California Pizza Kitchen

Some places you go in knowing it is probably not going to be the best dish you have ever had.  This was one of those nights.  But we had a gift card and in the pursuit of all that is Mac N Cheese, we trudged on. They offered mac n cheese bites AND mac n cheese on the kids menu (with edamame even) so we ordered a couple of the bites and an adult portion of mac n cheese to share.  We happened to spot some sort of pork and jalapeno pizza and decided that we should get that too.  Good thing we did cause the mac n cheese sucked and the pizza saved our dinner.  Things started out well with some fresh bread and herb oil to dip it in. Then the bites came out.  The breading had more flavor than the mac n cheese inside them but it was that all-in-one Italian flavor that you use when you don't know how to cook as a teenager.  If they had some jalapenos and bacon in them, they would have been so much better.  Then the pasta came out.  It looked like something I made in college when I was out of money.  Noodles, hardly any sauce and whatever remnants of frozen veggies I had in the freezer.  I did like the noodles because they are the kind that hold a lot of cheese sauce, if it's available.  The flavor was bland.  I did like the edamame in the dish because it provided a nice crunch and texture change.  They looked like peas, but tasted better.  Keeping it classy.  I added a buttload of Parmesan and some peppers to my portion and it was much edible.  The cheese was probably some sort of generic Velveeta type.  I also found that if you put the habanero salsa they gave us with our pizza, it tasted way better.  Speaking of pizza.  The habanero carnitas pizza is delicious.  Super thin crust and full of flavor.  I thought maybe I could put some of the bland mac n cheese on the pizza to make an epic concoction, but it was not a successful pairing.  The pizza was just fucking good.  It tasted like a Mexican taco truck fiesta in my mouth on some crust sprinkled with cilantro and drizzled with habanero salsa.  To give CPK credit, they are a pizza place, not a mac n cheese place. 

Crispy Mac 'N' Cheese $4.89 - classic mac n cheese lightly fried with panko, served on creamy cheese sauce

Curly mac n cheese w/edamame  $10

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!!