Filipino Foods make waves in Hawaii

In Kahului, Balai Pata Is a Celebration of Filipino Fare

Crispy pata, malunggay noodles and shrimp ukoy attest to Maui chef Joey Macadangdang’s resilience.

Melissa Chang

Honolulu Magazine

06 August 2024

“Chang!” Lee Anne Wong yelled across the way at the Maui Agricultural Festival. “You gotta try Joey Macadangdang’s Balai Pata!”

“I just went last night,” I replied, proud of myself for being ahead of the curve.

 “Oh my God!” we yelled in unison. “The garlic noodles!”

What’s good enough for a Top Chef contender is good enough for me. Wong loves Balai Pata so much that she went there for her birthday dinner and got three orders of Macadangdang’s fantastic garlic butter malunggay noodles.

Macadangdang opened Balai Pata in Kahului last October, which would not be so remarkable except that he and his wife Juvy were displaced by the Lahaina fire in August. Their home was spared but rendered unlivable, so they slept at Joey’s Kitchen, their restaurant in Napili Plaza, for weeks. During that time, the Macadangdangs opened up that restaurant as a makeshift shelter for other displaced people and cooked and donated up to 1,500 meals per day. And they closed their more upscale restaurant, Macadangdang in Ka‘anapali.

Balai Pata’s food is delicious and by today’s standards, fairly reasonable. Go to eat. Definitely go to support. Either way, you will leave satisfied.

In Ilocano, balai means house and pata means leg, so the name literally translates to “house of leg”—a house standing on the legs of Macadangdang’s ancestors in Ilocos Norte, according to the restaurant’s website. But it can also refer to one of its signature dishes, the ginormous crispy pata ($32)—a pork knuckle that’s braised and then deep-fried, served with a slightly tangy sawsawan sauce to complement the extreme richness. You can get one to share and still have leftovers.

I had an array of signature appetizers, like lumpia ($15—you can’t go to a Filipino restaurant and not have lumpia); tocino pork belly bao buns ($15), which were among my favorite bites; pakpak ti manok inasal ($14), which are moist and flavorful chicken wings with atchara sauce; pinakbet ($16), a vegetable stew served with pork belly, though you can customize the protein; and of course, the garlic malunggay noodles ($12).

Two other dishes have Macadangdang’s twist on traditional. The shrimp ukoy ($15), normally served as a fritter, has the fritters attached to the shrimp head, which stands upright on a skewer for a more instagrammable presentation. The other is sisig BP style ($16): Normally served on a sizzling platter or skillet, Macadangdang’s comes with large butter lettuce leaves so you can eat it as a wrap. I love this because it gives the dish a fresher flavor and is more interactive, which is just fun.

If you still have room after all that pata, of course there’s halo halo and banana lumpia for dessert. I also highly recommend the freshly squeezed fruit juice of the day—I got to have melon, which was so nice with the more tart sauces.

If you’re unfamiliar with Filipino cuisine, there are also kale Caesar salad, beet salad, bouillabaisse, fried rice, ramen and steak. Plus, there’s ample free parking—the restaurant is in the Triangle Square strip mall near Kahului Airport.