The world’s best airport bar is celebrating its first birthday today. It was a long time coming but Trader Vic’s San Jose Airport has been slinging cocktails for one year now. We didn’t plan on being here specially for this but it was a happy accident with our flight to Hawai’i leaving at 7:30 and we still had time for breakfast.
Breakfast Mai Tai? Absolutely. It is 6:15 am somewhere, right?
Mrs Mai Tai had a Shirley Temple and we both had the Island Parfait. So good.
For those scoring at home this does NOT count for the Hawaiian Mai Tai contest.
Mrs Mai Tai and I made a special trek to the City to have dinner at the Tonga Room. We were last here in 2019, and we’ve missed the incredible atmosphere and dining at the historical tiki bar at the Fairmont Hotel. There’s always a line when the place opens (was told they don’t offer reservations anymore, even to hotel guests), and even more so this week after a nice writeup in the local SFGate news site.
Unlike our last attempt before a Go-Go’s show a couple months ago, traffic was light and so we arrived super early and were first in line. Definitely a big difference between the “Tonga line” 30 mins before opening and 15 mins before. We were seated poolside, which is always our favorite place.
The food menu is a little more limited than in our previous visits, and noteworthy doesn’t offer much for kids or picky eaters. I ordered the spam appetizer which I expected would be like sliders – but it most certainly wasn’t. This was very tasty, but difficult to eat and would be hard to share. Even better was my Grilled Miso Salmon over fried rice that was really delicious. Julie loved her Coconut Curry Seafood, though I had to convince her to try the Calamari.
There’s something off in the tart Mai Tai (I’m guessing cheap orgeat), though we loved our other cocktails including the coffee-coconut Tonga Kong and the lemon-coconut Adult Swim (normally served with vodka, I asked for rum to be subbed). The cocktails here are very pricey and the quality is okay – but balanced with the friendly service and amazingly immersive decor inside.
The Tonga Room is very expensive and hard to get in, but for special occasions or just as an occasional treat we think it is worth it. There’s no doubt that the business is booming, though an upcoming three-week closure for refurbishments will be a bummer for some. The rain and thunderstorms that happen every 15-30 minutes are a big hit with customers, and the decor and artwork is a sight to be behold.
I’m leaving Wednesday for 11 days in Hawaii (June 8-18). We’ll be at Aulani for one night, then in Waikiki for five nights, then in Kauai for four nights.
The contest is simple: guess how many Mai Tais I’ll drink while I’m in Hawaii or while in transit in the air.
Any cocktail with “Mai Tai” on a menu or packaging counts, as does any cocktail handed to me when I ask a bartender for a “Mai Tai.” RTD Mai Tais count as one per can or bottle. If I order but don’t finish the Mai Tai it still counts.
This recipe appeared in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on January 28, 1962 and is one example of a de-evolved Mai Tai. Though, notably, it doesn’t include any Pineapple or Orange Juice. The source is “a reasonably neutral, presumably unbiased source” according to the column, “Dining Out with the Gourmet.”
1962 Mai Tai ½ oz Fresh Lime Juice ½ tsp Sugar ½ oz Grenadine ½ oz Orgeat 1 oz Orange Curacao 1 oz Light Rum 1 oz Dark Rum Build in glass and add 2 oz crushed ice, then stir. Garnish with Pineapple and Cherry “For the hardier types, float a final dash of 151 proof rum. And stand back/”
This actually is not bad at all, with a pleasant rum-forward finish. Though for sure it doesn’t need the 151 added. I used Pomegranate-based Grenadine, so I can’t say how this would work with Rose’s. I used DeKuyper Orange Curacao, Cruzan Light Rum, and Myers’s Dark Rum, modestly priced spirits that indeed worked just fine in this.
It is still one of my favorite shows, even after all these years. Since the show is filmed in Fiji I made a Mai Tai with Isle of Fiji rum. And served in a coffee mug from a previous season.
The original Star Wars movie opened today 45 years ago. I’m celebrating tonight with a “Mai Tai Fighter” that we originally had at a Smuggler’s Cove event.
Just a regular Mai Tai, with an OFTD float, and quite delicious.
