Maika’i Lani Malasadas

Reviews

• Amy Z.

  star star star star star 26 August 2026

  I had seen the yelp page for this place in the past and we finally made the trip over to Lahaina from our place one morning to give them a try.  They're literally a white pop up tent set up in a church lawn with a fryer and a couple tables (FYI, there's no real place to set, one park bench).
  
  The owner was super friendly, and gave us his recommendations on which malasadas to get, 2 lilikoi, 2 chocolate, 1 pineapple, and 1 haupia.  He makes all of the fillings fresh, same with the malasadas.  The fillings are not overly sweet or thick, they're actually quite light and acidic in flavor.  The fruit flavors were wonderful, but my favorite was the haupia, so much fresh coconut flavor in a creamy pudding consistency.  I agree with others that these are not super light and airy, they're a little more on the dense side with crispy chewy edges, which we enjoyed.  Something a little different.  Definitely give them a try!

• Janae O.

  star star star star star 22 August 2026

  SO delicious. I love that they gave us the most fresh malasadas, literally right out of the fryer. The fillings were very refreshing & flavored really well. Fluffy & huge! The owners were really awesome to chat with too.
  
  Highly recommend!

• AC Z.

  star star star star star_border 20 August 2026

  Malasadas tasted good but I didn't necessarily think was worth the wait in line!
  
  I thought the quality of Tex Drive-In on Big Island was much better.

• Minh N.

  star star star star_border star_border 11 August 2026

  Unfortunately I found these to be well below average, but I enjoyed the banter from the owner and the fact that it appears to be family-run. Came on a Monday around 7:45am  and there was already a group of people waiting. A couple of regulars came by which gave me high hopes. The father apologized for the wait as they had woken up late and had their coffee and water taken by a baby shower at the church the previous night. Given all of that, I'm giving them a small pass on the wait and the malasadas themselves.
  
  Took about 20-30 minutes for my order to be ready as they were frying them fresh and each one was made and filled by hand. I got 6 lilikoi, 6 guava, and 1 haupia. When we got to the beach to share amongst the family, they all asked if the malasadas were fresh and I assured them they were. When I took a bite, I understood why they asked - rather than pillowy, these were somewhat dense and sponge-like, and all 3 fillings were extremely loose and watery and barely had a hint of flavor. The outside was crispy and had some jagged edges for extra crispy surface area, which I was pleased with.
  
  These things were hefty and perhaps on a better day, I would've felt like I got my money's worth. However, we ended up tossing half of them away by the time we got home. I wouldn't mind giving it another shot (hopefully I just went on a bad day), but I'd stick to a small order just in case.

• Michelle M.

  star star star star star 10 August 2026

  I feel like I'm at a loss for words because the malasadas at Maika'i Lani were THAT amazing.  I have no doubt that these are the best malasadas I've ever had anywhere.
  
  We stumbled upon Maika'i Lani by chance on Yelp the night before our last day in Maui and ventured out first thing the next morning.  We arrived around 8:30am on a Friday.  As others have mentioned, the location is in a church parking lot, with tons of parking.  The owners were so sweet and friendly, and even flagged us down while we were driving to point us towards the parking lot.
  
  The malasadas were being deep fried fresh, dredged in sugar, and filled with their home made fruit fillings.  It was definitely a fun process to watch.  We ordered 2 lilikoi (passion fruit), 2 guava, 1 mango, and 1 lychee.  I've never had such fresh malasadas before. So crispy and fluffy- it was love at first bite.  The lilikoi filling is out of this world amazing-the perfect amount of sweetness with a tangy punch.  We enjoyed the other flavors, as well, but the lilikoi was hands-down our favorite.  The malasadas were a lot bigger than we were expecting, but we had no regrets finishing all 6 between the 2 of us.
  
  We even decided to forego the uber famous malasadas in Oahu (which I won't name here) because we knew how disappointed we'd be in comparison.