I was in Maui last week, and on the recommendation from our waiter our first night (then also verified by the consistently pleased reviews on Yelp), we checked out a place called Choice Health Bar in Lahaina. We came back two more times because if their amazing acai bowls! I mean, just take a look at these beautiful bowls!
The big menu: they have it spread across 8 chalkboards (there’s another one listing the specials of the day by the register just out of the shot)
Choice’s Green Buzz Bowl: acai, banana, berries, spirulina, caramel, topped with banana, bee pollen, goji berries. The acai is extra thick and topped with granola and fresh local fruits.
Visit #2 got the one I had my eye on (the Green Buzz was F’s favorite, this was mine): the Dessert Sunrise Bowl with acai, banana, strawberries, macadamia, cacao, honey, almond milk, and topped with bananas, strawberries, coconut, hemp seeds, and cacao nibs. Wow right?
F also tried a “healthy plate lunch”, which included a plentiful kale salad, one of 3 soups, and the quinoa of the day along with a little fruit bar as a sweet treat to end with. One day the soup was smokey split pea soup, another time it was a cream of kale soup, or a choice of red bean chili. The quinoa I loved (that they topped with the thick creamy kale soup as part of their option of Vegan Soup and Grain) was a coconut garlic quinoa.
Other options included a raw PB&J with almond butter, fresh berries, coconut and honey on banana date bread, a papaya bowl that was half a papaya stuffed with granola, goji berries, bee pollen, and coconut… and an intriguing item (which they were out of unfortunately) of “raw vegan oyster shootersz”. The waiter who recommended this place had convinced us as we were chatting at dinner by raving about the time he had a “cheese” plate here where it wasn’t really dairy cheese but still seemed like he was eating a blue cheese and cheddar cheese.
And then there’s this video showing a wrap!
Clearly owners Chefs Emily Kunz & Kathryn Dahm are really bringing it, putting together amazing flavors using the fresh local offerings of Maui, all vegan and vegetarian but with a focus on celebrating bright flavors rather than the often blander, earthier food I usually associate with a health food store. Ok, I will admit there are crystals in here and there is a pretty large fantasy mural on the walls, but the bright light streaming through the big windows made it seem like a local cafe rather than a hippie joint. This was F’s favorite food all week in Maui. Since I am not vegetarian, I reserve that crown for some fresh seafood I had during the week, sorry.
I would heartily recommend this for a healthy option for breakfast or lunch if you are staying on that West part of Maui!!
That looks beautiful. What a fun food adventure!
It really was an adventure that first time we walked in- it was not what I would have thought I would be visiting 3x while in Maui, that’s for sure! I love when locals are open to revealing treasures like this!