David Paul's Island Grill

It was my first time to spend the weekend in Lahaina and my sis wanted to have a ladies night with our local friend. She made reservation for 7:30 but we didn't arrive there until close to 8 and they we're cool about it all.

We got seated outside at the front (thankful that it wasn't as windy as the past couple of nights else we would have been a tad bit cold...)

Service: prompt and friendly. They were on top of things for us that night.

Food: we shared the following:

HEIRLOOM TOMATO AND BOCCANCINI CAPRESE (Vine ripened Olowalu tomato, marinated Buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil vinaigrette served in a martini glass)

It was actually quite good. Presentation was nice through the martini glass and portion was decent. The tomatoes were sweet and the mozzarella was creamy.

Sis and friend shared: NEW STYLE SASHIMI and they both enjoyed it very well. I didn't eat any since I don't eat raw stuff..

My dinner:
BUTTERNUT SQUASH RAVIOLI WITH BUTTER POACHED LOBSTER (Delicate roasted squash puree and mascarpone cheese filled pasta topped with roasted cherry tomatoes, sage butter & toasted pecans)

OMG! It was delicious! It was my first time eating butternut squash ravioli and I became a fan! It was creamy, well seasoned and it melted in your mouth! The lobster chunks was an added bonus! I'll definitely order this next time around!

Sis dinner:
MISO GLAZED CHILEAN SEABASS (Served with lobster fried rice and pickled Hamakua mushrooms, sweet miso-ginger butter)

She said the lobster fried rice was to die for! She ate half of it but ended up taking everything home since she was full from the appetizers. But she did say that her food tasted fresh!

For dessert: we ordered a combination of three items (they had a special name for it)

- RASPBERRY TART (Cookie crust, dark chocolate coating, raspberry jam, Chantilly cream) = not a big fan since it was a bit too sour for my taste.

- CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA NUT TART (Flan dough cookie crust, macadamia caramel, dark chocolate sour cream mousse, whipped cream, chocolate shavings) = It was ok... it was chocolaty but it lacked the "wow" effect for me.

- CRÈME BRULEE (Ask about today's crème brûlée, served with cookies and berries) = least of my favorite.

Overall... it was a good dinner indeed! It's definitely pricey but worth it for the main entrees. Not a big fan of their dessert menu.

Thanks for dinner sis! (Even better if you get your meal for free!)

I always wondered which was better Lahaina Grill or David Paul's. Now I know .

I was quite disappointed with the special of the day which was a white fish in a soy ginger sauce. The waiter highly recommended it but it was dry and not so fresh tasting. The angel hair pasta with shrimp and scallop tasted like it was microwaved.

The chocolate macadamia tart was okay...

The view was spectacular but the food was not worth the price. I felt bad that the restaurant was so slow. I'll stick to Lahaina Grill for fine dining in Maui.

We were interested in trying David Paul's new restaurant since we really love Lahaina Grill and knew it used to be his. The location seems to be a good idea however, the traffic is kind of distracting. The sunset and water views are great - but it's very close to the road and constant traffic is kind of annoying.

The atmosphere - lacking. Impersonal and not warm at all.

Service - so so. By the time our entrees came we all wanted another drink. Because our server didn't deliver our food we couldn't order another one. And he never showed up again until we were finished! By then it was like, what's the point?

The food is very good. BUT - why some of the EXACT SAME dishes that Lahaina Grill has? We found that to be very strange. Why would one do that?? What would be the point? It's not as though the restaurant is across the island. It's about 5 blocks away, so why go here to get the same food you could have at a better restaurant?

We felt like despite the good food, give then choice, we would prefer to go to Lahaina Grill over David Paul's. Lahaina Grill has better service, better atmosphere, and fantastic food on top of that.

Came here for my birthday dinner and even though it was more than what was listed online, we did the 9 item tasting menu for $65 each. Unlike most tasting menus where each is literally a bite each, they were decently sized almost appetizer size portions of each so needless to say, we were super full when we left.

First was an amuse bouche for mini wrap with goat cheese and veggies, then came our trio of salads which were brussel sprout Caesar (tasted better than it sounds), gold and red beet salad, and iceberg with blue cheese crumbles. Next it was followed by our fish duo seared ahi and foie gras and their award winning sautéed uku (grey snapper) with soft polenta and Maui onions. Our meat duo was surprisingly very lean duck and peppercorn NY strip steak. By now, hubby had to help me out by eating the duck as we need to save room for dessert which was a decadent chocolate macadamia nut tart like no other. I'm not a big tart fan but they used a flan like crust, mac nut and caramel mousse type filling, and chocolate shavings that made this extremely full girl overstuffed as I couldn't put down my fork.

During the dinner, David Paul came out to talk to us and I even got a b-day card signed by him and the staff...only in Hawai'i.

We came here for a romantic night out away from the friends and family we came to Maui with. They were all at the Old Lahaina Luau, which we had done the year before, so we took a stroll down the main street in Lahaina.

We booked a reservation here while still in the condo based on their menu. After arriving a tad bit early, we walked around and thought about eating at the Lahaina Grill, which was previously David Paul's, and after looking at both locations, David Paul's it was.

They are right across the street from the beach and have an option to dine outside. Unlike the Lahaina Grill, it just seemed like a more intimate setting. I did notice after looking at both menu's, that there were some items that were almost identical. We were seated right away, and got a premo spot outside where we could listen to the ocean.

My boyfriend got their special, and I got the Shrimp and Scallop pasta. The waiter really knew his ingredients and told us where each fish on the menu was from and pointed out the items that were locally caught. We selected the crab cakes for our starter. It did take a little while for them to come out, but we were thinking (or wishfully thinking) that they were making them fresh. When they came out, they smelt and tasted like heaven!

The sizes of our meals were appropriate for the quality, we did not leave with any to-go containers, however, we did leave with full bellys. I thoroughly enjoyed dining at David Paul's, and even caught a glimpse of him before we left. The food was great, the atmosphere was enticing, and after all the food and drinks, we still walked away with a little extra that we would have spent if we went to the Luau.

This is a great place to have an evening meal before going to a show or to sit and chill and watch the sunset. We all had iced tea that was really good, and their pre dinner bread with avocado butter was amazing! We sat outside and they opened up the blinds just before sunset to reveal gorgeous palm trees set in front of the boats and beach.
We had the tequila shrimp and the chicken with truffles mashed potatoes, and to top off the night, the macadamia chocolate tart and the chef's signature triple berry pie. Everything was excellent!

3.5 stars

The food was very good. On food alone, I'd do 4-4.5 stars. Oysters to start. They were on the small end of size, but 6 nice creamy oysters with a very flavorful and tangy mignonette that paired perfectly. Main course was miso glazed butterfish (think cod) with nice side of bok choy and steamed rice. Very flavorful. My wife had field greens salad to start nice big candied walnuts and blue cheese and pears. Main entree was a filet with crab meat and mashed potatoes with too powerful a dollop of wasabi mixed in. Deserts were awesome - definitely save room. Banana cream pie was a nice wedge with carmelized bananas on top. Chocolate macadamia tort was very good.

The deductions come on the service side. Waiter started strong but faded. Missed a part of our order which resulted in side dishes coming out at the near end of the meal once the entrees were mostly done. Went totally MIA for about 10 minutes toward end of meal while waiting for check.

Would repeat but service needs to get stepped up given the price tag and positioning

My boyfriend and I were walking down Front Street to find a nice and classy place to eat for dinner. As we walked towards the entrance, a light shining the name of the restaurant on the ground as you walk in intrigued us.

Got seated and was delighted with a complimentary hor'deurve for each of us. I don't know what it was, but that one little bite was delicious. I ordered the Butternut Squash and Lobster Ravioli. I've never had butternut squash before and, at first, hesistated to order it because I was leaning towards something more savory than sweet. Surprisingly, it wasn't as sweet as I thought it was going to be and it complimented the light sauce and didn't overwhelm the flavor of the lobster. My boyfriend originally wanted to order the Cowboy Rib-eye, but they were all out. =( I don't think it was that late into dinner where they ran out of the steak already. Oh well, he ended up getting a pasta dish as well, I just can't remember what kind of pasta dish it was. I remember it having chorizo in it. I guess there's not much to say about something that you barely rememeber, but I posted a picture.

Everything was delicious. Had carpaccio, beer salad, signature tequila shrimp, ahi in foie gras.

My only complaint was the portions of the starters. Really? A 14 dollar salad and you can't throw in another handful or lettuce? And the carpaccio was pounded to thinly all I could really taste was the wasabi alioli. Delish but please rethink portions.

This isn't an update, but a response to David Paul's reply:
Mr. Paul:

Thanks for replying to my post. I appreciate you taking the time to look into our dining experience and reach out to me. I would, however, like to follow-up with a few comments/questions to the points you raised:

1. You wrote: We did have several large parties that night, who placed reservations far in advance.

Is the quality of service received at your restaurant a function of how far in advance reservations are made? My assumption was that each and every customer was entitled to a high level of customer service irrespective of whether reservations were made yesterday or last Friday.

2. You wrote: Often we are not able to accommodate larger parties on a moment's notice, but we did have a table open up and were able to seat your party of seven with less than an hour's notice for the reservation.

The reason we phoned in advance and made a reservation was to ensure that you could accommodate a group of 7 (which isn't an exceptionally large party). Do you consider phoning ahead and making a reservation a "moment's notice"? Based on your response, it seems like phoning ahead is the same as walking in...?

Also, Mr. Paul, the restaurant was empty. There were several open tables. I find it difficult to believe that your team went to great lengths to seat us. Irrespective of that, the thing with customer service at a fine dining venue is that you should be accommodating guests. We didn't simply walk-in, we phoned ahead and if you didn't think that you could accommodate us, you should have been honest. We had heard great things about your restaurant so we would have simply returned another day if you were too busy that day.

There are plenty of fine restaurants that won't risk compromising their reputation if they don't think they will be able deliver on the expected level of service (and avoid the situation we're finding ourselves in now).

3. You wrote: We tried to give you the nicest table available for a party that size, on our front lanai overlooking the ocean. The tables at the very front are for parties of four and had reservations that had been made earlier in the week, and moving you to the front table meant that those parties had to wait for another table to be seated.

Also, we generally don't seat large parties there because it creates an obstruction for waiters and guests, and makes it almost impossible for the wait staff to serve because of the logistics. However, we went ahead and accomodated your wishes although it was difficult to provide proper sevice for a party that size in that location.

Thank you, we appreciated that you had a table set up on the lanai for us (as you should have, because you run a restaurant) however, when we noticed how empty the restaurant was, lanai included, we asked if we could be seated closer to the water. Can't be blamed for wanting to be closer to it! The Manager said yes. We occupied one mere table by the water. Just one. That's it. Rather than occupying two tables by the water, we added one up along the side wall (so that the kids in the family were wedged between the wall and the table and so that we wouldn't be obstructing any other table). I'd be happy to send you a picture of the seating configuration so you see what I mean.

Also, only 3 (maybe 4) other small groups trickled onto the lanai that evening and there were always at least 2 open tables by the water open (among several other tables on the lanai), so I find it difficult to believe that these patrons had to wait to be seated on the lanai or were inconvenienced by our move.

4. You wrote: I do apologize that you felt it took too long to get your entrees. We did have two large parties going on elsewhere int he restaurant, and two hours dining time is fairly standard for a party of seven in our restaurant. But if you felt it took too long, that is a problem and we will work to correct it.

Thank you for agreeing that this is a point that needs to be addressed. Our dining experience was in fact much longer than 2 hours. It took 2 hours just to receive our entrees!

5. You wrote: Our manager did speak with the table and although you said all the meals were very good, we offered to take care of your appetizers and buy dessert to try to make up for the wait time.

Mr. Paul, that is simply not true about offering to pay for all our appetizers. You must have our credit card number on file (if not, I'd be happy to message it to you) and would very much appreciate if you follow through on this gesture you claim was offered.

Additionally, not everyone in our party liked their meal as I posted initially. The waiter said "sorry" rather than asking what he could do to make it better, but I already addressed this in my initial post.

Thanks in advance for your reply and credit for all appetizers ordered.