailea.

We made a reservation on Open Table and it was just a short wait to be seated. The kitchen feels open and inviting. And the restaurant staff here is very friendly and helpful.

Jenn and I ordered drinks to start off the evening, a poli’ahu kiss and a coconut makani. Both were tasty and quite strong.

We took the time to then check out the menu. Our theme around this trip was attempting to share one entree and one appetizer for the adults, with the kids choosing their own meal. They do have a delicious kids menu here, and the kids very much enjoyed their selections.

After ordering, the kids meals came pretty quickly, but then there was a small wait for the adult meals. I’d say it just seemed like the kitchen was a little backed up. So our server went ahead and proactively gave us the tuna poke tacos. I thought it was very generous as I’ll admit I wasn’t that concerned about the wait up to that point. The tacos themselves were fine—I really just wanted to eat the poke and didn’t care too much for the taco shell.

We ordered the daily selection oysters, which were light in taste but quite delicious.

Jenn and I also shared the 20 piece nigiri set. The fish here just melted in my mouth. This is a good size to share for the table in addition to other things, but the server did mention he has seen people order their own for themselves. I probably could eat it all on my own but I would be feeling the pain later.

Char went with the kakuni dish from the kids menu. It was on the smaller side, so if your child has a big appetite, this might not suffice. There is a lot of flavor in this dish and something that Char actually enjoyed despite turning away similar dishes at home. Now I know better!

Alex went with the wagyu filet. It is a little expensive compared to other kids meals, but it’s pretty good. Of course, the kids might not appreciate the quality of the steak.

At the end of the meal, we were handed a dessert menu. So we ultimately acquiesced and ordered a mango sorbet for the kids and the ube basque cheesecake for the adults. Both were very yum.

When comparing all the restaurants here with their counterparts at the nearby Grand Wailea, it becomes more obvious to me that nearly every venue at the Andaz Maui is better either in quality or cost (unless of course you factor in potential savings from the resort credits on the Hilton Aspire credit card). We do care about the quality of the restaurants when on vacation, and it helps steer the opinion a little bit on which hotel we may return to.

Have you dined at the Andaz Maui? What did you enjoy?