Fresh Mint

I just got back from a lovely trip to Maui- what a treat to be able to get a little mid-winter sunshine! Before I left, I spent a little time searching for interesting places to eat while there. As could be imagined, Maui has a lot of touristy restaurants, seafood/meat based restaurants, and expensive restaurants. One of the most promising places that I found was Fresh Mint, a vegan Vietnamese restaurant in the yoga centric town of Paia on the north shore of the island. In addition to everything being vegan, the prices were in line with what I'm comfortable spending (entrees were just under $10).

We started with green papaya salad:

Next, I ordered "Fresh Lemongrass Tofu," which was different from anything I'd ever seen before. It consisted of lemongrass seasoned fresh tofu wrapped in soft bean curd and a layer of crisp fried seaweed. The textures were awesome, and it was a real treat to discover a new preparation of tofu that I'd never had. Unfortunately, the whole dish was smothered in a super sweet syrupy sauce that really detracted from my enjoyment. The sesame sauce, meant to be dipped into and used as a salad dressing (in the little bowl), was delicious. If it were up to me, the brown sauce would disappear and the sesame sauce would take over.

My dining companion ordered spicy fake beef. He also described the sauce as too sweet, and the fake beef a little bizarre (it always is!), but overall a pleasant enough meal.

If you're a vegan or a vegetarian on Maui, I'd definitely pay this little spot a visit! My main advice though would be to try to avoid the dishes with the heavy sauce.