Lahaina chef shares Filipino comfort food in Balai Pata on Maui

KAHULUI, MAUI (HawaiiNewsNow) – A West Maui chef is serving comfort in a Filipino food house he built, after he and so many others lost their homes and livelihoods in Lahaina.
Chef Joey Macadangdang’s newest restaurant feels like a typical Filipino home — welcoming and filled with love.
“I decided to just bring in my heritage, my comfort zone of cooking, my home cooking style of cuisine,” he said.
Balai Pata serves classic and modern Filipino food near the Kahului airport on Maui.
“Balai is a house and Pata is a Spanish slang for leg,” Macadangdang explained. “This is a pig’s feet. We braise it and what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna fry, we’re gonna throw this in the fryer.”
Crispy pata is a popular Filipino dish served with a dipping sauce made of chilies, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, green onions, and spices.
For years, Chef Joey’s food has brought comfort to Maui. After the Lahaina wildfires on Aug. 8. he and his wife starting cooking for the community, feeding survivors for free out of his Napili restaurant Joey’s Kitchen in those first few weeks.
Like so many, he’s feeling the pinch of the tourism slowdown and had to close his other restaurant Macadangdang.
“It’s taking a toll on me, taking a toll on the other two restaurants. But, you know, we just have to be, you know, business minded and see what we can do to all those balances,” he said.
His staff is his ohana, pushing him to stay positive.
“It motivates me to bring them in here to help me try this new concept,” he said.
That concept blends traditional favorites like chicken pancit noodles and sizzling pork sisig to modern takes like tocino char siu.
“This is a dorak pork belly. It’s been bra we’re gonna braise it until it’s really soft and then we’re gonna marinate it overnight with this hot liquid. It’s made out of tocino flavor soy sauce. You can smell it and this is gonna be in our bao bun,” he said.
Other specialties — grilled inasal wings, adobo ribs, sinigang steamed clams, moringa garlic noodles and crispy shrimp ukoy.
And just like any Filipino home, Balai Pata is about sharing and savoring good food and love of family.
Visit Balai Pata at 425 Koloa St., Suite 104, in Kahului, near the airport. Free parking is available.
Call to order at (808) 727-2230 or follow on Instagram @balaipata.
Balai Pata is one of 18 restaurants in Hawaii and American Samoa taking part in Hawaii Filipino Food Week, which runs through Oct. 21. For more information, visit facebook.com/filipinofoodweekhawaii.
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