Bruddah Hutt’s BBQ Grill

Bruddah Hut’s BBQ Grill is a family-owned roadside food truck that serves very good Hawaiian meats to day trippers. The grill stays working hard throughout the day and the parking lot stays full. Many call it Maui’s best ‘cue. Plate lunches come with standard issue rice and a mac salad side that is a cut above most we’ve had. It has a rich pepperiness and is more flavorful that the usual slick, over-mayoed versions. On hungrier days we’d order an extra side of mac.

Wait for a table if necessary. The food is worth it. There are some itinerant kittens to play with while your food cooks.

We’re big fans of kalua pig, Hawaii’s pit roasted pulled pork. The version here is tender, smoky, and delicious. It’s hashed up with caramelized cabbage mixed in. The cabbage goes from sharp to sweet when it’s cooked, heightening the flavor of the pork. The pig is lightly slathered with a tasty but overreaching Hawaiian BBQ sauce. We say kalua pig doesn’t need sauce.

BBQ Pork is quite different from kalua pig. Rather than pulled and pit smoked, it is sliced, marinated in a sweet adobo, then fire-grilled. A mound of the pork chops gets stacked into a styrofoam container. They remain juicy with a delicate balance of salty and sweet. It might be good enough to steer us from kalua pig on future adventures to Bruddah’s.

We thought mahi mahi tacos might make refreshing appetizer for the BBQ plates, but they aren’t as good as the BBQ. The fish is dry and overcooked, and the tacos are so loaded with sauce and relish that they require a knife and fork. That said, we did appreciate the adventurous flavors. The usual mahi mahi and cabbage is seasoned with basil cream sauce and fresh pineapple-caper salsa. Even if the dish missed on certain fronts, basil, capers and pineapple are a beautiful and unusual combination when applied to fish — which we will long remember.