Five Star Noodles
Star Noodle blends cultures and flavors into bowls worth slurping.
story by Chris Amundson with Ariella Nardizzi
photographs by Chris Amundson
Since opening in 2010, Star Noodle has built a reputation on house-made noodles and a menu that fuses Asian traditions with island flavors. From its warehouse beginnings in Lāhainā Industrial Park to its new oceanfront home on Front Street, the restaurant has stayed true to the recipes and spirit that won it loyal fans – garlic noodles, pad Thai, saimin and beyond.
Many chefs have left their mark. Top Chef fan favorite Sheldon Simeon helped launch the restaurant’s acclaim. Today, that legacy continues with Executive Chef Cesar Perez and a dedicated team balancing tradition with innovation.
Perez has been with Star Noodle from the start, joining as a fry cook in 2010 while helping transform recipes from home kitchens into restaurant favorites. “A recipe would start in somebody’s home, and then we’d break it apart and put it back together with Star Noodle flair – maybe with miso, a different shoyu or dashi.” One example, a pad Thai sauce taught by a local Auntie, is still made the same way today.
Long before Maui, Perez was a boy in Guadalajara, Mexico. He rose before dawn to help his grandfather at the family taqueria – an old-school upbringing that instilled respect for food and people, lessons he still insists on in his kitchen. “Everything we do is with passion and timing,” Perez said. “I don’t want any half-done work. I respect food a lot, and I teach my cooks the same.”
That care shows in the menu that draws on Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese and Korean influences. Perez often adds a spark from his Mexican heritage, whether through a pepper, a technique or a flavor profile. And it shows most clearly in the noodles.
Star Noodle makes five types in-house, using a blend of Imua, all-purpose, rice and tapioca flours. They’re mixed in a climate-controlled room to keep the dough consistent despite West Maui’s oceanfront humidity. Saimin is the top request. Ramen, udon, chow funn and look funn round out the repertoire.
That philosophy of respect was tested after the 2023 fire. Many returning staff were new to Star Noodle, so Perez and his team rebuilt from the ground up, teaching them the Star Noodle way. Specials became a weekly training tool, giving cooks and servers practice with new sauces, ingredients and sales skills. “It helped us restart everything,” Perez said.
Noodles may be the foundation, but they’re only part of the story. Hot and sour ramen – Star Noodle’s best-seller – riffs on pho, layering shrimp and salty prosciutto into a tangy dashi broth. Not every favorite involves noodles: Ahi Avo, inspired by poke, pairs sashimi-grade ahi and avocado with a chili-shoyu-lemon-pressed olive oil sauce for hot Maui days. At the high end, a Wagyu steak finished with konbu salt shows Star Noodle can innovate while keeping its core intact.
So what makes a noodle truly five-star? Perez doesn’t hesitate: “A good chew and a slurp.”
Hot and Sour Ramen
Star Noodle’s hot and sour ramen reimagines pho with shrimp, prosciutto and a zesty dashi broth – equal parts comfort food and cure-all.
Ramen
6 oz fresh ramen noodles
½ oz sambal chili
½ oz chopped cilantro
2 oz Wafu dashi powder
½ lime, juiced
8 oz hot water (or use prepared dashi broth)
2 shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 oz speck prosciutto (or thin-sliced ham)
Sides
1 oz bean sprouts
½ oz fried garlic
1 sprig Thai basil
½ calamansi (or substitute lime)
In a bowl, combine dashi powder with hot water (or broth). Stir in sambal, lime juice and cilantro. Boil noodles 3 minutes, then add to broth. In a skillet, cook shrimp 2-3 minutes per side, until pink. Add shrimp and prosciutto over noodles. Garnish with basil, bean sprouts, calamansi and garlic. Serve hot.
Serves 1
Ahi Avo
Elevate poke with sashimi-grade ahi, creamy avocado and a bright chili-shoyu sauce – a summer-ready Maui favorite.
4 oz sashimi-grade ahi tuna, cut into ¾-inch cubes
½ oz sambal chili sauce
½ oz Usukuchi (light) shoyu
1 oz lemon-pressed olive oil
¼ avocado, cut into ¾-inch cubes
½ oz green onions, sliced thin, for garnish
In a small bowl, whisk sambal, shoyu and olive oil. Place ahi in a serving bowl, top with avocado, drizzle sauce and garnish with green onions. Serve immediately.
Serves: 1
Celebration Cocktail
Bright and refreshing, this passion fruit–yuzu cocktail, topped with sparkling sake, is made for toasts.
1 ½ oz Deep Eddy Vodka
2 oz passion fruit juice
½ oz yuzu juice (fresh if available)
2 oz sparkling sake, chilled ice cubes
1 dehydrated citrus wheel (lemon, lime or orange)
Fill a 10-12 oz rocks glass with ice. In a shaker with ice, combine vodka, passion fruit juice and yuzu juice. Shake briefly, strain into glass, top with sparkling sake and garnish with citrus wheel.
Serves: 1
photograph by Star Noodle
Star Noodle’s New Chapter on Lāhainā’s Front Street
by Chris Amundson
Star Noodle opened in 2010 as a hidden gem in Lāhainā Industrial Park, where house-made noodles, sake cocktails and Asian-inspired share plates quickly drew loyal crowds. Modeled after buzzy urban noodle houses yet rooted in island flavors, it became an instant favorite.
The restaurant is part of Nā Hoaloha ʻEkolu – “three friends” – the team behind Star Noodle, Old Lāhainā Lūʻau, Aloha Mixed Plate and Leoda’s Kitchen & Pie Shop. Founded by Michael Moore, Robert Aguiar and Tim Moore, the group has built some of Maui’s most enduring dining institutions.
Together, the Nā Hoaloha ʻEkolu restaurants form a kind of culinary ʻohana – places that have long offered comfort and welcome to locals and visitors alike, and today stand as symbols of hope and rebirth. The group once spanned both ends of Front Street: Feast at Lele anchored the south end at 505 Beach, while Aloha Mixed Plate, Star Noodle and Old Lāhainā Lūʻau stood at the north end near Māla Pier.
Aloha Mixed Plate had closed during the pandemic, and Star Noodle moved from the Industrial Park into its oceanfront space next to the lūʻau. On Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire devastated Lāhainā. Feast at Lele was destroyed and many employees lost homes, but the sister restaurants at the north end were spared.
In early 2024, Nā Hoaloha ʻEkolu revived Aloha Mixed Plate in its original location beside the oceanfront lūʻau and relocated Star Noodle one door over into the former Frida’s Beach House site.
Today, the three stand together on the shoreline – Old Lāhainā Lūʻau, Aloha Mixed Plate and Star Noodle – each with its own flavor, all sharing the same view of the ʻAuʻau Channel.
With its new home secured, Star Noodle keeps the focus where it began – on bold flavors and house-made noodles. The menu is as much a draw as the view: garlic noodles, steamed pork buns and crispy Vietnamese crepes remain staples, paired with sunsets and surf at your feet.
At Maui Nō Ka ʻOi Magazine’s 2025 ‘Aipono Awards, Star Noodle earned Gold for Best Asian Cuisine and Best Noodles, plus an Honorable Mention for Best Pacific Rim Cuisine. Pro tip: book early – sunset tables go fast, and if you’re lucky, a honu may glide past while you dig into the noodles that started it all.
Reservations: Star Noodle, 1287 Front St., Lāhainā; (808) 667-5400; starnoodle.com
