Iron Imu BBQ
5315 Lower Honoapiilani Rd.
Napili, Maui, Hawaii
http://ironimubbq.com/
My wife and I are driving north on Lower Honoapiilani Rd between Kahana and Napili when something big falls in through the open car window and scares the #%@$ out of me. Gigantic flying bug? Cane spider? I pull over into the first place I can, the parking lot of the Napili Surf Resort. It turns out it's just a huge seed pod from a monkey pod tree. Emergency over.
But we look to our right and see two big mobile barbecue rigs. We have inadvertently stumbled upon Iron Imu BBQ, southern-style BBQ in Maui. (In Hawaii, an imu is an underground oven in which a whole pig is slow-cooked for many hour, traditionally using heated stones covered with vegetation. If you've been to a luau and seen the pig hoisted up out of the ground, you've seen an imu first-hand.)
A few days later, my wife and I returned for dinner. As we all know, many BBQ restaurants aren't that good. We know the stuff we make in our own backyards often times exceeds the quality of what we find in restaurants. So needless to say, I did not have high expectations, especially for BBQ in Maui. But some of what we ate here was pretty good, although there were some flaws here and there.
The interior is a typical restaurant space converted to barbecue kitsch. Signs on the walls with funny Texas sayings, light fixtures with cowboy hats as lamp shades, serapes laid over the railings...you get the idea. A big chalkboard announces the menu as you enter the room. As you're staring at it, a nice guys walks up to explain the menu and answer any questions. I ask what's most popular, and he says the brisket, pork ribs, and mac & cheese. The slaw is a vinaigrette-based slaw, not mayo-based, good to know. The fresh fruit of the day is pineapple--surprise!
You step over to the register to order, they take your name and bring your food to your table when it's ready. You've got a nice view of the courtyard of the Napili Surf Resort while sipping your boot of beer and waiting for your meal.
The food is served on metal trays, again part of the kitsch, as if it's a chuck wagon meal or something, but kind of cute and it works. I wanted to sample as much as possible, so I got the Iron Imu Combo which got me a chicken drumstick, two pieces of sausage, two spare ribs, a goodly amount of pulled pork, mac & cheese, corn bread, and sticky rice (was supposed to be fresh pineapple, so 50 lashes with a wet noodle for order error on their part). My wife got the brisket with half lean, half fatty, sweet pepper slaw, bean bake, and sticky rice.
The best of the lot was the brisket. It did have a big knob of inedible fat at one end, but it was cut thick and across the grain, had a nice smoke ring, and the point was moist and flavorful with a great crust. The flat was pretty good, just the slightest bit dry. Should have ordered all point meat.
I initially thought the pork butt was really good. I think it was moistened with jus from the cooking process. Very intensely flavored jus, but also very salty. By the time I got toward the end, I just couldn't finish it, it was so salty.
The spareribs were there in terms of tenderness, but not in terms of appearance or taste. Pale, no color. Good pork flavor, but no smoke flavor, no smoke ring, no rub, no sauce that I could taste. My wife liked these better than me.
The chicken drumstick was very good. I don't eat many of these, so was pleasantly surprised. Skin was tender, fat well-rendered, meat was moist. It was a little guy, though. About four bits and it was over.
The sausage made me sad. It was andouille and was spicy and tasty, but the two thin slices put together maybe constituted a single slice you get at most joints. A half a link would have been more satisfying.
Sides were uninspiring, but that seems to be the case with most barbecue restaurants. The mac and cheese was the best, enjoy it while it's hot. Wife said the slaw was OK.
Two sauces are available, one mild, one spicy, both with a sweet tropical fruit base. We were told the spicy one had some ghost chili in it, but I'm sensitive to hot stuff and that sauce was not super hot, so don't worry about it.
Service was friendly, especially the guy roaming the dining room asking if everything was good, telling us about the pits outside, inviting us to go take a look after our meal.
The Iron Imu is kid-friendly, with a children's play room with a wall covered in chalkboard where kids can draw.
Here's the menu and other marketing collateral.
5315 Lower Honoapiilani Rd.
Napili, Maui, Hawaii
http://ironimubbq.com/
My wife and I are driving north on Lower Honoapiilani Rd between Kahana and Napili when something big falls in through the open car window and scares the #%@$ out of me. Gigantic flying bug? Cane spider? I pull over into the first place I can, the parking lot of the Napili Surf Resort. It turns out it's just a huge seed pod from a monkey pod tree. Emergency over.
But we look to our right and see two big mobile barbecue rigs. We have inadvertently stumbled upon Iron Imu BBQ, southern-style BBQ in Maui. (In Hawaii, an imu is an underground oven in which a whole pig is slow-cooked for many hour, traditionally using heated stones covered with vegetation. If you've been to a luau and seen the pig hoisted up out of the ground, you've seen an imu first-hand.)
A few days later, my wife and I returned for dinner. As we all know, many BBQ restaurants aren't that good. We know the stuff we make in our own backyards often times exceeds the quality of what we find in restaurants. So needless to say, I did not have high expectations, especially for BBQ in Maui. But some of what we ate here was pretty good, although there were some flaws here and there.
The interior is a typical restaurant space converted to barbecue kitsch. Signs on the walls with funny Texas sayings, light fixtures with cowboy hats as lamp shades, serapes laid over the railings...you get the idea. A big chalkboard announces the menu as you enter the room. As you're staring at it, a nice guys walks up to explain the menu and answer any questions. I ask what's most popular, and he says the brisket, pork ribs, and mac & cheese. The slaw is a vinaigrette-based slaw, not mayo-based, good to know. The fresh fruit of the day is pineapple--surprise!
You step over to the register to order, they take your name and bring your food to your table when it's ready. You've got a nice view of the courtyard of the Napili Surf Resort while sipping your boot of beer and waiting for your meal.
The food is served on metal trays, again part of the kitsch, as if it's a chuck wagon meal or something, but kind of cute and it works. I wanted to sample as much as possible, so I got the Iron Imu Combo which got me a chicken drumstick, two pieces of sausage, two spare ribs, a goodly amount of pulled pork, mac & cheese, corn bread, and sticky rice (was supposed to be fresh pineapple, so 50 lashes with a wet noodle for order error on their part). My wife got the brisket with half lean, half fatty, sweet pepper slaw, bean bake, and sticky rice.
The best of the lot was the brisket. It did have a big knob of inedible fat at one end, but it was cut thick and across the grain, had a nice smoke ring, and the point was moist and flavorful with a great crust. The flat was pretty good, just the slightest bit dry. Should have ordered all point meat.
I initially thought the pork butt was really good. I think it was moistened with jus from the cooking process. Very intensely flavored jus, but also very salty. By the time I got toward the end, I just couldn't finish it, it was so salty.
The spareribs were there in terms of tenderness, but not in terms of appearance or taste. Pale, no color. Good pork flavor, but no smoke flavor, no smoke ring, no rub, no sauce that I could taste. My wife liked these better than me.
The chicken drumstick was very good. I don't eat many of these, so was pleasantly surprised. Skin was tender, fat well-rendered, meat was moist. It was a little guy, though. About four bits and it was over.
The sausage made me sad. It was andouille and was spicy and tasty, but the two thin slices put together maybe constituted a single slice you get at most joints. A half a link would have been more satisfying.
Sides were uninspiring, but that seems to be the case with most barbecue restaurants. The mac and cheese was the best, enjoy it while it's hot. Wife said the slaw was OK.
Two sauces are available, one mild, one spicy, both with a sweet tropical fruit base. We were told the spicy one had some ghost chili in it, but I'm sensitive to hot stuff and that sauce was not super hot, so don't worry about it.
Service was friendly, especially the guy roaming the dining room asking if everything was good, telling us about the pits outside, inviting us to go take a look after our meal.
The Iron Imu is kid-friendly, with a children's play room with a wall covered in chalkboard where kids can draw.
Here's the menu and other marketing collateral.
