Review: Haliimaile General Store & Tavern

October 8th, 2008

When I was asked where I wanted to eat for my birthday, I piped up and said “Haliimaile General Store!” We’d met the celebrity chef Bev Gannon before but hadn’t been to her restaurant and thought it would be a good time to indulge. I’d been scanning the menu and picked out what I wanted long before we ever arrived. We started with passion fruit lemonade. It was quickly renamed by us as “heaven in a glass.” It was sweet and slightly tart and I nursed it for much longer than normal to make it stretch. It was $4 per glass. I have desperately tried to replicate this drink complete with the suspended look in the glass and haven’t quite got it but hey, we’re enjoying trying! They gave us some sourdough rolls that were SO good. I could’ve made a meal out of those but tried to restrain myself. We got the crab pizza appetizer. ($9) It was really good. Crab with a cream cheese tasting mix on a medium crust. The only thing that would’ve made it perfect? A sourdough crust. Oh yeah.

The hubby got a BBQ kalua pork hoagie ($13) and steak fries which was very good and I would certainly order it when we go back. The barbeque sauce is thick and tangy. I got the baby back ribs with steak fries. ($18) The ribs are good and fairly meaty but my only gripe would be I’d like a few more for the price I’m paying. I think I got like 1/4 of a rack and for $18, I’d like a little more please. The fries are awesome. I don’t know what kind of spice they toss the fries in but I think paprika is one of them so I’m going to try to replicate it too. Then we got 2 different desserts. Hubby got a sampler which had a plum crisp, coconut caramel creme and chocolate macadamia nut tart. ($10) He said he liked all of them but was a little disappointed in the tart. He said it was less tart-like than he expected; more like chocolate and mac nuts formed into a slice. I had the pineapple upside down cake which is served warm. ($9) It was good but WOO was it rich!! Diabetics might want to stay away from that one and I have a real sweet tooth. It would be perfect with a glass of milk though. So lunch was $69 before tax and tip. I know, it sounds like a lot but we got a lot of food and it held us for about 9 hours! If you know you’re going to go, they sell gift certificates so ask for one for your birthday or Christmas!

I do have to mention this little irritant that I have with upscale restaurants and I noticed this applied for this one as well. The fact that you don’t get free refills. Yeah. I know it costs less than $.10 for you to mix up that small, ice packed glass of soda and I’ll accept that I have to pay $3.50 for it but I cannot accept having to pay $2.00 to refill it. That’s kind of a slap in the face to customers and that usually either keeps me away from those kinds of restaurants or I’ll sit there and drink water all night. No, not the Perrier or some other designer water the server assumes I want, I mean turn on the tap in the kitchen and throw in some ice. (Stepping off soapbox)

Hali’imaile General Store
900 Hali’imaile Road,
Hali’imaile, HI 96768
Phone: 808.572.2666
Fax: 808.572.7128
www.bevgannonrestaurants.com

As always, prices (and menu item availability) are subject to change.

Comments

3 Comments so far

Eat well for less and help charity too! : True Aloha on October 21, 2008 4:19 pm
[...] MAUI FOOD BANK, Bev will take 50% off the price of your dinner’s entree. If you’ve seen my recent review of Hali’imaile General Store then you know this is a must do! Reservations are recommended [...]
Staying Close to Home for the Carnival on November 3, 2008 12:16 pm
[...] gets us ready for the Carnival by sharing her birthday lunch with us with her Review: Haliimaile General Store & Tavern posted at True Aloha, saying, “These pictures still make my mouth water!” I can see [...]
Evelyn on November 4, 2008 2:05 am
I love the way those pictures work! What a unique way to share the photos for your post. You’ve got to share that one with me later. I thought your review was very fair and I have to agree with your opinion about the refills. If they’re going to charge that kind of money, the least they can do is give you a bottomless glass when it’s something like tea or lemonade. Give me a break. It still sounds like a great place to go.