Spanky's Lahaina

We went there to hopefully get some nachos, but they didn't have any.  Instead we ordered a few pupus to share and I saw some $5 mac n cheese at the last minute so grabbed that too.  If it wasn't Kraft, it was Kraft's cousin or sister.  It looked like what I would serve a 5 year old with a chopped up hot dog in it.  The serving bowl was even for a kid.  Was I so drunk I ordered off a kids menu?  Wait...this is a bar...are kids allowed?  Regardless, I ate the entire bowl trying out the plethora of hot sauces available.  I guess you are never too old for Kraft. 

Cow Pig Bun - Team EPIC Maui Edition

Best. Macaroni and Cheese. EVER.  Sometimes things just work out epically. We were not even 100% sure that we would have time to try this place and really only went in for the drink recommendation we received at the Ocean Vodka distillery tour.  When we sat down, immediately saw the mac n cheese, and ordered some to share.  We also ordered a burger to share because it looked yummy too.  The drinks were hand crafted artistic wonders.  One bite into the mac n cheese and we knew we should have just ordered more of it.  There were so many flavors in each bite!  The penne pasta was perfectly cooked.  The caramelized onions added a little sweetness not common in mac n cheese.  We ate it so quickly that we didn't even take any pictures so we HAD to get a second order...you know for the pictures.  My only complaint is that I cannot eat this where I live.

Drinks: Cannibalistic, Meat Packing District and Menehune

Mac N Cheese $8 - Caramelized onion, potato, goat cheese, cheddar, panko, bacon

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm"

"Oh my god, hold on I'm eating."

"Delicious, it is truly delicious."

"Leave me alone I'm eating."

Truly unique and delicious tequila drink with a little smokiness to it

Burgers come with house made pork rinds AND bacon jam to dip in.  HEAVEN.

Spam Jam 2015 - Hard Rock Mac n Cheese Spam Balls

The gang got together and headed out to the 2015 Spam Jam on the hunt for Mac N Cheese balls.  Here's what they found: 

The Usual Suspects

Two balls for like $5?  I had too many cocktails and can't remember

Logan: I came in like a cheesy ball, this ball had some spam in life, but it wrecked me, but it wrecked me, but I came in like a spam mac n cheese ball.

Gingerface:  The sauce is spicy!  Best balls I have put in my mouth in a while, nice soft noodles, could use more cheese and more spam! 

Love this lady!

Miss Stupendous did not participate in the Mac N Cheese blog so I included these awesome before and after shots of her first time trying spam.  I don't think it was what she expected!  

Chris:  Warm soft cheesy balls are delicious.  Sit down before eating them.  They could have been cheesier.  I like the fact that it is self contained in a ball pupu style.  The spam flavor was not very strong. 

Shananigans;  I loved the spicy sauce atop my cheesy balls.  It definitely needs more cheese and I only found one piece of spam.  Pretty messy and hard to eat with chopsticks unless you shoved the too large to fit giant ball in your mouth all at once.  

Honolulu Beerworks

After a most marvelous performance of Siren Song opera, our gang of sailors headed over to Honolulu Beerworks to try their famed Mac n cheese. It was heavenly. When the waiter dropped off someone's pretzel with beer cheese I screamed, "cheese! I love cheese!" in my nervous weirdo voice.  He was then hesitant to put any future orders in front of me. But enough about me, let's talk about this yummy in my tummy Mac n cheese! I loved the toasted top and it's piping hot ooey gooey middle. The only thing that could have made me happier was if it had some bacon and fresh jalapenos in it. Nom nom nom nom nom nom. 

Gingerface: I was excited to try the mac and cheese at Beerworks, especially with the bonus 15% off with our opera ticket since I dislike paying full-price for anything. I think I was done a disservice by being told that the mac and cheese was *so* amazing, because my expectations were unrealistically high (like finding a man that is both handsome and stable).  Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed it!  It is made with spiral noodles and generously topped with panko bread crumbs – these added a toasty crunch that I loved.  There is the perfect amount of cheese sauce that coated the noodles, stood up to the dryness of the panko crumbs, and created stringy trails of goodness with each bite.  I don’t know what kind of cheese (cheeses?) is in the sauce, but I appreciated the tanginess and creaminess of it (them?).  The cheese sauce is made with their Point Panic Pale Ale, which added what I would describe as an earthiness.  It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t wow me either.  This might be a good time to point out that I don’t generally like beer.  The serving is a whole pound, which means that you can share or, since it comes in a foil container, you can save half for the next day and reheat it in the oven like I did.  It is just as good the next day.   

Katia:  Loved the cheesy celentani noodles! The breadcrumbs on top made the dish a classic. Not the best Mac & cheese I've ever had, but a top contender for sure. 

Logan: from first impressions, all I can say is that it was totally amazing.  Border line life changing.  I will definitely go back to have it multiple times a week.  At least.

Leschon: Mac n Cheese at BeerWorks was awesome!! Loved the toasted bread crumb topping and the portion was huge served in a pie pan! But be careful when eating because heat gets trapped and some bites can be super hot!!

12th Avenue Grill

On a blustery winter day, the gang headed over to 12th Avenue Grill to try out the wildly popular Mac n cheese.  We met at 5:30 assuming we would be able to get a table since they only opened at 5:00pm, but no way!  The place was packed.  Lucky for us there were some seats at the bar.  Although I did not get to interact with the people on the end as much I would have liked, it was cool to watch the kitchen prep the food and send it out.  The entire menu at 12th Avenue Grill looks super ono.  We each ordered a side of mac n cheese and some ordered some additional treats.  It came out quickly and immediately we could see it was covered with a baked on breadcrumb layer.  Yum!  At first the waiter told me there were like 4 or 5 different cheeses in the sauce but later he came back to confirm that the sauce was just the one cheese, smoked pecorino bechamel sauce.  It was heavenly and coated each piece of the elbow macaroni sufficiently.  The noodles seemed a little too cooked for my taste but with the creaminess of the sauce, they melted in your mouth as one so it ended up working out in their favor.  The mac n cheese is $8 for a side and you can add ham for $3 and hanakua mushrooms for $2. 

Tom:  "I'm super hungry...the mac and cheese rating is probably going to be inflated.  Wow!  Super creamy.  Way better than USNA mac and cheese, which is the only other mac and cheese I have ever had."

Traci:  "First time in the new and improved 12th Avenue Grill location...it's a great space.  The place was packed for a Sunday night, so we sat at the bar - it was fun to watch all the food get prepped!  It all looked AMAZING!  I was way hungry so I ordered the duck corn dogs too, they were ono!  The mac & cheese comes out in a heaping bowl, topped with toasted bread crumbs and a perfect piece of pork on the ham one.  4-5 types of cheese in the sauce (one is smoked pecorino).  It is ooey, velvety goodness that more than adequately coats all the noodles.  I am glad it comes with a spoon so I can scoop the sauce up too!  There is enough breadcrumbs to add crunch to almost every bite.  While the bowl looks small, it is a filling portion."

Jess: "Small but filling and on a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 7.  The toppings really added to it, but I do not think it is the best on the island."

Parker: "Not too rich.  Could use some spice, but that's just me.  Maybe some zatarans or something.  The portion is a good size."

Nick Nock:  "Really like the cheese.  NOT sufficiently sized for post-hike post-surf session hunger.  The crunchy stuff on top is really good, but I like my noodles a little more al dente."

Complimentary bread and butter...super ono

Duck corn dog

Gelato